A Tribute to Great Television: The West Wing (1999-2006)

Four years after Aaron Sorkin brought audiences into the Oval Office in the film The American President, he created a television series that followed the President's communication team with the television series, The West Wing.  Over the years the show evolved, and became one of the greatest ensembles of all time.

In the beginning the show centered on Sam Seaborn played by the ever talented Rob Lowe.  Sam was the Deputy White House Communications Director, and we saw how he interacted with fellow communications staffers, and a little bit more about his love life; he dated a call girl, and a classy one at that in season one, House's Lisa Edelstein.  Throughout the the first season the show began to evolve, and as Sorkin realized the power of his ensemble, and Commander in Chief, the direction of The West Wing changed ever so slightly.

How could Sorkin centralize this show on Sam when you had Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlett?  I love Rob Lowe, and he was great in the show, but this ensemble led by Sheen is one of the best.  Eventually Rob Lowe left because of the lack of screen time, and this was a central reason, which created a dispute between he and Sorkin, but beyond this little moment the show kept its central and original cast mainly intact.   Moria Kelly was another original cast member, who played Mandy Hampton.  Unlike Lowe's Sam who was missed Mandy seemed to have a strong purpose in the beginning but as the first season wrapped; she seemed to lose purpose, and even her chemistry with Sam was not enough.

Beyond the rotating cast, the show's central players were some of the best in television history.  Press Secretary and eventual Chief of Staff Claudia Jean (C.J.) Cregg was always my favorite character.  Allison Janney is one of the most brilliant actors; she has this natural talent which blends humor and drama effortlessly.  John Spencer's Leo McGarry was always a close second for me.  Leo was the ever doting Chief of Staff to the President throughout most of the show, but in the last two seasons ran for Vice President with Jimmy Smitts character Matthew Santos.  There was always humility with Spencer's portrayal of Leo; he was a man who struggled with alcoholism, but was the resident support system for everyone.

Talking about this show without mentioning Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), Donna Moss (Janel Maloney), Charlie Young (Dule Hill), Abigail Bartlett (Stockard Channing),  Kathryn Joosten (Mrs. Landingham), and the many recurring characters Amy Gardener (Mary Louise Parker), Danny Concannon (Timothy Bussfield), Zooey Bartlett (Elisabeth Moss), Senator Arnold Vick (Alan Alda), Annabeth Schott (Kristin Chenowith), and I could go on and on.  This show created some of the most amazing characters, moments, speeches, and of course the famous walk and talks.

There is obviously one character missing from my line-up above, and that's because like with most the Commander in Chief is in a category of their own.  Martin Sheen does an amazing job portraying President Jed Bartlett, and the fact that he never won an Emmy for this role is a crime.  Sheen represents what many would call the a "New England elite" but his Jed Bartlett is one of the most grounded educated religious men to sit within the Oval Office, I swear I realize he was not real.  Watching him curse God in church after Mrs. Landingham has died, or putting a reporter in her place when she has not stood when he enters the room.  Yet there were moments when you were able to see the President struggle through the hard times, like during an assassination attempt, covering up his M.S., his daughter being kidnapped, and of course re-election.

The show covered many different topics, and I always wonder how, and if Sorkin would have to adapt the show with the birth of more social media, but The West Wing is a classic.  The show sits within a pantheon tied for the most Emmy wins in the Best Drama category with Mad Men, L.A. Law, and Hill Street Blues.  If you have not see all seven seasons of this show, or stopped towards the end, go back and re-visit the White House, and become inspired by the great writing, and incredible political revelations.  Heck go back, or watch because you want to root for Donna and Josh.  This show inspires me to be my best self, and that is poetic within the television world.  The clip below is my favorite from the series.

The Newsroom Ends High, while True Blood can't get Death Right

Tonight two HBO shows ended their seasons.  True Blood is now in its fifth season, and The Newsroom has ended its first.  Both shows have had critics all over the place in regards to their quality, but tonight is proof that superior writing wins, and story direction win out.

