West Wing Canceled
January 22, 2006 6:39 PM   Subscribe

And the winner is . . . irrelevant, as NBC has canceled The West Wing after seven seasons. Sagging ratings—not John Spencer's death—have been blamed for the axe falling on the unconsummated ascendancy of Matt Santos or Arnold Vinick.
posted by Saucy Intruder (50 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Not a surprising move; even without the sagging ratings, I think a lot of people assumed the show would end after the election.
posted by chrominance at 6:47 PM on January 22, 2006


.
posted by Mijo Bijo at 6:55 PM on January 22, 2006


That's a shame. I was looking forward to Vinick winning and lots of stories concerning a moderate republican dealing with repub crazies. Must be 20 seasons worth of shows on that theme.
posted by wrapper at 7:10 PM on January 22, 2006


One of the better shows on TV, but I thought it was going to end after this season anyway.
posted by 517 at 7:13 PM on January 22, 2006


It was losing its time slot anyways. NBC is getting the Sunday night NFL game next year.
posted by smackfu at 7:14 PM on January 22, 2006


Personally, most of the series died when both Rob Lowe and Aaron Sorkin left. I still watched the series, and have been pleased with the recent efforts of Bradley Witford's written episodes. However, after having gotten both Seasons 1 and 2 for Christmas this year, it's immediately evident what the current run of shows is missing.

I'd still pay to see a show written by Sorkin starring Rob Lowe as the congressman from California making a try at the presidency.

Luckily, Sorkin's writing for a new show next fall.
posted by thanotopsis at 7:27 PM on January 22, 2006


But what will Martin Sheen do once he's through pretending to be the prez. Then again, what will Dubya do after pretending to be a prez come 2008?
posted by skeeter1 at 7:42 PM on January 22, 2006


I think the show pretty much jumped the shark when they made C.J. Cregg into Chief of Staff. Allison Janney is an excellent actor, but it's an understatement to say that she was unconvincing as a political power player.
posted by Ty Webb at 7:44 PM on January 22, 2006


Some time ago, when Sorkin was writing, there was a rumor that the last episode would occur in the future at the funeral of Sheen character.

And did Donna and Josh ever hook up? If not, they should, but only during the last episode.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:56 PM on January 22, 2006


Brandon, the bigger question is: What happens to Danny and C.J.?
posted by tozturk at 8:02 PM on January 22, 2006


the bigger question is: What happens to Danny and C.J.?

Wasn't it hinted that they were married in this season's first episode, which started with a "flash forward" three years into the new president's term?
posted by frogan at 8:05 PM on January 22, 2006


Once NBC switched it to Sunday nights (who thought that was a good idea?), we all kind of knew the end was coming.

At least The West Wing set an intellectual high-water mark for future dramas. Still, TV won't be the same. Looks like I will finally have to subscribe to cable TV.
posted by GoodDesign at 8:06 PM on January 22, 2006


Here in Australia, we've been pretty much ripped off when it comes to The West Wing. Speaking as someone who was addicted to the show in the first three seasons that Channel 9 showed before yanking it and consequently screening it sopradically without notice, I know I'd like to offer comment on the death of what was (and as far as I know, could still be) a great show. But I can't... and the DVD box sets offer me little recourse given they're ludicrously overpriced.

In short, I'm shocked to see the end of a great TV show. But probably not as shocked as I otherwise might have been.
posted by Effigy2000 at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2006


TV - best of web
posted by caddis at 8:40 PM on January 22, 2006


Well, shit. Anyone have other intelligent TV shows with a healthy dose of snark and teasing to recommend?
posted by heatherann at 9:01 PM on January 22, 2006


Effigy2000, I used that bastardry displayed by the Oz tv station, from about a year ago actually, as the motivation and justification to extract a couple of seasons worth from torrents. I loved it. One of the few shows that have held my interest in the last few years. Brilliant writing for the mostpart.

But I agree about the stretching of credulity with the CJ rise.

Bugger...will be missed.
posted by peacay at 9:22 PM on January 22, 2006


I haven't seen the show in years, but sure liked the early episodes. When I lived in Germany, a friend made tapes and mailed them. We had no broadcast TV there. It was weird, even appreciated the commercials. Mind-boggling to realize it was that long ago.
posted by Goofyy at 9:24 PM on January 22, 2006


The only episode I ever watched was the bizarre 9/11 episode. That was probably a mistake.
posted by loquax at 9:30 PM on January 22, 2006


"Well, shit. Anyone have other intelligent TV shows with a healthy dose of snark and teasing to recommend?"

