So, this is a great premise, a fish out of water thrust in the DC political malestrom and navigating with decency, while still maintaining a homelife. We came to it late and binge watched the entire arc over the course of a few weeks.
Tia Leoni is well cast (I have a soft spot for Tia Leoni) but is entirely beleivable as Elizabeth "Bess" McCord, a form CIA operative turned academic, appointed to fill the Secretary job after the incumbent died in a plane crash. Her staff are a mixture of folks from the existing department (who don't entirely trust her) and her own new hires.
Most of the supporting cast are excellent. Props to Bebe Neuwrith, as Chief of Staff is great, Erich Bergen as the uber-competent assistant Blake is amazing, Zeljko Ivanek, as the president's Chief of Staff is also very good, as are the actors who play the children, other staff folk, and especially the host of foreign diplomats who play reoccurring rolls as ambassadors or foreign ministers or whatever.
Keith Carradine, as the president, is rather stiff and a caricature. There are bunch of folks that regularly appear in meetings and NEVER SAY A WORD which becomes something of a joke after awhile.
The writing isn't West Wing. They can't seem to sustain a multi-episode arc very often and so every new episode brings a new crisis, foreign or domestic, with issues neatly resolved by the end screen. Congress moves with silly speed, passing major legislation or a new treaty within a few days. Congressional opponents are often broadly written (Sen. Morejon being an exception) and that all seems a little contrived.
Tim Daley, as Henry McCord, the Secretary's husband, does a great job as the concerned father and partner. His back ground is as a Marine pilot and world-famous religious scholar/academic. Perhaps because Leoni (who is also the producer) and Daley ended up in a personal relationship off-screen, Henry's role is forever in flux, as if his contract guarantees that he be in every scene. At home, he's great, but he cycles through religious scholar, professor, spy for the government, head of a spy cell for the government, White House "Ethics Advisor" (a particularly stupid role) and then, in the last season when Bess moves into the Oval Office some indistinct role that just has him in virtually every meeting, speaking with equal footing as Cabinet members or the head of the FBI. It's just absurd, and rather undercuts Leoni's character and a strong, forceful, female in a leadership role. Henry became an annoying joke by season 6, when in three episodes he goes from championing Arts in the Schools, to advising the President on social media, to championing veterans health-care.
We enjoyed the show... I don't know if, knowing it was cancelled, they lost their steam in Season 6 or what, but they should have just stopped. Much of that season's 10 episodes feel like a good bye tour, with long-time regulars being fired (and others, like Jay Whitman or Matt the speechwriter, just disappearing without explanation).
Worth a watch, but surely not West Wing. It could have been.
Tia Leoni is well cast (I have a soft spot for Tia Leoni) but is entirely beleivable as Elizabeth "Bess" McCord, a form CIA operative turned academic, appointed to fill the Secretary job after the incumbent died in a plane crash. Her staff are a mixture of folks from the existing department (who don't entirely trust her) and her own new hires.
Most of the supporting cast are excellent. Props to Bebe Neuwrith, as Chief of Staff is great, Erich Bergen as the uber-competent assistant Blake is amazing, Zeljko Ivanek, as the president's Chief of Staff is also very good, as are the actors who play the children, other staff folk, and especially the host of foreign diplomats who play reoccurring rolls as ambassadors or foreign ministers or whatever.
Keith Carradine, as the president, is rather stiff and a caricature. There are bunch of folks that regularly appear in meetings and NEVER SAY A WORD which becomes something of a joke after awhile.
The writing isn't West Wing. They can't seem to sustain a multi-episode arc very often and so every new episode brings a new crisis, foreign or domestic, with issues neatly resolved by the end screen. Congress moves with silly speed, passing major legislation or a new treaty within a few days. Congressional opponents are often broadly written (Sen. Morejon being an exception) and that all seems a little contrived.
Tim Daley, as Henry McCord, the Secretary's husband, does a great job as the concerned father and partner. His back ground is as a Marine pilot and world-famous religious scholar/academic. Perhaps because Leoni (who is also the producer) and Daley ended up in a personal relationship off-screen, Henry's role is forever in flux, as if his contract guarantees that he be in every scene. At home, he's great, but he cycles through religious scholar, professor, spy for the government, head of a spy cell for the government, White House "Ethics Advisor" (a particularly stupid role) and then, in the last season when Bess moves into the Oval Office some indistinct role that just has him in virtually every meeting, speaking with equal footing as Cabinet members or the head of the FBI. It's just absurd, and rather undercuts Leoni's character and a strong, forceful, female in a leadership role. Henry became an annoying joke by season 6, when in three episodes he goes from championing Arts in the Schools, to advising the President on social media, to championing veterans health-care.
We enjoyed the show... I don't know if, knowing it was cancelled, they lost their steam in Season 6 or what, but they should have just stopped. Much of that season's 10 episodes feel like a good bye tour, with long-time regulars being fired (and others, like Jay Whitman or Matt the speechwriter, just disappearing without explanation).
Worth a watch, but surely not West Wing. It could have been.
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