Last evening at around 9:45 pm, Alison and I finished The West Wing, seasons 1-7. Prior to us kicking off a West Wing commitment, I had watched seasons 1-4 on Bravo, when it was airing every night for a few years, and then watched Seasons 5, 6 & 7 live as they aired – Alison had never watched an episode.
I was guarded to watch with Al, mainly b/c if she didn’t like I didn’t know how we’d continue as a married couple – what would it say about her if she couldn’t be moved to tears by Margeret or Charlie? What if she didn’t give a crap about CJ Cregg’s love life the way I did – it was a scary prospect.
Thankfully, by a few episodes in, Alison was hooked. I own seasons 1-5 on DVD, we Netflix’d some of season 6 and then borrowed from Wizzy season 7. Last night, the process came to an end, we finished the show.
I won’t spoil any endings, I won’t ruin anything for anyone, but watching it again was incredible, it didn’t have the same progression that I had remembered. I know that seasons 1-3 are incredible TV, and I know that seasons 6 & 7 are just a different show – but I was surprised by how I actually liked 6 & 7 more than 4 & 5 – how the magic seemed to go away for a period, then come back with a vengeance.
I know the backstories of contract disputes, and writer changes, and character plotlines based on things outside of the show, but overall watching this show again solidified my theory that the West Wing was the last incredible Network drama. With the evolution of our TV watching, the fact that with apple tv, google tv, on demand, Netflix and other devices, tv show watching is disappearing in the form that we know it.
Cable networks are dominating the drama genre – Mad Men, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Weeds…all the critically acclaimed dramas are way outside of the reality-all-or-nothing mentality that is keeping ABC, NBC, CBS & Fox afloat.
The West Wing remains the most powerful TV viewing experience I can remember, and in my top 5 shows of all time, if not top 3.
Finally, here are my superlatives:
Best TV Show Ever: Mad Men
Most Fun Show Ever: Survivor
Funniest Show Ever: Seinfeld
Most Addicted I’ve Been To A Show Ever: The Sopranos
Not Even TV It Was So Good: The Wire
No comments:
Post a Comment