Best of the Small Screen, No. 2


Over the next 2 weeks I'll be taking a look at some of my favorite TV series, broken down into three groups (Limited Run Series, Comedies, and Dramas). In my post on March 1 I laid out the ground rules for these categories and this exploration, the biggest of which is no series that are currently airing. To read the whole thing, check out the post "Best of the Small Screen" from March 1.

Getting close to the top, and really, this one could have had that spot.

The West Wing (1999-2006)
Number of Seasons/Episodes: 7/155
Network: NBC
Starring: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, John Spencer, Richard Schiff, Dule Hill, Rob Lowe, Joshua Malina, and Stockard Channing
Creator: Aaron Sorkin
Favorite Season/Episodes: Season 1, 7; 1.01 "Pilot," 1.10 "In Excelsis Deo," 1.22 "What Kind of Day Has It Been," 2.01-2.02 "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen," 2.22 "Two Cathedrals," 3.21 "Posse Comitatus," 4.23 "Twenty Five"
Synopsis: Sorkin is a great and talented writer. If you've been following this countdown since March, you'd remember that Sorkin was the creator of my No. 1 comedy, "Sports Night." He nearly had the top spot in drama, too, with "The West Wing," which remains a show I love to watch and re-watch to this day. It's especially good escapism given our current political climate, but it was at the time, too. I remember in the midst of a political scandal seeing Jay Leno, in his "Tonight Show" monologue, talking about having a President America could believe in, and posting a picture of Sheen as Josiah Bartlett. Sorkin's series opened up a dialogue and debate, and presented an idealized vision of what our government could be. For those who are fans, you can relive the show episode-by-episode with the podcast West Wing Weekly. It's hard to pin down favorite seasons and episodes because their all good. But I loved the first season, and some of its powerful episodes and moments. Equally, I loved season seven, which was on the campaign trail, and it is one I've watched a number of times. In terms of episodes, I picked a lot of emotional powerhouses. "What Kind of Day Has It Been" is a beautiful episode that ends with a shocking assassination attempt, and "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen" is the two-part season two premier that picks up those threads and goes back in time to see how team Bartlett came together. "Posse Comitatus" was a fascinating episode that set a lot of things in motion, while "Twenty Five," Sorkin's final episode as showrunner, features the President's daughter being kidnapped and him having to invoke the 25th Amendment and name the Republican Speaker of the House as President. I will also always have a soft spot for the "Pilot," which established the characters and world, and was unlike anything I'd ever seen. But, by far, my two most favorite episodes are arguably the most emotional. "Two Cathedrals" would have been powerful enough just dealing with the President's personal crisis, and his decision of whether to run again. But when you add the death of a prominent character, and the sequence in the church, it becomes something so much more powerful. Finally, my favorite episode of the series, and one of my favorite hours of television period, is "In Excelsis Deo," a powerful episode that was the first Christmas episode for the series. It is a beautiful story full of wonderful performances that makes me tear up every time I see it. If you've never seen "The West Wing," what are you waiting for?

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