BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!

Subject: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: tarheel
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:07 PM

its only an hour show...
i've been a West Wing fan for long time,but this "live " debate episode fell flat on its face...no audience response when the 2 candidates really got at each others throats!
no winner here tonight in the debate!
the VIEWER was certainly the LOSER!!
tar...

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:20 PM

well....It's a strange day when I have to actually agree with tarheel! *grin*....

It was an 'interesting' idea, and it did show some of the bones of some of the issues, but they simply didn't write as good lines for the Republican...(Alan Alda). It was a scripted attempt to look like and UN scripted event, and it felt awkward.

I think the program has written itself into a corner, where they have chosen two 'candidates' for their imaginary election, neither of which is very believable. I hope they do something to salvage the season, as I have enjoyed the 'almost' realistic presentation of issues for the last several years.


we shall see......

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Peace
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:38 PM

Now I know why I have no TV.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:45 PM

Maybe it's time for the show to end. Seems to me I remember ER doing a live show to try to boost lagging viewer interest. It too should go away quietly. West Wing could end with an all-out nuclear war triggered by a terrorist dirty bomb in.... I should sell the idea to the network. Would improve ratings.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Jeri
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:50 PM

I just discovered West Wing last year and have been a huge fan - mostly of the shows prior to last season. No, this episode didn't really inspire me. Other than the beginning when they tossed out the rules, it was a little TOO realistic. Democrat talked about lofty dreams of a better American society. Republican talked about about bad stuff he didn't like, such as higher taxes for rich people, in a very superficial way. Neither one came off as truly evil or truly great, although Santos actually said things. The best thing that could happen to the show is for one of them to get elected and then be assasinated so the VP takes over. I don't know who the Rep VP candidate is and Leo's a sort of LBJ-ish Dem, but I've always liked the character.

They seem to be milking the campaign process for everything it's worth and then some. It seems like they're afraid of what happens next.

Then again, I think they need to come out with a Jimmy Smitts Matt Santos action figure.

Ths is a trip: they're broadcasting two different versions, probably due to time differences. One for east and one for west. It'd be interesting to hear the westies' take on it.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Nov 05 - 09:53 PM

TV? Izzat?

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Deckman
Date: 07 Nov 05 - 06:40 AM

I am also a HUGE West Wing fan. I tried to watch it tonight and Judy and I had the same reaction ... "It's too real to be enjoyable!" Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Kaleea
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 01:26 AM

I thought Jimmy Smitts was great when he debated Ellen on her show last friday! I figured since I saw that debate, I didn't need to see the live Sunday night show. From your reactions, I think I got it right.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: GUEST,jperkins
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 12:06 PM

Worst Epesoide ever!!! I have seen every epesoide of the west wing and this was the worst they have ever done. The intire premise for the show is so the viewer can be a part of the polotics. In this epesoide we were sold politics. Where was all the behinde the scense stuff. We only saw two members of the cast in the entire epesoide and there was no sceen change. I hope they can move past this flopp

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 12:41 PM

I didn't see the episode, but I wonder if there's fairness in having Alan Alda play the Wicked Republican. He played a similar role on The Aviator, and I think I've seen him play the same part in other productions.
I like Alan Alda, but I don't think it's possible for him to give a "sympathetic" portrayal of a Republican.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Wesley S
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 01:36 PM

I don't think it was as bad as all that. Anyway I'd rather see a good show try something different than do the same old thing week after week.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Jeri
Date: 08 Nov 05 - 05:21 PM

Joe, other than the whoole Republican agenda thing, Vinick IS pretty respectable. A major point of the show, to me, is to demonstrate how neither party is all good or all evil. They're just about two different ways of standing up for beliefs. Vinick did good when he decided not to 'take the pledge' on ethanol. Santos caved.

I'd be interested in hearing what Republicans think of the show. Tarheel says he's been a fan for a long time, and I don't think he'd feel that way if the program demonized conservatives. The guy they have (or 'had'?) for Speaker is pretty scummy, but John Goodman turned out OK as stand-in Prez and they've had a few sleazy Democrats.

Next idea for reviving ratings: Abbie Bartlett wakes up, takes shower and realizes the past 4 years were a dream. No major MS episodes, General Fitz is still alive, Leo never had a heart attack, Sam never left, etc.

