The TV thread

[kickoff-time]

"Shifting Gears" looks like the kind of sitcom a much smarter show would have in the background as a running joke about awful sitcoms, right down to the title. Every joke in those commercials are ones that were old tropes by 1988.

Not only were the jokes stuck in neutral it didn't help that they didn't accentuate Kat Dennings', um ashets, for lack of a better term.

 

[outofplace]

Yep, TWW is back on the MAX lineup.

I threw on the Season One episodes which I haven't watched in several years. God darn, is Mandy (Moira Kelly) a teeth grindingly reprehensible character.

And that is why she disappeared to Mandyville.

I just finished a re-watch a few weeks ago. It would be odd not to be able to stream it anywhere, but I've still got my DVD set.

 

[Webster]

Sorkin was responsible for people regularly using the phrase POTUS (West Wing episode 1) and Cold Open (Studio 60 episode 1).

 

[garrow]

Going Dutch has some laughs in the pilot.

 

[tea and ease]

How else will liberals get through the next four year if not deluding/pacifying themselves that the Bartlett Administration is real. I think its kind of funny that the West Wing cast still are called in to provide emotional support to campaign volunteers. Thought it was kind of neat that the Bidens held an event for them on the programs 25th anniversary.

Democrats don't delude themselves, they hope and vote for a government that isn't governed by obstruction. It's not delusion. The West Wing was certainly a show that was 'PIE IN THE SKY" but most everything it put forth COULD have happened. You're seeming to mock that democratic campaign volunteers liked the cast support, but aren't mocking and possibly praising Biden's 25th anniversary support for the show. What is your stand here?

 

[DanOregon]

Mostly that liberals cling to The West Wing like Linus did his blanket. That the show debuted 25 years ago and was fiction, and liberals don't have anyone else who can inspire the same pashion for public service as the show did and continues to do. I'm not mocking the show, those who helped make it , or those inspired by it - only that the party doesn't seem to have any REAL people who inspire others in the same way. I remember growing up how sad it was that the party kept bringing back JFK and the Kennedy family 20 years after his death. As a kid, I wondered why the party hadn't produced anyone else since then? Kennedy was before my time. I understood it, but it didn't motivate me. That's my point.

 

[garrow]

I'm a weird liberal that loves Molly's Game, Social Network and A Few Good Men....but never got into the West Wing.

 

[Webster]

The West Wing's earnestness could be grating at times. Lame duck members of Congress not voting for bills which they believed in because it wasn't the will of their constituents, GOP aides not scoring political points by disclosing Leo's drinking, etc.

 

[Hermes]

The West Wing's earnestness could be grating at times. Lame duck members of Congress not voting for bills which they believed in because it wasn't the will of their constituents, GOP aides not scoring political points by disclosing Leo's drinking, etc.

Parks & Rec suffers from the same thing. It's still an incredibly funny show, but its main premise of bipartisianship rings so hollow just 10-15 years later.

 

[sgreenwell]

I'm a weird liberal that loves Molly's Game, Social Network and A Few Good Men....but never got into the West Wing.

Pure, uncut (and heavily coked up) Sorkin is typically just meh or bad to me. See also - Being The Richardos. He's a guy that needs someone to reign him in at times, but had enough success that eventually that net went away.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Not only were the jokes stuck in neutral it didn't help that they didn't accentuate Kat Dennings', um ashets, for lack of a better term.

The cheap joke is that I have two reasons that I like Kat Dennings but I honestly think she's a pretty good comedic actress.

 

[outofplace]

The West Wing's earnestness could be grating at times. Lame duck members of Congress not voting for bills which they believed in because it wasn't the will of their constituents, GOP aides not scoring political points by disclosing Leo's drinking, etc.

Also, there was never a problem that couldn't be solved by a stirring monologue. I have some faith in the power of rhetoric, too, but Sorkin took it to ridiculous lengths.