I hear that Nanny911 is fuuuuuny!
posted by Hands of Manos at 9:42 PM on January 22, 2006


I love The West Wing, but it should have been cancelled when Sorkin left. I've been told the Japanese traditionally kill a series at its height of popularity. That seems preferable to our penchant for running any success into the ground while the network squeezes out the last few nickels...but I suppose the grass always looks greener in Japan.

For the record: The major complaint I've always seen hurled at The West Wing is that it's a liberal fiesta designed to lampoon Republicans — and speaking as a Republican, I think Aaron Sorkin did a better job portraying my ideals and beliefs than any other writer in TV or film.
posted by cribcage at 10:00 PM on January 22, 2006


The show became a shadow of its former self when Sorkin left it to underlings so that he could move on to other things. That being said, it was still better than most of the crapola that proports to be quality programming.
posted by spock at 10:02 PM on January 22, 2006


I'm with thanatopsis. The show died when they fired Sorkin.
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:02 PM on January 22, 2006


I kinda lost interest after Emily Proctor left.
posted by Cyrano at 10:32 PM on January 22, 2006


Ditto with the "Sorkin left, jumped the shark" sentiments. Couldn't find the energy to bittorren....er, rent after season 4 (5?).

When it was good, it was very good. They still have a few more episodes to shoot, sans Leo. Twenty bucks says they have a CGI-Leo with his dialogue pasted together from previous episodes.
posted by zardoz at 10:44 PM on January 22, 2006


Maybe NBC felt the same way many of us did in the Mefi Obit thread about John Spencer's death; that he was it's heart and soul and that without him, there was just no point to keeping the show going.

That, and falling ratings, no doubt. But yeah, probably Spencer's death, too.
posted by Effigy2000 at 11:12 PM on January 22, 2006


I was just saying the other day that TWW should end with the end of the Bartlett presidency. Even as a long-time addict I'm happy for it to end now.

Fellow Aussies should be happy to see it out the right way though - sans ads. The ABC has picked up TWW from Nine and will be showing it from season 4 (Nine killed it halfway through season 5 here). "We will ... air it in the same spot every week, guaranteed," - (now ex) Managing Director, Russell Balding.
posted by d-no at 11:53 PM on January 22, 2006


When Sorkin left, the show took a big blow for about a season. But the last two seasons have been really quite good. Much better than the supposedly dark and edgy season five anyhow.
posted by joegester at 12:54 AM on January 23, 2006


Oh. And this is so not news. Sorkin and the network both said that the show would be constrained to the 8 years of the Bartlett Presidency. Each season has been one full year but between 6 and 7 they skipped a whole year to end everything with the end of the presidency. They actually bothered to make everyone a year older looking too. Surprising.
posted by joegester at 1:00 AM on January 23, 2006


How long until that terrible Commander In Chief series goes under? I might just buy a TV if I were guaranteed of never seeng that thing again...
posted by stewiethegreat at 1:58 AM on January 23, 2006


I agree with joegester: the show slumped for a while but has recovered nicely. I'm sorry it's going, but glad it's not overstaying its welcome. (Remember the last season of Northern Exposure?)

/still mourning Profit, killed after eight episodes.
posted by languagehat at 4:12 AM on January 23, 2006


ditto, languagehat. I'll miss the West Wing, too. But Sunday nights are a terrible timeslot for me. I had to go out of my way to see the "live" debate episode.
posted by stevis at 5:22 AM on January 23, 2006


I think that the first two or three seasons made for some of the best tv ever. In particular, that one episode where Bartlet plays chess in different matches with the entire staff was awesome.

I also thought that repubs who criticized the show as liberal claptrap really missed the point. I think Richard Schiff's (excellently played) Toby, and to some extent Bartlet himself, perfectly embodied the "we know better than everyone" left. These episodes were often very unflattering to libs.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 5:40 AM on January 23, 2006


Btw, John Spencer's leo was the moral center of the show. To my mind, without him (and the exile of Toby) there really wasn't much point to continuing, even if the show had rebounded a bit from the abysmal and overwrought season 5. And one last comment, someone just needs to slap Joshua Malina, his character just does nothing but make me cringe. He's like Ari Fleischer, less the charisma. ;-)
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 5:48 AM on January 23, 2006


Well, shit. Anyone have other intelligent TV shows with a healthy dose of snark and teasing to recommend?

Veronica Mars.

/still mourning Profit, killed after eight episodes.

