The show that I have chosen to critique is The West Wing, which is shown on NBC, Wednesdays at 9:00. The first episode that I watched is called Hartsfield's Landing. It broadcasted on Wednesday, February 27 2002.

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The West Wing

        The show that I have chosen to critique is The West Wing, which is shown on NBC, Wednesdays at 9:00.  The first episode that I watched is called Hartsfield’s Landing.  It broadcasted on Wednesday, February 27 2002.  

        The West Wing was created by producers Aaron Sorkin (“A Few Good Men”), Thomas Schlamme (“Tracey Takes On”) and John Wells (“ER”).  This episode was directed by Vincent Misiano.  It stars Rob Lowe (“St. Elmo’s Fire”), Dule Hill, Allison Janney (“American Beauty”), Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff (“Relativity”), John Spencer (“L.A. Law”), Bradley Whitford, and Martin Sheen (“Apocalypse Now”).  For its debut season (1999-2000), “The West Wing” was honored with nine Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, which it won again in 2001. It holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season (its first). Other awards include a Peabody Award for excellence in television, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama Series and three Television Critics Association Awards (official site).  

        In the first episode I watched, “Hartsfield’s Landing”, President Bartlet (Sheen) returns from a visit to India to face a major foreign affairs issue.  The Chinese government wanted to practice war scenarios where they would invade Taiwan.  China threatened this because Taiwan was going to test weapons they bought from the United States.  While in his trip to India, the President acquires some chess sets that he gives to his staff.  As the President is playing games of chess with his staff (his friendly games used as a metaphor for his diplomatic strategy game he is playing with China) he decides to bluff and send several Destroyers to Taiwan.  Meanwhile, it is the night of the New Hampshire primary elections.  Hartsfield’s Landing is the first city to vote, and their results have predicted the winner of the presidential elections since Taft.  So, the Chief of Staff, (Whitford), tries desperately to get a few votes that could allow the President some publicity of being the winner of the Hartsfield’s Landing election.  China agrees to stop their war games if Taiwan only tests one missile and the US will not sell China the Destroyers (which the President had no intention of selling in the first place).  

        The good points I saw in the show were the realism of the characters and the set.  That, along with the wonderful cast, did an excellent job of believing that this is what goes on in the White House.  The thing that I did not like about the show was the quick and heavy dialogue.  There was little action, most of the show consisted of the characters interacting with each other.  The dialogue was either fast and hard to follow, or was useless and had nothing to do with the plot or character development.  

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        My first opinion of The West Wing is positive for the most part.  The politics of the episode was very interesting.  It gave me a good look of the personal and “behind-the-scenes” look of a president handling a crisis.  I also like the use of the chessboard as a metaphor for the Chinese problem.  However, because of the heavy (and sometimes pointless) dialogue and lack of action, I found the show to be a bit dull.  I am interested in watching the other episodes so I can get more of a feel for this award-winning show.

        For my second viewing, ...

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