As many, many other reviewers have said (and others have agreed with) this is as good as TV gets ... period. I don't think there is a better show ever to tell the truth and perhaps that's because Aaron Sorkin's newest show only has one season under its belt so far. Perhaps after seven years it will top even this monumental achievement in television but it has quite a challenge ahead of it.
This series set a standard for sharp rhetoric and quick, clever interplay between characters as well as creating the "walk and talk" scene where often short meetings take place between characters as they walk from their office (or other location) to a scheduled meeting. This gave the scenes a physical rhythm to go with the verbal rhythm of the witty "patter" (for lack of a better word to portray the beautifully rhythmic feel of the scripted lines). The lines nearly could be song lyrics as the syllabic beat and witty wordplay made for fast and tightly-filled scenes that sometimes could almost need two viewings from which to pull all the information you needed.
And while this show is listed as a drama, which it is, it could also be very funny on many levels. Often the level of embarrassment set at the heights of the White House are used as comedic tools and thinking of how embarrassing a simple error on our every day level can be (assuming we're not in the daily international eye), placing the same error on a White House level certainly can make you cringe yet laugh as you watch one unfold in the show (Donna Moss was often a wonderful character for this to happen to). But also, as in the episode "Galileo" when contact with a Mars space probe is lost that has been tied into a televised "classroom" hosted by President Bartlet, the President explains that if someone wanted to see a real screwup, they should "come up here and see how the big guys really do it" (for a rather close paraphrase I believe).
It's also another nice aspect of the show that they show these people to be human. I know they're human in real life but how many times do we think of them that way? Not many really ... at least not in the way The West Wing showed them to be and really, that is how they are (unless they are to ungodly pompous and arrogant to be believed ... which of course those offices are filled with somewhat regularly and unfortunately). Also however and unfortunately, the concern and humanity of this administration is not shown nearly enough in the real political arena. I know, I know, there are many ways in which they simply cannot be in real life. Or at least cannot seem to be in real life. But that's another conversation I suppose.
I watch this entire series through every couple years or so it seems, perhaps more often even. It really is that good. If you haven't watched it or haven't watched it in some times or didn't watch consistently the first time it was broadcast, I encourage you to treat yourself to a television show that is every bit as good as the best film you've ever seen ... imho at least. :)
This series set a standard for sharp rhetoric and quick, clever interplay between characters as well as creating the "walk and talk" scene where often short meetings take place between characters as they walk from their office (or other location) to a scheduled meeting. This gave the scenes a physical rhythm to go with the verbal rhythm of the witty "patter" (for lack of a better word to portray the beautifully rhythmic feel of the scripted lines). The lines nearly could be song lyrics as the syllabic beat and witty wordplay made for fast and tightly-filled scenes that sometimes could almost need two viewings from which to pull all the information you needed.
And while this show is listed as a drama, which it is, it could also be very funny on many levels. Often the level of embarrassment set at the heights of the White House are used as comedic tools and thinking of how embarrassing a simple error on our every day level can be (assuming we're not in the daily international eye), placing the same error on a White House level certainly can make you cringe yet laugh as you watch one unfold in the show (Donna Moss was often a wonderful character for this to happen to). But also, as in the episode "Galileo" when contact with a Mars space probe is lost that has been tied into a televised "classroom" hosted by President Bartlet, the President explains that if someone wanted to see a real screwup, they should "come up here and see how the big guys really do it" (for a rather close paraphrase I believe).
It's also another nice aspect of the show that they show these people to be human. I know they're human in real life but how many times do we think of them that way? Not many really ... at least not in the way The West Wing showed them to be and really, that is how they are (unless they are to ungodly pompous and arrogant to be believed ... which of course those offices are filled with somewhat regularly and unfortunately). Also however and unfortunately, the concern and humanity of this administration is not shown nearly enough in the real political arena. I know, I know, there are many ways in which they simply cannot be in real life. Or at least cannot seem to be in real life. But that's another conversation I suppose.
I watch this entire series through every couple years or so it seems, perhaps more often even. It really is that good. If you haven't watched it or haven't watched it in some times or didn't watch consistently the first time it was broadcast, I encourage you to treat yourself to a television show that is every bit as good as the best film you've ever seen ... imho at least. :)