I’m trying to watch the West Wing again, which I used to love, but it is just so detached from our current reality that it seems like science fiction.
On The Road – Karen H – Great Sand Dunes National ParkReader Interactions
85Comments
Comments are closed.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.
So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.
Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.
A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.
T R E 4 5 O N
Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.
Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.
The words do not have to be perfect.
Only Democrats have agency, apparently.
Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.
Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.
It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.
Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.
“Squeaker” McCarthy
I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.
An almost top 10,000 blog!
We are aware of all internet traditions.
Accountability, motherfuckers.
I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.
Damn right I heard that as a threat.
And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.
I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.
Republicans do not pay their debts.
It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.
WaterGirl
Where are you watching West Wing? I think it just left Netflix, where did it go?
Trinity
Science fiction indeed. It’s rather heartbreaking.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Never saw it. I’m thinking of restarting Mad Men or Better Call Saul
NotMax
@WaterGirl
AFAIK, HBO Max.
Uncle Jeffy
You knew it was science fiction when you discovered that the President was a PhD economist.
NotMax
Maybe not science fiction but it is time travel, what with originally airing in the last century.
:)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ditto. Holds zero attraction to sample it. YMMV.
Suzanne
It’s almost done. Twenty-three hours and forty-nine minutes to go.
Edmund Dantes
It was divorced from reality when it aired too. It still acted like the old school gop existed when Newt and his crew had already ushered that dying breed out the door. At least in the first season it was still plausible. But when they got to the election campaign to succeed Bartlett it was way past its date. Alan Alda type ever would have won the nomination.
The Moar You Know
I was really into this band, Tropical Fuck Storm, last January. Can’t listen to them anymore. Feels like it’s been a thousand years since then. Watching any TV is right out for me. Shows with people gathering tight-packed at bars. So close packed. Everyone. Seems totally unreal. Nothing means what it used to. I think we’re all going to be going through a heavy dose of that.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Yes, it’s on HBO Max.
As a side note, I discovered only a week ago that I can have a “free” HBO Max account through my (overpriced) Cox Cable account. Logged in today, and it seems to check out so far. Go figure.
Jinchi
Apparently Trump and Pence are cancelling their vacations early, which makes me wonder: Do the president and VP really need to cash in their vacation days before they leave office? Not that I object, but, despite all their whining, they really don’t seem to want these jobs.
dmsilev
@Suzanne: The phrase ‘2020 hindsight’ is going to be a lot more meaningful soon.
Steeplejack
The West Wing was a bit fantastical when it first ran (1999-2006). Bit of an escapist fairy tale for the dismal Dubya years.
WaterGirl
Happy to see this headline on the Washington Post:
Youth voter turnout in Georgia runoffs shows signs of sustained enthusiasm post-November
oldgold
One episode of West Wing that will never get old is “Two Cathedrals.” In terms of network TV, this episode might be the GOAT.
Kelly
Science Fiction? We’re working our thru Farscape on Amazon Prime. Mrs Kelly isn’t much of a Sci Fi fan but the Jim Henson Productions participation drew her in. Good escapist fun.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Cox tease.
:)
I finally took the plunge and cut the cord on cable TV this month (kept the internet and phone services). Saving (for now, more later undoubtedly) 90+ clams per month just for cable connectivity a strong incentive. $35 of that is now going to Sling so i can continue to get MSNBC and TCM, but that I can much better afford. (Actually, got the deal for 2nd month of Sling free, so a tad extra savings there.) Was also able to catch up on missed seasons of Archer and The Venture Bros. on other channels that come along with Sling.
Wag
Kent
I can’t stand to watch West Wing while Trump remains in office. I probably watched most every episode back when it originally aired though.
I’ve taken to watching lots of Nordic Noir mystery series. There are a ton of them on Netflix, Prime, and Hulu. Currently watching Midnight Sun on Hulu which is about a series of murders in the Lapp country in far northern Sweden but that’s mostly because I’ve watched almost all the other good ones like the Finnish series Borderland on Netflix.
The Nordic countries would have you believe they are peaceful civilized places compared to the US. It’s all LIES I tell you. LIES!!! They murder each other with a level of ferocity and creativity that is unmatched by anything that happens here. I know. I saw it on Netflix!
sdhays
@WaterGirl: I saw that too. Earlier, I saw that something like 41k people who didn’t vote in November had already voted. I’m hopeful.
Kent
Yes, absolutely hilarious and well done. Highly recommended for a much needed laugh. It’s basically an hour-long Saturday Night Live skit about the past year with nothing but top top actors playing the roles. Like Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Grant, and Tracy Ullman.
