Time for another sneak (p)review of an upcoming TV series. Tomorrow night, ABC rolls out "Commander in Chief," starring Geena Davis. This is the network's attempt to carve out a piece of The West Wing's action, with the twist that the president is the U.S.' first female in the position. They might have been better advised to launch their "political drama" last year, when (before the sixth season had begun) The West Wing was largely perceived as being pretty weak compared to its glory days.
In truth, though, the comparisons to The West Wing are largely superficial. The West Wing concerns itself largely with the staffers that work within the White House, and it prides itself on dense, intelligent dialogue. The pilot of Commander in Chief clearly sends the message that this show is going to put the president herself front and center, with the "First Gentleman" and the family getting as much treatment as the political issues.
I found it a little hard to judge just from the one episode whether I'm going to like the show or not. Far more implausible than the notion of a female president is the fact that she's an independent. The justification given for this is pretty much total crap. Then again, The West Wing has made its name on portraying government "the way it ought to be, not the way it is," and I suppose the same will be true here. Any show you care to watch requires some suspension of disbelief, and this will be no different.
I can at least say for certain that she joins Josiah Bartlet and David Palmer in the pantheon of TV presidents I desperately wish were our real-life president.
I'll be tuning in for additional episodes of the series, but I'm not yet willing to throw a strong recommendation behind it. Those without "multi-channel viewing options" may well be watching The Amazing Race during that time slot anyway.
However I will trumpet the new season of Boston Legal, airing right after Commander in Chief. I've seen the first two episodes already, which play out a storyline with guest star Heather Locklear. They're strong episodes, and showcase why James Spader, though perhaps not the best choice for winning an Emmy last week, is not undeserving. (But sorry, Shatner -- your schtick is great, but not even in the same league as Naveen Andrews or Terry O'Quinn from Lost.)
As is the norm for a David Kelley show, Boston Legal is going through a host of cast changes this season. Monica Potter is out (but you won't miss her). These first two episodes set the stage for Rhona Mitra's character of Tara to also exit the show. Meanwhile, three new characters are introduced -- two females and one male. In the first two episodes, the man is set up pretty strongly as a young Alan Shore in training. The women... well, Boston Legal has had trouble finding strong female characters other than Candice Bergen's, so we'll wait and see what develops.
4 comments:
My understand of The West Wing's origin is that the President was to ocassionally appear in the series -- a reason why busy activist Martin Sheen was given the role. I also understand that NBC wanted to showcase Sheen more, so the writers tweaked the show to include more of the President. Truth be told, I can't say if the show would have been better with the President in a less recurring role. Perhaps that is a credit more to Sheen's presence.
As to the "independent" nature of Davis' President, why couldn't the writers approach her as a "ticket balancer," someone whose ideology is skewed from the core of her party, rather than someone not loyal to the Democrat or Republican machines. Balancing machine loyalty with administration ideology is a worthy topic. Instead, there appears to be power plays between the Republican Speaker of the House played by Kiefer's Dad and the President, which smells more of personal bitterness (he being third in line for the Office) than any rich tension.
And, yes, as one of those bastards with two-input capabilities, I'll TiVo both this and The Amazing Race.
I pretty much concurred with your opinions of the shows. Commander in Chief had a good set-up in the first episode, but I wonder whether it can really stay interesting. I was willing to suspend my disbelief that she was an independent, but not at how evil Donald Sutherland's character was. Future episodes may make me throw up my arms in disgust at his machinations.
Boston Legal rocked, though. I should have made more of an effort to see that show last season. I saw only a third of the episodes or so.
As my two tuners were actually occupied with The Office and The Amazing Race, I could only catch the first half hour. I hope my supreme "mehness" isn't terribly hedged by seeing only the first half hour.
It was all too cartoonish. I've always found Ms. Davis to offer a forced delivery, and the rest of the cast was just "meh." It tries to be as inspiring about government as The West Wing, but it falls flat. Kiefer's Dad is just ... ugh.
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