Monday, November 14, 2005
The West Wing: The Entire Series
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1* *2*
- Commentary: It took me a long time to decide to buy this series. When we watched it first run on TV I was never sure that Mom liked it. Finally, when the price dropped drastically and even more so at Costco, I picked up these seasons. To my surprise Mom was as fascinated with it in arrears as I am. We will probably and eventually purchase all the seasons, even the much maligned fifth and certainly the last season. Mom especially enjoys watching the episodes with the good subtitles and has mentioned that she "understands it a lot better" now that we can "rewind" when she doesn't catch something. When we watch this I am reminded how Mom still enjoys following politics even though she can't remember who the current president is and doesn't anymore care who it is.
I asked her, after we watched the first season on DVD, why she liked the show.
"It's like bartering in shops in Mexico," she said.
12/24/06 Update: You'll notice the designation has changed to "The Entire Series", rather than just seasons 1 & 2. I received the series this year as a surprise gift from a long time friend. It was an extreme surprise because he and I have never been known to exchange gifts, we rarely see each other, we don't email each other, we talk on the phone infrequently, and yet we remain bonded. He is one of the few people I know who is aware of my ambivalent interest in politics and my "secret" desire to become President of the United States. Truth is, I only vaguely remember talking to him about the series once, soon after it started, when Mom and I still lived part of the year in Mesa and, him living in Scottsdale, we spoke more frequently and occasionally visited one another. I do remember I was pretty excited about it, at the time we talked about it. So was he. He was recording the episodes. I wasn't, though. Funny thing, when I noticed that the entire series was available of a piece, I thought about buying it but since I already had the first two seasons and Mom and I hadn't watched it in awhile, I figured, well, maybe I should try it out on her again and see if I should collect the other seasons separately. I couldn't see spending the amount of money involved in purchasing the entire series when it would be cheaper for me to fill in the seasons. So, this was like one of those magical gift moments that blew me away!
Needless to say, I'll be turning the first two seasons in for credit at my usual search-for-bargains video store.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Martin Sheen Josiah Bartlet John Spencer Leo McGarry Bradley Whitford Josh Lyman Richard Schiff Toby Ziegler Allison Janney C.J. Cregg Janel Moloney Donna Moss Stockard Channing Abbey Bartlet Moira Kelly Mandy Hampton Joshua Malina Will Bailey Mary McCormack Kate Harper Alan Alda Arnold Vinick Jimmy Smits Matt Santos Rob Lowe Sam Seaborn Dulé Hill Charlie Young Kristin Chenoweth Annabeth Schott Lily Tomlin Deborah Fiderer
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the series.
Release Date: 1999-2006
Directed by, as usual, very few women, scattered throughout all seasons, mostly men.
Labels: aaron-sorkin, dramaA, dylan-baker, edward-james-olmos, female-director2, political4, presidential, TV2, william-devane, željko-ivanek
