West Wing angst
I never thought that I'd admit it, but there it is. I have West Wing angst.
John Wells, let's be honest with each other. The show has gone *gasp* downhill since Sorkin got arrested for possessing some shroomies and bailed. You and Tommy Schlamme and your brother Llewellyn (nice handle. he should shorten it to Llew. or just Lew) just don't have the chops or the humour. So let me give you some pointers on where you can improve.
1. The Campaign: Josh isn't funny anymore. And getting rid of Donna was a bad plan. Half the reason most of the people I know hung on after Rob Lowe bailed was the hope of a Josh/Donna liaison. You had the perfect opportunity and blew it. Jimmy Smits, while hot, needs some depth of character and USE Janeane Garofalo! Let her write! She's hysterical! And smart! I mean, have you seen "The Truth About Cats and Dogs"!?! And you've got HAWKEYE! You need to bring the funny and the wit, John. These people are all proven adept at handling Sorkin's (or Sorkin-like) wit, so get on it. Also? The Campaign episodes are boring. Political strategy is more interesting to West Wing viewers than issues aurrounding media and communications. Spin doesn't play well on TV. Strategy is better. Remember the "Manchester" episodes back in Season 3? Strategy. Terrific. Don't re-invent the wheel.
2. Back at the White House: Again, the funny, but we've had that discussion already and I won't go back into it (but seriously - Toby and CJ were way better when they were wittier). Getting rid of Leo as COS was, I think, the dumbest thing you all have done since letting Rob Lowe go. CJ needed to grow, yes, but CoS? No. Toby would've been better, and then you make CJ the communications director. Then you could've had sparks fly with Toby and Bartlet...you know what I mean. Mary McCormack is lovely and young and would be an interesting deputy NSA in real life, but seriously? I want Nancy back. She was better, and more edgy. This shit about an Armageddon-type spaceship that no one knows about is insane. Surely you could've found a way to work in something a little less pedestrian than a Bruce Willis/Ben Affleck movie? Where did Bartlet go? What happened to Danny Concannon (yes, I saw the season premiere with CJ and Danny, but they'll need to get cracking if they want to have a baby in 3 years...bring him back!)? Where's Charlie? What about Abby? What happened to the "we have 356 days left. Now let's DO something". Instead, we get stuck with an ineffective White House and a silly campaign.
John, you have a show that works when all the pieces come together. I will continue to watch every week, but I need you to do something for me, too: put in a little bit of an effort. I feel like you're leaving us loyal viewers hanging. If you do, I promise I'll buy seasons 5-infinity on DVD (I already have 1-4).
John Wells, let's be honest with each other. The show has gone *gasp* downhill since Sorkin got arrested for possessing some shroomies and bailed. You and Tommy Schlamme and your brother Llewellyn (nice handle. he should shorten it to Llew. or just Lew) just don't have the chops or the humour. So let me give you some pointers on where you can improve.
1. The Campaign: Josh isn't funny anymore. And getting rid of Donna was a bad plan. Half the reason most of the people I know hung on after Rob Lowe bailed was the hope of a Josh/Donna liaison. You had the perfect opportunity and blew it. Jimmy Smits, while hot, needs some depth of character and USE Janeane Garofalo! Let her write! She's hysterical! And smart! I mean, have you seen "The Truth About Cats and Dogs"!?! And you've got HAWKEYE! You need to bring the funny and the wit, John. These people are all proven adept at handling Sorkin's (or Sorkin-like) wit, so get on it. Also? The Campaign episodes are boring. Political strategy is more interesting to West Wing viewers than issues aurrounding media and communications. Spin doesn't play well on TV. Strategy is better. Remember the "Manchester" episodes back in Season 3? Strategy. Terrific. Don't re-invent the wheel.
2. Back at the White House: Again, the funny, but we've had that discussion already and I won't go back into it (but seriously - Toby and CJ were way better when they were wittier). Getting rid of Leo as COS was, I think, the dumbest thing you all have done since letting Rob Lowe go. CJ needed to grow, yes, but CoS? No. Toby would've been better, and then you make CJ the communications director. Then you could've had sparks fly with Toby and Bartlet...you know what I mean. Mary McCormack is lovely and young and would be an interesting deputy NSA in real life, but seriously? I want Nancy back. She was better, and more edgy. This shit about an Armageddon-type spaceship that no one knows about is insane. Surely you could've found a way to work in something a little less pedestrian than a Bruce Willis/Ben Affleck movie? Where did Bartlet go? What happened to Danny Concannon (yes, I saw the season premiere with CJ and Danny, but they'll need to get cracking if they want to have a baby in 3 years...bring him back!)? Where's Charlie? What about Abby? What happened to the "we have 356 days left. Now let's DO something". Instead, we get stuck with an ineffective White House and a silly campaign.
John, you have a show that works when all the pieces come together. I will continue to watch every week, but I need you to do something for me, too: put in a little bit of an effort. I feel like you're leaving us loyal viewers hanging. If you do, I promise I'll buy seasons 5-infinity on DVD (I already have 1-4).
posted by WitMistress at 10:54 AM
1 Comments:
Applause! I didn't even watch it last night and really never missed it.
I hate that there's 84,000 loose ends in storylines - Sam Seaborn - off to the wild blue yonders, never to be seen or heard from again, Charlie and Zoe, where's Debbie Fitterer this year?!, and the election stuff IS boring. Could they juice it up a bit?
You hit every nail on the head. I'm saddened that it went so south too.
PS: Josh needs a hefty dose of Ex-lax. ;)
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