Few shows have made it to their fifth season without some bumps in quality, True Blood started out strong with their first two seasons highlighting some great character driven drama.  The show centered around (and still does to some extent) on a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse who could hear people's thoughts and drew vampires like a moth to a flame.  Throughout the years the show used different plots from the books, The Sookie Stackhouse series, and brought in different elements like the lore of more shape shifters, werewolves, werepanthers, faeries, and so much more.  Season 3 threw a wrench in quality adding too much to the thread of the show, proving to be too much for the writers to handle and connect back to the central theme of the show.  Season four did a better job of tying things back together, with the lore of witches, and continuing the up and down pattern within the series.  Yet the series hit the biggest low during this season.

Season five was one of the biggest messes I have ever seen.  There was no direction, and can someone please explain the point of them using the smoke monster from Lost to chase down Terry?  Sookie is still the central character , right?  Why did we focus on this mythical steam vampire named Worlo only to forget about him in the end?  Why bring back Dennis O'Hare only to give him nothing great to work with, and spoiler, kill him in the first five minutes of the season finale.  Bill as a villain had its moments, and the connection to evangelical religion was so heavy handed I can't imagine how people can complain about the politics of The Newsroom.  Fans of this show are losing interest, and HBO has to quit while its ahead, become more assertive and realize this is a dying brand that can't cling to the pretty pink heals of Pam.  This show over extends itself, losing focus, never allowing characters to grow.  Usually when a show I enjoy ends I am sad, or even excited to see how writers will handle the cliff hanger they their at their viewers.  At this point I could care less, and feel as though Alan Ball stepping down as show runner should have been a sign to put a stake in things.

The Newsroom signed off with class, tied things together, and brought things back to beginning without   being cliche.  People gave this show too much crap in the beginning, calling Sorkin misogynistic, and that the writing was heavy handed liberalism veiled with a Republican journalist.  The romantic comedy stuff has never been the shows strong suit, and while the show focused on this a lot, to tie things up tonight, things are not over of course, but with the new writing team Sorkin can make this work.  I am sounding like I am not on the show's side, but in reality this series ended its first seasons perfectly.  I liked the fact that Will and the girl he berated in the first episode cam face to face; his character and Sorkin's writing proved that belief in what's right matter most.  I believe in this show, Sorkin has a focus, a point; he ties things together allowing audiences to see his vision.

These two shows could not be more different, or well they are night and day, or a show about people who can't walk in the daylight.  How do you compare them?  All you can do is compare your experience/reaction to the way the show's handled themselves throughout the season.  Throughout the years True Blood appears to have built up a show on shaky foundation, that is crumbling for me.  When I keep up with a show I have hard time letting go, I will have a Sophie's Choice next June when the sixth season starts up.  I want to give up, and walk away, when a show make's you feel that way, its proof they have failed.  The Newsroom only left me wanting more,   Shows in their first season typically leave people with this reaction, but I feel as though this series knows what it's about more than True Blood ever did.  Time to silver the vampires, and fire up more air time for Jeff Daniels.

Newsroom Pulses with Energy as Aaron Sorkin Creates Another Brilliant Television Series

The Newsroom is a new series on HBO from Emmy and Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network).  The Newsroom centers on Will McAvoy who has a minor freak out while speaking in front of a group of college students.  McAvoy is surrounded by two other television journalists, one liberal and one conservative arguing while he is called "the Jay Leno of news" who sits in the middle and does not take a position.  A young college sophomore steps up to the microphone, and asks "in one sentence or less why do you think America is the greatest country in the world?"  The liberal pundit states diversity while the conservative pundit states freedom twice.  Will states "the Jets" but is goaded and goes off on a tirade against the young lady about the problems with the news and America.  Jeff Daniels who plays McAvoy gives one hell of a speech, and his performance throughout the episode proves this show has a fire that can't be put out like in the gulf.

As Will returns back to work he finds out or notices that most of his staff is missing, and the newsroom is empty.  Will is sent up Charlie Skinner's office (Sam Waterson), and he tells him that his executive producer is leaving his show and taking his crew.  Soon Bill finds out that his ex-girlfriend Mackenzie MacHale (Emily Mortimer) who was having visions of before he went on his tirade will be his new executive producer.  As Mackenzie and Will meet up for the first time a news story breaks about an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and two things happen the show flashes a date stating that is back in 2010 and they are delving into the BP oil crisis, and the show takes off like a rocket.

