The West Wing now on Netflix

[lurok]

It does feel like a series of two halves, and I'm sure there's a stylistic change around S4/5 which makes it feel more doco style, less those long follow-shots. Plus I have issues with some of the latter casting/character changes. But I was genuinely surprised how topical many of the issues still felt (the corn/ethanol one comes to mind). And I loved the CJ/egg thing you mentioned many moons ago. Was a bit wtf but I give it a pass

[bigdaddy]

TheGodBen wrote:

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Pretty much everyone is out of character, it's unusually episodic, and the stories are just dull. Thankfully, the election storyline in the final two seasons gave the show some much needed direction and I think the show ended on a high.

That's how I feel, there are some OK stories in season 5, like the Supreme Court nomination episode, but you just can't enjoy it to the fullest because they characters were such asshole and out of place.

The best thing they did was skip a year and go to the election. I wish they planned it better so the year didn't just disappear, but most people don't notice that.

[shivkala]

santa biggles wrote:

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Give C.J. and Toby time; C.J. was one of the best-written female characters on TV, and Allison Janney would win four Emmys for her portrayal. As for Mandy... well, all I'll say is don't sweat it.

I guess it's just that the first two episodes focus more on Josh and Sam than Toby or C.J. Episode 2 has C.J. confronting the Vice-President (who is now tied with Mandy for my least favorite character), so I can tell they're going to focus on her. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her or Toby, I just haven't seen enough of them yet.

Aside from Sam, Toby, and C.J. (and for the smart-alecks, Bartlett and Mrs. Landingham have pretty defined jobs as well!), the character's job descriptions aren't well fleshed out. I really want to see the organizational chart Josh's office is working on for Mandy!

bigdaddy wrote:

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Yeah let the characters grow. If you really hate the show there are about 5 episodes from season 1 that are most important to the storyline. I saw watch those and move on to season 2. Seasons 2-3 are the best of West Wing 1.0.

I don't hate the show, I quite enjoyed the first two episodes. The only things I hate are Mandy and the V.P. (the latter I'm sure I'm not supposed to like).

TheGodBen wrote:

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Only about five people in the whole world like Mandy, so don't worry about it. She ran PR for a President who didn't like being managed by PR people, so she doesn't have much of a role on the show beyond the opening episodes. She typically just shows up for one or two scenes per episode to justify being part of the main cast, and is then unceremoniously dumped.

Can I assume among those five are Aaron Sorkin and Moira Kelley?

Toby is an excellent character if you like the cynical, brooding sort, and he works as an excellent foil for Bartlet. They love each other, but they have a way of getting underneath each other's skin and that leads to some explosive situations.

He handled himself well in the meeting in episode 1. I liked how he called that Mary woman out on her "New York" comment!

bigdaddy wrote:

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Cool, I'll tell a friend of mine. I bought my grandma all the DVD sets years ago and one of the episodes from season 6 doesn't play because it's starched! Was so pissed. (It was too late to return it.)

My sister mentioned she never bought the DVDs, even after seeing a great Cyber-Monday price on the full-set due to a lot of complaints about the quality of the DVDs. Shame, really, but it's nice that there are options for watching it streaming.

[Rowan Sjet]

Can I assume among those five are Aaron Sorkin and Moira Kelley?

Aaron Sorkin was the one who did the dumping, so no.

[Snaploud]

The post-Sorkin years (season 5 through 7) only really blossomed when they got out of the White House and followed the presidential campaign.

[Jimi_James]

I'll be re-watching this. I loved the West Wing...I'm a big Toby fan.

[bigdaddy]

shivkala wrote:

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I don't hate the show, I quite enjoyed the first two episodes. The only things I hate are Mandy and the V.P. (the latter I'm sure I'm not supposed to like).



Can I assume among those five are Aaron Sorkin and Moira Kelley?

My sister mentioned she never bought the DVDs, even after seeing a great Cyber-Monday price on the full-set due to a lot of complaints about the quality of the DVDs. Shame, really, but it's nice that there are options for watching it streaming.

