This week on THE LEFT ... er ... WEST WING

"7A WF 83429" (Season Premiere)

The chaos of this episode is compelling. I loved the gravitas of Goodman's character as he plays the Republican Speaker coming out of the bullpen to relieve Bartlett and how they deal with the fallout from the Shariff assasination.

My favorite lines:

"If Zoe Bartlet's dead, I'm going to blow up something and God help what happens next."

"(Sherrif's) was a one man command and control center. I'm just sorry we couldn't kill the bastard twice."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm one rib platter short of a heart attack, I want a VP nominee."

I also loved Josh's remorse at making the decision for Bartlet to step aside, fearing that Acting President Walken is coming off very presidential. And Leo's inability to tell Bartlet what Walken is planning because of secrecy is heartbreaking.

Goodman's Walken character also showed sensitivity by directing Bartlet's crew to come up with potential Dem VP Noms, that in this time it isn't about party it's about being Americans. And even though he brings in his own staff, he is relying on the Bartlet staff heavily - does he have an agenda, of course he does. But that agenda is driven more of personality, IMHO, and not of politics.

Another star of this episode was the direction of Alex Graves & John Wells' excellent script. Cool mood lighting, scenes in the residence and at the "shrine" for Zoe outside the Whitehouse, cuts between activity in the West Wing, the first family at Mass, and the upcoming strike on Qumar, tight looks of emotion on the faces of the first family.

And that made for convincing drama.

Finally, other filmmakers get a chance to shine in the post Sorkin era.

And shine, they do.


From TV Guide (thanks to BEWarne)
"7A WF 83429"
"As the fifth season opens, it is seven hours after Zoey Bartlet's kidnapping and the President has temporarily relinquished his office to Republican House Speaker Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), who reviews military options upon receiving a ransom note demanding the release of Pakistani terrorists and a pullout of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia and Qumar. Meanwhile, Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) tells C.J. he's going to post his story on the Shareef assassination; and the Democratic congressional leadership is unhappy with Bartlet's handover (as is Josh). Also unhappy with the President is his eldest daughter, Elizabeth (Annabeth Gish), who has arrived at the White House with her husband and two children.

posted by James @ 8:01 AM 0 comments

CASHING IN
All that and a bag of chip$

E! Online reports that four West Wing cast members, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and John Spencer, have gotten what they wanted ... a HUGE pay raise!

The four actors, taking a tip from the voting block at "Friends" have been negotiating "en masse" for months. Reportedly to be worth about $150,000 per episode, it will place them among the highest-paid actors working in TV drama, but still about 2/3's less than what Martin Sheen pulls in for his chief executive duties on the show.

Janney, Schiff, Whitford and Spencer also agreed to extend their contracts an extra year, through an eighth season in 2006-07 - that is, if Wells "fair and balanced" strategy is a winner with the televised electorate.

posted by James @ 7:52 AM 0 comments

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
TWW will jump right into the deep end of the pool

The Chicago Sun Times reports some interesting things regarding the beginning of this season, including these blurbs:

Regarding the character of President Bartlet
"We've put [Martin Sheen's President Bartlet] through quite a bit and the whole beginning of the season is actually about ... getting to the point where he's questioning how he ended up making some of the decisions that he's made and how does he get himself back to leading in the way he originally envisioned himself leading ..."

On the new Republican face in the White House
... and the Republicans on the show finally make sense much of the time.

"If Zoey Bartlet turns up dead, I'm gonna blow the hell out of something and God only know what happens next," (Rep. Speaker, serving as acting-President) Walken tells his security council, serving notice there's a new sheriff and that "Wing" now may trade in a different kind of wish fulfillment.

posted by James @ 3:13 PM 0 comments

FAIR AND BALANCED?
Ronald Reagan's old phrase about trust comes to mind

JOHN GOODMAN is set to JOIN the case of THE WEST WING. According to new series showrunner John Wells (of ER fame), The West Wing is seeking to shore up it's Republican viewership by making the show more "balanced" and presenting more of the conservative point of view. As such, John Goodman is reported to be "JOINING" the cast as the conservative Speaker of the House who takes over the Oval Office while the President steps aside during a kidnapping crisis involving his daughter (though other reports list him as simply guest starring).

"You will see the new speaker of the House, the majority leadership (in Congress), which is Republican, and those views much more represented on the show, and the conflicts between them in trying to get fiscal and international policy done," Wells told Reuters in a conference call on Thursday.

Wells went on to say that "... we want to have conversations about international intervention, not to take pot shots in any way at what the Bush administration's been doing ... but to just discuss how complex the issues are and how there aren't easy choices," he said.

Wells is also beefing up it's staff with more conservative points of view as he has hired former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein, along with John Podhoretz, a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush '41.

This isn't the first time they've promised this. Last year Sorkin hired a few token GOPers and promptly ignored most of them (though to be fair, he's notorious for using his writing staff as overpaid researchers and writing stuff himself anyway).

We'll see if we actually see "balance," this year. I suspect that conservative fans of the show will have to follow the advice of the Gipper and "trust, yet verify."

Meanwhile, NBC's West Wing site lists the season premiere this way:

7A WF 83429 (Season Premiere)
9pm 2003-09-24 ALL NEW!
SEASON PREMIERE RESUMES FROM LAST YEAR'S FINALE AS SEARCH GOES ON FOR PRESIDENT'S ABDUCTED DAUGHTER WHILE RIVAL AGENDAS CLASH; JOHN GOODMAN and ANNABETH GISH GUEST-STAR -- Resuming from last season's cliffhanger, the world watches the desperate search for the President's (Martin Sheen) abducted daughter while rival administrations form an uneasy alliance as they weigh options that might include a preemptive military strike at terrorist targets -- a move that could doom the victim. After President Bartlet invoked the 25th Amendment, House Speaker Walken (guest star John Goodman, "Roseanne") addresses the nation after the news breaks about Bartlet's assassination of a Qumari terrorist leader last year, more anti-American violence occurs overseas and the weary President gathers his family at the White House -- but faces losing their respect after news reports of the Qumari incident. Annabeth Gish ("The X-Files") guest stars as Elizabeth, Bartlet's oldest daughter. John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Dule Hill, Janel Moloney, Stockard Channing, Joshua Malina and Lily Tomlin also star. TV-PG

posted by James @ 7:46 AM 0 comments

SORKIN'S SWAN SONG
Vegas was right, TWW Wins for Best Drama

And I'm still trying to figure out how. Then again, I have a toddler so I don't get to watch much of the competition!

Here's the story from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:

Incumbent 'Wing' surprises with fourth Emmy win
In a startling upset, NBC's "The West Wing" overcame a season of disappointing ratings and behind-the-scenes turmoil to again capture the top prize for dramatic series, beating out HBO's heavily favored "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet
Under" at the 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night. With its fourth straight drama series victory, "Wing" tied the record for consecutive drama nods held by "Hill Street Blues" (1981-84) ...

posted by James @ 7:26 AM 0 comments