Still another idea: Matt Santos wakes up and takes a shower. That's it. That's the whole show - just Jimmy Smitts in the shower. Works for me.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Nov 05 - 12:41 PM

Jimmy Smits TOOK a shower on "NYPD BLUES"...you didn't tape it?

Now if they let him shower with that silly little 5' blond with the squeaky voice who puts Valentine candy on the desks, they might have something....

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Linda Goodman Zebooker
Date: 10 Nov 05 - 12:34 AM

Oh, but that's Kristin Chenoweth! I think she's kind of wasted in that part...I'm more familiar with her as a singer, I first heard her on Prairie Home Companion and seen her at Wolf Trap (summer performing arts venue) She does the most amazing 30's Broadway numbers!!! (and I do, ahem, always take an interest in other 5' tall people!). But she's almost impossible to understand on the show. I often watch the show wearing headphones- it's almost the only way I can hear what's going on.

I didn't watch the show at all until about last March or April. I'd try to watch for a few minutes every once in awhile but it just seemed to be a bunch of people galloping through corridors, mumbling unintelligibly, and I'd give up. Then the cable channel started playing episodes in order, beginning with the first one - so I could finally figure out who the heck the characters were - and then I was hooked.

In 1999 or 2000 they filmed a few minutes of one of the episodes on N Street in DC - a few doors down from where I worked. The street was cordoned off all day and there were people sitting in real director's chairs set up. A taxi was filmed going down the street over and over. Bystanders kept whispering "there's Rob LOWE!!!!" (who??, I thought). I've never quite figured out which program that was - possibly Mandatory Minimums.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Nov 05 - 06:44 PM

hey! Yeah, Linda...I do the headphone thing too....for more than Kristin, though she REQUIRES it. She speaks in these little bursts of phrases that sound like she's channeling a hyper chipmonk!

(I keep forgetting who Rob Lowe even plays! Isn't he the one who was in trouble a few years back for his 'personal' video?)

anyway, I wonder what they're gonna do with her in the new administration.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 10 Nov 05 - 09:29 PM

I'm obviously in the minority here, but I never could really tolerate THE WEST WING or WEST WONK as I call it.

I once cursed it as an unhealthy time-sink that sucks moderates and liberals into a fantasy world where their candidate actually won the election, excusing their inaction in real life to do anything about the banana republic we actually live in. I further suggested it lulled them to sleep once a week like a narcotic, sapping their resolve to actually confront the harsher reality of a rapidly evaporating democracy.

I don't really feel that way anymore, but I do think it's just a silly wish-fufilment thing.

Joe Hill would have said:
"Don't fantasize, organize!"

Now I'm gonna get it, right?

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Linda Goodman Zebooker
Date: 10 Nov 05 - 11:46 PM

I agree. I like the show now, but do worry it's a displacement of energy.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 11 Nov 05 - 12:54 AM

wow! Linda! Glad to know I'm not the only one with such thoughts.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Nov 05 - 12:57 AM

I think TV is a displacement of energy.

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Nov 05 - 03:34 PM

This is the only scheduled show we watch any more, and it's rapidly approaching the tipping point.

Now let me first admit I'm a political junkie, and served a year as full time safe on a bruising U.S. Senate campaign that went flaming into the ground. So I can identity with, or at least appreciate, many of the characters that are portrayed on this show. However, I still find it hard to follow the fast paced dialogue, even with the captions turned on. Maybe I should consider watching this show sober but drinking was an important part of the political campaign process.

Most of the time everything is an incredible muddle and one hopes that someone will demonstrate brillance, take charge, and make it all better. Sometimes that happens on West Wing. But often people make poor choices or are forced to compromise so much that the result is depressing.

I was hoping for an even better debate, but it was vastly better than the more regulated "real debates" we get to watch.

So we'll continue to watch this show, till its ultimate demise.

By that time we'll probably be working on the 2006 Congressional election, and it seems to me that could be even more important and interesting.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: 'LIVE' west wing...a flopp!!!!!
From: Zamboo
Date: 11 Nov 05 - 09:24 PM

A major problem with the debate (and all the other issues aired on the show) is that it's still a parallel universe where there's no Iraq war. This is like having an invisible gorilla in the room. The show is great, and I've watched it from the beginning, but it's moving farther and farther away from reality. There's no major divisive issue that splits the electorate like the war does in our world. Anybody agree?