Madam Secretary

This is the fictional story of an ex-CIA analyst who now is a professor in a University and a wife and a mother of 3 teenagers. One day, her mentor in the agency, who now happens to be the president of the U.S. offers her (insisted more like it) the position of the secretary of state.

In the pilot episode we see her dealing with her first big crisis, 2 months after her appointment as the secretary.

The whole presentation of the show is soft and painless. Her 4-5 assistants add some comedy elements to the not-so-dramatic atmosphere while she is dealing with the crisis and at her home everything works like a clock with her clever kids and the supportive husband.

The star Tea Leoni (who serves also as a producer for the series, and it shows because of the favorable way her character is scripted) is doing her best, I guess, but it's hard not notice the results of some cosmetic surgery or botox, that make her face far less expressive than it should be.

I read some comments that compare this with the ...multiple award winning series The West Wing! Sorry no comparison at all. This is a mild political drama with (I'm afraid so) a very fragile future.

I would seriously doubt a show like this with a lead male character would have a synopsis essentially refer to 'work life balance', automatically putting it in the 'career mom struggle' basket. Bess (Madam Secretary), is an extremely well written, complex, political character who happens to wear a skirt sometimes. I really hope people do not dismiss the show without giving it a chance. Yes, it does explore both sides of political life, the professional and the personal, but that kind of exploration makes for layered plot development, and is not gender specific. It may at some stage get irritating the way the State Office consistently seems to be able to achieve positive outcomes to complex global issues in one handy episode, but for now it's just satisfying. And welcome back Tea Leoni, wow!

I don't understand why people are giving poor reviews, maybe they have only viewed the pilot. They could have expanded more, but people should not be so quick to leave a review after only seeing 60 minutes of a season series. So far I have only viewed the pilot and the first episode, but I am anticipating it will get high reviews. Anyone who enjoys watching the TV series Scandal, should enjoy this series as well. Scandal is quite violent and into shock value. To compare the two shows I find the writing far superior. Tea Leoni was an excellent choice. She is a wonderful actor and I have enjoyed all her movies. She can make you feel the emotions of the script every time.

Being from Europe and not really interested in the details of US politics, I watched the show simply as entertainment and did not take it too seriously. Too bad some people take it as propaganda, it's only a TV show...

I liked the pilot and it left a lot of room for character and storyline development.

Seeing as there are far worst shows out there, I'm willing to give this one a chance and hope to be positively surprised.

Also, I've been waiting for Téa Leoni to be back on TV and really enjoyed watching her in a role that is perfect for her.

I was reading through the reviews hoping to see some commentary on Elizabeth running for President. Instead I was surprised to see people complaining that the show is becoming too biased politically. This show was always written with a Democratic tone and the concept itself was based on Hillary Clinton. I think if you've been watching and enjoying this wonderful show, but were put off by say, Hillary Clinton making a guest appearance, perhaps you should reconsider boycotting the show. It's the same show with the same liberal themes/outlook it has always had. If you enjoyed it before you identified a liberal leaning plot, nothing has changed. Just for the sake of it, I happen to be an Independent.

This is one of the best acted, best written shows on network television. It would be a shame to stop watching it because a plot or two didn't jive with every political belief you have.