Wag
@NotMax:
We did the same thing earlier this year. Great decision.
sdhays
@oldgold: What was that one?
Kent
@WaterGirl: The other lead headline right now on the WP is
Sen. Perdue became wealthy outsourcing work to China. Now he stands with Trump, who wants to ‘end our reliance on China.’
I guess they have run out fucks as well.
M. Bouffant
@Steeplejack: I’ll be damned, same w/ Spectrum. Thanks.
NotMax
@Kent
If you haven’t already run through them, Roba (Prime) and Fallet (Netflix) are both pretty good. Also too Mamon (Prime), although technically not Nordic.
Haven’t tried it yet but Equinox dropped on Netflix today. Trailer oozes Nordic noir potential.
oldgold
@sdhays:
From Wiki:
President Bartlet is beset by memories of Mrs. Landingham as her funeral approaches. Meanwhile, the staff deals with a crisis in Haitiand questions from congressional Democratsregarding Bartlet’s health, following his disclosure that he has multiple sclerosis (MS). “Two Cathedrals” is widely considered to be one of the greatest episodes of The West Wing
Kent
@NotMax: Haven’t seen those. Have them bookmarked now. There are a few that are hidden in Prime that are also good. Rebecka Martinsson and Trapped. Young Wallander on Neflix is also good. And I liked the Norwegian political drama Occupied. And the HBO Nordic time-travel series Beforeigned.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: I guess I don’t know that the younger people in Georgia are voting for the Dems, but it sure seems more likely than not.
WaterGirl
@Kent: I saw that and thought it was interesting. A day late and a dollar short, but better late than never?
Ruckus
I couldn’t watch WW since shitforbrains was sworn (at) in but was able to start again from the beginning since he LOST for sure. So I tried to binge watch before it left Netflix for HBO max. Didn’t quite make it and as I’d quite HBO max because it just doesn’t suit me but I thought I had 2 weeks left before my last month ran out – you can probably see where this is going. Middle of season 6 with out access.
Yes it’s a show that has little level of truth but it was a pretty good show anyway. Well done, both heroes and villains, and people do well and also screw up. A bit over the top at times but still, well done overall.
WaterGirl
@oldgold: Is that the one where there’s a huge rainstorm and Bartlett is soaking wet and he is yelling at god, calling him feckless?
If so, I would agree with you about that being such a powerful episode, and maybe the greatest of all time.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: Just look at the photo in that article. Two real people on the left, that look like people you might want to get to know. Two privileged smug and arrogant white people on the right. That photo says it all.
wjs
We invested a lot of time in watching Madam Secretary and, sure enough, after Trump’s first year in office, couldn’t watch it. Couldn’t square the earnestness and selflessness and dedication depicted in the show with the absolute dumpster fire of our reality at the time.
To me, the only show that made sense during the last four years was The Thick of It and watching that, in reruns on Hulu, with the mile a minute abuse in Scottish and the utter insanity of it all, yep. That was more true than anything. Yeah, Veep is good. But, my God, when Malcolm gets going, it’s just brilliant.
Sorkin? Hell no. Armando Iannucci is the only person who has gotten it right.
West of the Rockies
@Kelly:
Farscape had some good episodes and characters!
Cathie from Canada
Yes, John, I know what you mean. What a wonderful show it was, and now when I even think about The West Wing, I get so sad.
mrmoshpotato
@Wag: Kent also recommended Death To 2020 last night. I watched it. It is FUCKING HILARIOUS!
ballerat
It seemed so cutting edge 20 years ago. Now it seems naif and escapist.
I hate so many more people now it makes me physically ill.
A difference between me and trumpers? They are not bothered by how many people they despise.
To be a trumper means you don’t have that part of humanity within you.
HumboldtBlue
They nailed the vicious white-boy terrorism that lead to Kenosha.
The GOP is what they were portrayed in the series.
They wanted to kill for white supremacy and they wanted to kill for christian domination, and they’ve succeeded.
Now we get a rampant virus and vicious right-wing assholes who think divine intervention is real.
Thank god we have Dianne Feinstein in office.
Joey Maloney
The cold open and first act of TWW season 2 opener will still get my pulse a-pounding. (“Blue! GW! Blue! Blue!”)
And, political naivete notwithstanding, the dialog throughout Sorkin’s tenure was fabulous.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
I have been toying with the idea of cutting the cable but haven’t gotten around to doing the tedious research. Inertia. I have had good service from Cox for 15 years, but the cost has slowly but steadily gone up, like the water in a lobster pot, and only occasionally do I wake up and say, “Whoa!” But inertia.
