the west wing - prelude

there's probably few things as annoying as hearing someone talk about a TV show that you don't watch, but heck, this is my blog and I don't care!

before I go into a more in-depth look at why I loved the west wing so much, I wanted to just highlight a few notable things about the show.

for those who don't know, TWW ran for seven seasons (2000-2006)and was essentially the most critically acclaimed series on mainstream television in its time. It starred Martin Sheen as the POTUS, a man of far more integrity and morality than any President in my lifetime, and about the daily goings and outings of the West Wing. In its seven seasons, the show dealt with its fair share of military (North Korea, the Middle East were prominent storylines) crises, political/diplomatic crises, and emotional crises of the staff that I grew to love, sometimes hate, but ultimately love.

On a very general level, what made the show so amazing is that it made American politics (the behind the scenes) real and tangible and VISUAL. aaron sorkin and thomas schlamme worked out this amazing technique of the "walk and talk", which suits the show with such great ease (scenes were constantly on the move - a perfect match to the syncopation of the dialogue). it inspired me, made me cry, and more importantly, pushed me to think about politics on a day-to-day and personal level.

more to come.