The interesting diference is that many critics were harsh on this show saying Sorkin missed, and hit a sour note.  I fervently disagree.  Emily Nussbaum writes the following to close out her piece entitled "Broken News":

“The Newsroom” is the inverse of “Veep”: it’s so naïve it’s cynical. Sorkin’s fantasy is of a cabal of proud, disdainful brainiacs, a “media élite” who swallow accusations of arrogance and shoot them back as lava. But if the storytelling were more confident, it could take a breath and deliver drama, not just talking points. Instead, the deck stays stacked. Whenever McAvoy delivers a speech or slices up a right-winger, the ensemble beams at him, their eyes glowing as if they were cultists."

Quantifying this show naive bordering on cynical is way off track, and if you read the entire article you can that Nussbaum has an axe to grind, one which she will use on Sorkin's head.  One of Nussbaum's major complaints is the misuse of a quality ensemble.  Nussbaum states that ensemble is filled with three minority characters whom Sorkin like in his other show Studio 60 are underdeveloped.  I know most television critics get the first few episodes, but the focus of the show is the dynamic between Will and Mackenzie, and the message of telling the truth and honest journalism.

Sorkin may have his own axe to grind, but within that framework he's stating a message, and most of the reviewers are not listening to the message.  This show centers on a broken government with a population as divided as during the days of the Civil War and the people who have the responsibility of bringing the news to the masses.  Will is walking away from "being Jay Leno" and moving towards being more than just a run of the mill anchor.  The beginning of the episode is his own homage Peter Finch's "I'm mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore" from the film Network (1976).  The Newsroom's first episode proved to be an impeccably written and directed show, that will hopefully continue to challenge the political structure, and the way media outlets operate.  Bravo Mr. Sorkin.

Moneyball is Home Run!

Moneyball (4 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote)

Written by Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List) and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The American President)

Starring: Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

I wanted to see this movie when it was out in theaters, but no one would go see this with me.  They missed out!  I do not know why this film was not a hit.  The story is about America's past time, baseball, and it stars Brad Pitt.  While I am a baseball fan, I am a Yankees fan, and I honestly did not know or remember the story of the 2002 Oakland A's and their General Manager Billy Beene.

Moneyball is the story of the Oakland A's and their General Manager Billy Beene.  In 2001 the A's lost in the postseason to the New York Yankees,I remember being happy.  This was post September 11th and the Yankees winning was a symbolic win.  At the time of this playoff game the A's had three clutch player Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen.  After the A's lost they lost each of these players-Damon to the Red Sox, Giambi to the Yankees, and Isringhausen to the St, Louis Cardinals, because each player was a free agent.  After the season ended the A's General Manager Billy Beene (Brad Pitt) went to Cleveland to try and negotiate to get a stellar team.  The problem is that unlike the New York Yankees and many other ball clubs is that the A's do not have as much money to spend on players.  While in Cleveland Beene meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a Yale educated economist who convinces Beene to use a different strategy to beat dynamic in baseball.  Beene and Brand's strategy is met with a lot of opposition, including head coach Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

Bennet Miller's precise direction makes this more than a film about a team or even a specific baseball game.  This film tackles an issue the plagued baseball for many years, teams that paid for their teams so they could be winning ball clubs.  Like within his film Capote, Miller uses autobiographical material to tell an intricate tale about a man who works to understand things on a deeper level.  Miller's direction is complemented well by the brilliant screenplay from Zaillian and Sorkin who weave real life images into their work.  These men are two of the best screenwriters working today, and it is no surprise that their collaboration has yielded one of the best scripts this year.

The words on the page are given life but strong performances from Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  Pitt has grown as an actor throughout the years, and as he takes on roles like this one, and The Tree of Life it is great to see him flex acting muscles he has never shown before.  Hill always plays someone who provides cheap laughs, but in this role he not only makes you laugh a little, but his acting grounds Pitt.  This is the best role Hill has ever had and I am glad to see him challenging himself.  Pitt and Hill have a terrific dynamic on screen, their teamwork appears effortless.  I would like to see them work together more.  Hoffman, who has worked with Miller before; he won an Oscar for his starring role in Capote, displays, albeit brief, an evolution of understanding the game of baseball.

The film made me smile, laugh, cry.  I hit every emotion in the two hours.  There is something to be said about how infectious this film can be.  The movie uses sports as a metaphor for life, and knocks it out the park with a grand slam.