Political powerhouse made TV history Updated 5/10/2006 8:04 PM ET
By Bill Keveney USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-10-west-wing-sidebar_x.htm As The West Wing approaches Sunday's finale, it leaves a broadcast legacy presidents might envy: The Bartlet administration saga won four straight best-drama Emmys early in its seven-season tenure, averaging nearly 19 million viewers for new episodes at its 2001-02 peak. More important, it is seen as groundbreaking in depicting politics and government on TV. "There's a little, unpublished TV handbook about verboten areas. (Politics) led the list. But West Wing took that page and shredded it up," NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly says. Allison Janney, who won four Emmys portraying press secretary/chief of staff C.J. Cregg, says West Wing might not have worked in the hands of someone other than creator Aaron Sorkin, who left after writing 87 episodes over the first four seasons. "Aaron did the right mix of reality and drama and comedy. He was always able to ride that edge," she says. Sorkin, interviewed via e-mail, says he'll leave legacy talk for others. He notes, however, that perceptions changed after 9/11. "Rooting for fictional heroes so soon after the attacks was hard because there were so many real ones to root for," he writes. "And because the perception of Bartlet was that was he was liberal and the perception of George Bush is that he's conservative, it became slightly un-American to like The West Wing." An October 2001 episode that alluded to a similar type of atrocity in the drama's parallel world was "too soon," he says. But "the show had to bow its head somehow before it moved forward." After Sorkin left in 2003, West Wing suffered negative reviews, which the actors and Reilly attribute to a transition of producers. Some luster returned with this year's presidential campaign. Ratings, like some presidential polls, have plummeted in recent years, averaging 8 million viewers in this non-rerun season. Cast and crew also faced the shock of actor John Spencer's death. His character, Leo McGarry, was eulogized in April. The series offered a hopeful vision at a time when so many are downbeat about government, says Bradley Whitford, who won an Emmy in 2001 for playing presidential aide Josh Lyman. "I think it succeeded in attaching a shred of humanity to a process people have become very cynical about," he says. In the end, Whitford believes West Wing lived up to its mission: "We wanted to do a television show that showed that government really matters." ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