I could probably drop to Internet service only (don’t need land-line phone) and save enough to subscribe to every streaming service I could possibly want, but I want to make sure I would be covered for everything I might want. The big benefit of cable TV—maybe the only benefit—is that everything is in one (semi-)convenient basket.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@oldgold: It even has a bit from Lawence O’Donald.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
I hear ya. Put it off for over a year myself for much the same reason. Meantime the cable bill inexorably crept into sticker shock territory. Once the total bill surpassed the amount spent each month for groceries the die was cast.
Still find it a little surprising the company does not offer some kind of limited cable service senior discount.
JoyceH
I’ve watched West Wing through at least twice and will watch it again someday. Yes, it’s a fantasy, but it’s a nice fantasy – smart, nice people genuinely trying their best to make the country and the world a better place. And funny! Bartlet calling the Butterball Hotline was a classic.
JoyceH
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, right! Lawrence O’Donnell in the flashbacks as Bartlet’s awful dad!
randal m sexton
I watched a few episodes of it when it aired originally, in the company of some old school Roosevelt Dems. The show pissed me off – I was pointing out that it was portraying the R’s as less wrong, and more honorable than they obviously were, and that the D’s were smarter and more resolute than they were. I tried to paraphrase what Hunter S. T. described what was happening, the wave of intolerance that was coming, to the usual amount of avail that comes with that sort of pre-hindsight. Well, the wheel turns, and doesn’t slow down.
opiejeanne
@JoyceH: When Lawrence slapped him I was stunned, and in that brief moment you knew everything about what a tyrant, what a monster he was.
Jay
Jay
JoyceH
@randal m sexton:
But, you know – why is that a bad thing? Maybe that ought to be the standard we set, and the level of competence and good will that we should be expecting. “See? This is the sort of person you ought to be voting for, not these con men and crackpots.”
It ought to BOTHER us what we’ve come to expect as business as usual. Trump is quite obviously going publicly insane, and everyone is just ‘oh, that’s Trump being Trump.’ Sen Hawley has decided to advocate sedition on the floor of the Senate, and the pundits shrug and say, ‘he’s just appealing to the Trump base to set himself up for a 2024 run’. So – no biggy, right?
We get what we’re willing to put up with. And these days we’re willing to put up with stuff that no civilized people should put up with.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
“Sticker shock territory.” Yeah. For me it was early this year, when I went to a Cox store to see about buying a replacement for my dead cable modem. They said they no longer sold them but would graciously rent me one for $10 or so a month. I said no thanks (and bought one later from Best Buy). But while I was there they looked at my record and said my current cable box was obsolete and would be going out of support. They offered me a new, improved cable box but swore there would be no extra charge. Insisted that I take it with me and bring the old one back later. Which I did. Then my cable bill went up $25 the next month. That was the sticker-shock moment.
I could never get through on customer support, then I went out of town, then there was the pandemic ramping up in March. Don’t know if that affected their customer support, but I never could get through. Eventually I gave up and thought I would get around to it later. Fast-forward to now. Another project for the new year.
Ivan X
The Good Fight (unfortunately stranded on CBS All Access) feels much more relevant and cathartic.
Jay
As we have learned, Low Information Voters and other “common clay of the New West” think that what they see on TV is real.
Like “The Apprentice”.
Jay
Jay
Modern ReThugs,…..
Dee
@oldgold: what about episode when President’s wife is called Mrs Bartlett. She then wanted to know when she stopped being Dr and became Mrs.?
Mary G
LA Times:
Some L.A. County mortuaries and funeral homes simply have no more room for the dead.
Geminid
@Jay: I’ve been cheering on Lynn Wood because his baseless assertions of voter fraud tend to undermine Republican turnout in the Georgia Senate runoff. But there is not a shred of evidence that Jeffrey Epstein had anything whatsoever to do with John Roberts’ two adopted children. Wood is just advancing this bogus story to allege that Roberts is being “blackmailed” into going along with the Democrat’s “election steal.”
raven
@Geminid: Lin
Geminid
@raven: Thank you for the correction. And good luck with your lower back problem. At least you will get relief from those GOTV texts soon.
raven
@Geminid: Thanks!
rikyrah
@oldgold:
While I can’t watch WW in general while in the era of Dolt45,
I can watch those episodes. Broke my heart.
And, I can watch the season finale of that year.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kent: Have you watched The Norsemen? It’s an English language Norwegian slapstick comedy set in the Viking era. I’ve only seen an episode or two but it’s amusing.
J R in WV
@raven:
Yes, I too wish you well with your back troubles!
I’ve had off and on back issues since I was hit by a car while in the USN, and gave up white water and caving once I realized the implications of having my back go out deep into a cave.