That was more aimed at anyone who reads the topic and might not like the first season because it's a slow burn for a bit. The first two episode, the last one or two, a random episode I can't tell you why it's important, and the one the president has the flu. Are the important ones from the season.

Oddly the complete set is better. The season DVD have double sided disc for seasons 1-3. All work fine besides one disc.

[lurok]

I've been watching donated R2 DVD complete set and quality seems pretty good, esp latter seasons.

[MacLeod]

This show should be released on blu-ray.

[TheGodBen]

shivkala wrote:

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Aside from Sam, Toby, and C.J. (and for the smart-alecks, Bartlett and Mrs. Landingham have pretty defined jobs as well!), the character's job descriptions aren't well fleshed out. I really want to see the organizational chart Josh's office is working on for Mandy!

Here you go.



Leo pretty much runs the West Wing, he manages everything so that the President is freed up to focus on important policy decisions, and as such his job is arguably more demanding than the President's. Leo is also the only member of of the senior staff to be involved in military decisions and sits at the President's side in the Situation Room.

Josh is Deputy Chief of Staff, which is a fancy title that doesn't seem to mean much. His main role is to direct political affairs, it's his job to push the President's agenda through congress and the various government departments.

Toby is the Communications Director, so he orchestrates the President's message and decides how it's presented to the public, although he rarely deals with the press directly. He's also the President's main speech-writer. Sam is Toby's deputy, and he works with Toby on the speeches.

CJ is the Press Secretary and it's indicated that she technically works under Toby, but in practice she does her own thing and reports directly to Leo.

Mandy's job is to annoy people while they're trying to do actual work. She answers to Josh and she answers to Toby.

Donna is pretty much Josh's secretary. Her role in the first season is to not understand how the government works so that Josh can explain everything to the audience.

Charlie is the lowest ranked of the main cast and has no official role in policy, but he works extremely closely with the President and has a desk right outside the Oval Office. His job is to be the token black guy.


In practice, Josh, Toby, Sam and CJ are equals and have easy access to the President without having to go through Leo.

bigdaddy wrote:

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The best thing they did was skip a year and go to the election. I wish they planned it better so the year didn't just disappear, but most people don't notice that.

I think a lot of fans noticed the missing year, we just didn't care if it meant avoiding another season like the fifth.

jinglebellrok wrote:

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I've been watching donated R2 DVD complete set and quality seems pretty good, esp latter seasons.

My only problem with the DVDs is that season 3 is in anamorphic widescreen, which looks terrible on a widescreen TV. Also, the R2 DVDs have no special features, which is a pity as I would very much like to hear the commentary to Twenty Five. Just what was going through Aaron Sorkin's head, leaving the show with such an insane cliffhanger?

[lurok]

I've been surprised at lack of features too, apart from some ropey interviews on S1 collection. The set I've been watching is the old amaray one. I've heard there's a doco special feature on (US?) boxed set which has interviews with real-life politicos, and some deleted scenes. I'd like to see those when finish S7. That debate episode was interesting

[MacLeod]

The R2 release were woeful on the extras compared to the R1 releases. Nice to have a multi-region DVD player though.

[Cap.T]

I also hope the show will come out on Blu-Ray soon. Are they in HD on Netflix?

[bigdaddy]

TheGodBen wrote:

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I think a lot of fans noticed the missing year, we just didn't care if it meant avoiding another season like the fifth.

My only problem with the DVDs is that season 3 is in anamorphic widescreen, which looks terrible on a widescreen TV. Also, the R2 DVDs have no special features, which is a pity as I would very much like to hear the commentary to Twenty Five. Just what was going through Aaron Sorkin's head, leaving the show with such an insane cliffhanger?

Haha! That's one of the only episodes I listened tout! He's like it's hard leaving in the middle of the story but he had to leave. The job was killing him and pissing NBC off. The thing I really like is his plan had them being Christains and not Muslims. I'm being vague for the newbies. He would connect it more to the season 1 storyline.

[firehawk12]

I don't know if the Netflix releases are in HD, but it was strange to see the first season in widescreen when I watched it recently.

I guess they'll never release the show on disc at this point though.