I hate being sick. A few days ago I caught a bug that left me bedridden for a few days. There were times when I barely had the strength to change the channel. Then I would find something interesting to watch like a documentary on the History Channel and I would fall fast asleep. Most of the weekend was spent watching the What's Happening!! marathon on TV Land. So you can imagine I was in need of some intelligent television.
Last Sunday at 8 PM The West Wing aired a live episode. This was a big deal. My wife Donna and I love the excitement of a live TV broadcast. Could something go wrong, be it a human or technical error? At one time all TV was live. I remember seeing live plays being broadcast on network TV. ER did a live show a few years ago, the sitcom Roc did a whole season of live episodes. Today many reality shows like to have live finales.
I have been a fan of The West Wing since the show first aired. I know that my top ten list of reasons why I love the show are the same reasons why other people hate the show. Even with changes in front of and behind the camera the show continues to set a standard of TV excellence. These past two seasons have brought more changes. New characters are coming in and familiar faces will soon be leaving. With the election story line either Congressman Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) or Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) will be the new president (I'm hoping for Santos).
When a show is done well I am willing suspend disbelief. A pro-life Republican candidate? A debate where the candidates throw the rules out the window? Maybe this is something we'd like to see in real world politics.
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