Ditto languagehat. I just discovered that show, and it is tasty. And weird.
posted by graventy at 6:06 AM on January 23, 2006


While John Spencer's character was indeed key to the show (he's the character that convinced Bartlett to run and assembled "the team", after all), I would argue that Toby was the moral center of the show. He was the idealist. He was often the one who was even admonishing the President. I always felt that Sorkin was speaking especially through his character's voice.

It seems to me that the whole point of the show was to educate the American population on how government worked, or could work, and to give object lessons to the current administration (whichever political party that might be). By those standards, I think we can all agree that the show failed miserably.
posted by spock at 6:46 AM on January 23, 2006


I would argue that Toby was the moral center of the show.

I'll concede that. He was the only one on the show that I could relate to on a purely personal level. At times, when he would go off on one of his pompous and morally indignant rants about conservatives, I would think "oh, no, don't write that into the character, that pretty much validates what conservatives think that we think of them: they they are shallow, selfish, morally bankrupt, hypocritical bastards." But then, I was always glad those rants stayed in the script, because, truthfully, that's how we do see them from time to time.

the whole point of the show was to educate the American population on how government worked

The seems like a bit of a stretch to me. I was glad to see that, for the most part, the writers of the show had a good sense of public policy, an understanding constitutional law, and didn't push plot plausibility too far, at least until the end of Sorkin's tenure (foreign terrorists are able to kidnap the president's daughter? Please) . But the primary point of the show, to me was to entertain. Secondarily the other point was to show us, in Bartlet, the Bill Clinton we wanted and hoped for, but ultimately didn't get.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 7:34 AM on January 23, 2006


it's not particularly related, but I once had lunch sitting a few feet from John Spencer's table in a Manhattan restaurant. he seemed to be a nice man.
posted by matteo at 8:42 AM on January 23, 2006


Anyone have other intelligent TV shows...?

Ditto Graventy's recommendation of Veronica Mars... though it's a completely different animal. Other shows I've been really enjoying are Battlestar Galactica on SciFi and Deadwood on HBO... (though, technically, on DVD).
posted by crunchland at 8:51 AM on January 23, 2006


I am very, very frustrated.

OK, sure, when the show was moved to Sundays the writing was on the wall. (Just like Alias' move away from Sundays...)

The West Wing had the chance to do something few scripted television shows ever do in the modern television age: go past Season Seven. With the election coming in the show, they could easily have had "West Wing 2" in effect. Either Santos or Vinick (the latter being potentially more entertaining to this bluest-of-the-blue-states resident) would have put the show in a new direction with a mostly new cast while still honoring its past and building atop it.

Only huge ensemble casts can pull this off: ER (12 years), Cheers (11 years), Law & Order (16 years) and a few others. In a way, Star Trek The Next Generation and Star Trek Deep Space Nine (combined 14 years with one overlap) did it too.

The West Wing had the potential to stay on for a long time, Sorkin or no Sorkin. It will be missed.
posted by andreaazure at 10:02 AM on January 23, 2006


I am very, very frustrated.

I'm right there with you. All I watch these says is South Park and The Daily Show. So, one less reason to keep the Tivo around.

Despite the fact that over the years they continued to kill off the best supporting characters (the call girl that Sam hooked up with in the pilot, Nancy McNally, Admiral Fitz, John Larroquette, Ainsley Hayes, VP Hoines) and replacing them with dolts (the inappropriately dressed assistant that worked for Toby, Kate Harper, Will Bailey, Bill Lumberg)... the show was starting to rebound from its season 5 nadir and coming back.

I agree that a TWWII would have been a good way to go, but I'm sure the show, with its shot on film quality, costs considerably more to produce than ER, L&O or Cheers, made it a relatively poor investment.
posted by psmealey at 10:38 AM on January 23, 2006


As a Katrina refugee, I did appreciate that last night's episode seemed to function only as a rebuke to the Bush administration, showing what a national crisis might look like if it were handled by a competent national government.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:06 PM on January 23, 2006


Bill Lumberg

omg, I didn't realize until this very moment that that's the same guy. lol.

I adore the West Wing, but agree that it's time for it to end. I did wonder what would have happened if Alda won--seeing as how so few of the original (brilliant) ensemble cast is left, maybe completely changing it up would have been the best way to go. And I was kind of liking Alda. But really, probably, cancelling is probably the best way to go.

It's really been starting to bug me, while watching, that almost none of the characters are left. Even in the shows that were presumably filmed before Spencer's death, you hardly see him. No more Charlie, Toby...nobody. And CJ, Josh and Donna are but shadows of their former selves. It's time.