I’ve had good luck with my most recent PT who’s a specialist in spinal issues, and also loves the blues.
A lot of back exercises are derived from yoga and they seem to help me a lot, in moderation.
Best of luck with your issues! Feel free to get in touch with me if you want to ask about it.
Ramalama
My family was obsessed with West Wing. Every time I visited my parents, some episode of West Wing was always on on one of the tvs. At Christmas time, all us adult kids and parents together, we’d have West Wing on in the background while sometimes discussing what everyone’s favorite episode was. My dad, in his early buying-shizz-off-the-internet education, bought my mom the whole series on DVDs. A Chinese knock-off. We are not Chinese. It arrived in the mail, this big boxed set, outside in Mandarin lettering? Same with the dvd menus. But Mom figured out how to run through the episodes and to disable subtitles, so she was happy.
Mom had a crush on Martin Sheen from way way back. And since some of us kids were fussy eaters, forcing her to cook restricted recipes, when she wanted to Go All In on some new recipe and didn’t, I think her sacrifice was noted. And appreciated in our own way, that is, and we just fell in with her West Wing obsession.
Fun times.
Ramalama
@Ivan X: Totally agree. That show is tha bomb.
Low Key Swagger
I’ll watch anything that has Sorkin dialogue. It’s faced paced, funny, and keeps me engaged. I’ll never understand the Sorkin hate. I realize people don’t talk like that, I wish they did.
Booger
As an incentive to those of you considering cutting the cord, remember that Fox News’ business model is not based on advertising revenue, but from the exorbitant fees they extract from being bundled with basic cable packages.
SFAW
@randal m sexton:
I know what you mean. Star Trek (TOS) used to piss me right-the-fuck OFF because how DARE they imply that people of different races got along and worked well together in the 24th century! How fucking naive was Roddenberry, to even consider that shit?
Mousebumples
I love the West Wing. 2 of my favorite eps are the Stackhouse Filibuster and the one about the Supreme Court Vacancy where 2 New justices are appointed (including the first female Chief) from opposite ideologies. Definitely idealistic, but it’s fictional fantasy anyhow.
Two Cathedrals is great but more serious and less escapist.
Bergman16
@NotMax: sling has a great TV antenna option that works great for me.
bluefish
I still watch the show but, yeah, does feel like something out of the ancient world.
JML
I’m still a huge fan of TWW, just finished The West Wing Weekly podcast that Josh Malina and Rishi Hirway did earlier this year (which had a lot of fun insights to the show and basically everyone who ever appeared on the show guested at one point, along with a lot of the behind the scenes people). It’s from a different era, but the hopefulness is nice.
I was obsessed with the show when it first aired, even went out with a friend when they were filming in the area and spent the day as an extra on the set. (sadly, my good scene with Martin Sheen got cut so I’m just in the background at the as a blur) The cast were super nice to everyone.
NJ Progressive
@Edmund Dantes: Actually Matt Santos’ character was based on Barack Obama. The writers wanted to meet an up and coming minority legislator and they were directed to his staff. If you watch Matt Santos’ campaign, you will see that there are many similarities to the future Obama campaign. My daughters and I noticed it right away when Obama was running.
Eva9
@WaterGirl: it’s on 4OD for free ATM ☺️
Zelma
Very late to the thread, but watching the West Wing convinced my son to go into politics. Sadly, he became pretty disillusioned but he’s still at it.
moops
@WaterGirl: That you can look at generic photos of people and intuit who you’d like to get to know, and who are smug jerks is a perfect example of priming. The pictures cannot convey any of those concepts.
WaterGirl
@moops: We don’t have to agree on that.
Greg
Listen to The West Wing Thing podcast and you’ll understand why you don’t like it.
Elise
I live in England, where we can get the whole of TWW on All4, a free streaming service. I’ve been watching it for the last few weeks of lockdown as an antidote to the corruption and incompetence of our government here in the U.K., and the American government as well. It’s a great escape, and I ask nothing more — witty, articulate, moral (most of the time), intelligent, competent. I mean, what’s not to like?
WaterGirl
@Elise: That sounds like a great deal.
TruthOfAngels
@Elise: I live in the UK too, and a while back I picked up the Presidential box set at a local shop for a rather sprightly £18. It’s even got a bloopers disc, which is pretty sweet.
Tafrin
@WaterGirl: it’s on Foxtel
A
@WaterGirl: channel 4 has all 7 series
Axe Diesel Palin
Lately, I’ve been calling West Wing political porn. Sci-fi is a good comparison too, but porn better captures the desire aspect of watching WW.