À la Maison Blanche

So much political reporting seems to be an attempt to fake a drama out of little material. I missed the West Wing when it started, but am catching up now, and find that it turns the specifics of politics into gripping human drama with a fast pace.

The camera seems to move as quickly as the people, following one conversation, then picking up another as two corridors intersect, and going off after that conversation instead. It's a remarkably effective dramatic device, that helps generate a sense of many topics, issues and personalities all being constantly on the move in response to events.

The acting is uniformly good, and often not on screen, Martin Sheen's president remains a constant presence shaping every story.

This is what all television used to be like, in the 'good old days'- well written, well acted (even by Rob Lowe!) and beautifully directed.

The plots are thick and interesting and the people are smart and pretty and I just can't get enough of it. I wish Aaron Sorkin would write another movie (he wrote A Few Good Men) and also be as prolific as David E. Kelly- Sorkins work is by far the superiour, and I could watch it day in and day out. Tune in, you won't be disappointed.......

Just started re watching this amazing series again, which may be a mistake as I can now see several weeks of zero sleep coming up! Brilliantly written, acted, produced and directed. Faultless from the very first introduction. Would and have reccomended this to anyone who has any sort of interest in quality TV.

There is an episode in the second to last season where the president (Martin Sheen) is going at it with his chief of staff (John Spencer) about a terrorist attack in the middle east and how the United States should respond. The president wants to to bring the leaders from the opposing factions together and try and find peace- the COS wants to retaliate. At that moment they are screaming at each other and the presidents says, "How does it end". John Spencer screams back at him, "We don't always know how it ends".

I was sitting in my relatively dark living room watching this scene and was so caught up in it that I honestly forgot where I was and what was going on. Maybe the single greatest piece of acting by two actors I have ever witness. It locked down my belief this was the best show ever and is still is today.

I've binged-watched this TV series over the last month and recently finished it. And i'm really glad that i watched it. I'm not from the US so i didn't understand some things in some episodes which were related with politics but nevertheless i liked it and watched till the end. Although i didn't like the last season as much as the others. I'm not surprised that this show and its actors won so many Emmys.

Also one more reason that i'm glad i watched it is because i discovered actress Allison Janney and her character CJ is my favourite female tv character now. I'd rewatch this whole show because of her. Also in my opinion CJ and Danny is an underrated couple of this series. I also like Josh and Donna but kind of ended up watching for CJ and Danny and don't regret it.