I've been trying to catch up on the middle season, but I'm looking forward to rewatching the whole series (or at least the first four seasons) from the beginning on DVD. It's been a while since I've seen most of the early episodes.
posted by lampoil at 1:48 PM on January 23, 2006


After Sorkin left, the show was never the same.

The key ingredient with Sorkin was the show was not about politics as much as it was about relationships. The little "politics" was the behind the scenes stuff that we can imagine but never see.

The last straw for me was the live debate. How many Americans watch a debate between real candidates? Why would we want to watch two pretend candidates? How many times can we watch Santos get into trouble and then watch as he gives a speech to get out of it?

Along the way, they ruined the Donna-Josh dynamic. They took Will Bailey from idealist (running dead guy's congressional) to pragmatist. Even though Sam vouched for him ("he's one of us"), they never made Will into that kind of a character.

Alas, I have lamented too long. I will watch just to see how they wrap it up, but I do not think I could bear another season.
posted by szg8 at 2:34 PM on January 23, 2006


Apprently there may be some disconnect between the "flash forward" premiere and the wrap-up of the series. There have been leaks (go to EW if you want to read the details), but it looks like a CGI Leo is out.

And yes, I agree: Sorkin's departure ended the quality of the show, though even his last season at the helm was fairly weak. But it will be missed - Commander In Chief doesn't hold a candle to it (due in large part to ABC's sacking Rod Lurie after four episodes - the best four of the season, to date).
posted by songfta at 2:36 PM on January 23, 2006


The acting on Commander in Chief is just atrocious. For me, that alone makes it unwatchable.
posted by joegester at 5:43 PM on January 23, 2006


The acting on Commander in Chief is just atrocious. For me, that alone makes it unwatchable.

My problem is the amount of lipstick the Prez shalacks on to her face. I mean: She's got a huge mouth, hasn't anyone ever told her to downplay that?
posted by thanotopsis at 9:50 AM on January 24, 2006


Re: CJ & Danny -- Wasn't it hinted that they were married in this season's first episode, which started with a "flash forward" three years into the new president's term?

Not just married, but either with a new baby or one on the way. Unless I've lost my mind.

There were some down points, but I don't believe for a moment that the show should've died when Sorkin left. (And how selfish would that have been, since it was his drug bust that led to his exit?) CJ as CoS comes directly from something that Barlet said in season one, the CoS needs to be the person who the president can trust with their life. After Leo, who else could Bartlet say that about, save Abby? That choice was a stunning moment of internal consistency.

I'm sorry that we won't get to see a bit of a Santos presidency, even though the death of John Spencer would've made that really strange. But TWW legacy will be strong just the same; stronger than the legacy of the last eight real presidents, at least.
posted by Dreama at 10:45 AM on January 24, 2006


Dreama, I think the moment was when Bartlet was talking to Sam about his eventual run for the Presidency:

Do you have a best friend? Is he smarter than you? Do you trust him with your life? Then he's your chief of staff.

Based on that, your claim on internal consistency is a huge reach. She was never really trusted on the level of any other character on the show, and her intellect was frequently called into question. Also, coming from a PR background and sitting in the press room for 6 years, she didn't have anything close to the contacts on the Hill to be anything close to being capable in that job.

I don't know who else could have been chosen, but practically anyone else might have made more sense, even Toby, whom Bartlet never really liked or trusted, but always respected.

Yeah, I know, it's only a teevee show, but the CJ selection for CoS never worked for me at all, it didn't make sense on any level.
posted by psmealey at 11:07 AM on January 24, 2006


Oooo, Oooo, TWW nerd correction alert:

Dreama, I think the moment was when Bartlet was talking to Sam about his eventual run for the Presidency:

Do you have a best friend? Is he smarter than you? Do you trust him with your life? Then he's your chief of staff.


Nope, he's not talking to Sam, there.

He's talking to the next in-line for succession, as he's going off to be with everyone else higher than him in the succession and leaving this dude alone in the Oval office.

When he mentions to Sam that he'll be president some day is when he's finishing up his chess game with him, in the chess-game episode (one of my personal favorites).
posted by thanotopsis at 11:14 AM on January 24, 2006


*slinks off to corner of room... dons dunce cap*

You're right... he was talking to the Secretary of Agriculture or Interior or something. The designee to stay behind in the White House while Bartlet was deliver the State of the Union.
posted by psmealey at 1:13 PM on January 24, 2006


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