Catching up
Reviewing the relationship between the Vice President and the President (and his staff) has problems. Mandy has started working for the White House. Charlie has started his job as the President’s “body man.”
Plot
Most of the episode is spent trying to ascertain and fix the five votes needed to pass a gun control bill. Leo’s marriage is in jeopardy because he’s spending too much time at work. Toby is in some financial trouble because of an innocent mistake and he’s being teased by everyone. The Vice President’s help has a hidden cost.
Jokes
On the way to the limo after the President’s speech at the beginning of the episode:
(Bartlet to Toby) “You know what Toby; you’re what my mother calls ‘a pain in the ass.’” (Toby to Bartlet) “Well that’s what my mother calls it to, sir.”
This is especially funny to me because that’s what my grand mother calls me.
(Leo to senior staff) “There are two things in the world you never want to let people see how you make them; laws and sausages”
Speaking as someone who has made a sausage, you don’t want to experience it for yourself. It’ll give you the full understanding for this expression, but it’ll put you off your barbeques for a year.
(CJ to Toby) “Excuse me, Toby. I'm heading out to lunch and I'm a little short. You wouldn't happen to have $125,000 I could borrow?”
CJ is poking fun at Toby because he has just come into a large amount of money innocently that makes Toby appear suspect, and that is making him both nervous and aggrieved: “I’m so ― completely screwed.” “There’s literally no-one in the world that I don’t hate, right now.”
Issues
In this episode we see the opposite to the issue I brought up in the last blog, the issue of staff members personal lives affecting their work and the administration. In this episode, Leo misses his anniversary because he was busy trying to track down the votes that went missing n the gun bill. Here we see that Leo’s personal life is being eaten up by his work and it causes him his marriage. This later leads to Leo looking vulnerable in front of the Vice President and he, the Vice President, offers Leo a place in his AA meeting.
The other issue that comes to my attention is the power the White House gives to the individual behind the desk. When Josh threatens a congressman by using the Presidential presence to edge in out of a race he only narrowly won in the first place, it makes me nervous as to what this position can really do. I certainly don’t want to imagine the power that is held by the current President.
Music
The Barbara Streisand song "Happy Days Are Here Again" (Jack Yellen and Milton Ager) is played at the end of the pPresident’s speech at the beginning of the episode. While not in itself a remarkable song, it warrants mention because of the small argument between Sam and Mandy it provokes.
The opening theme is not quite at its punchy and moving version yet but it’s getting closer as the season progresses to the theme we all know and love.
Errors
In continuing a line of jokes on the public liking the fact that White House staff isn’t rich, Toby says “Women can't get enough of my 1993 Dodge Dart.” Dodge actually stopped making the Dart in 1976. I guess this was just a car that one of the writers always thought was ugly.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Premiere
Welcome to Bartlet’s Ghost, where nostalgic fans of The West Wing can gather and reminisce fondly over the greatest show to grace the airwaves. Here you can find a weekly review of an episode of The West wing, as well as extraordinary jokes, music issues or anything that takes my fancy. Readers of this blog will rarely find any criticisms, but anything I don’t like will be written up. All this being said, the first episode to be reviewed is episode 1 of season 1, “Premiere.”
Plot
The episode starts with a discussion of Josh’s future in the White House between Sam and a political reporter. He made a blunder on national TV when he insulted some powerful people, a Christian group, after being provoked by Mary Marsh, a Christian political lobbyist. We see Josh has not dealt with this well because he has slept in his office.
The other major characters are introduced; Leo is seen in his home complaining about the crossword he is doing, CJ is seen trying to chat up a man in the gym, we see Josh waking in his office and we see Toby harassing a flight attendant on an airplane.
The President’s bicycle accident is an issue that recurs in the form of jokes at his expense, and we see he is in crutches at the end of the episode.
Sam finds out that the girl he spent the night with is actually a call girl and that he revealed this in a fit of emotion and frustration to Malory O’Brien, Leo’s daughter. The call girl is played by Lisa Edelstein who most of us will recognize as Lisa Cuddy, the Chief Hospital Administrator and Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital from House M.D.
The Cubans illegally coming to America on poorly built boats, and what should be done about them is a minor issue that only comes up a few times in the episode.
The show ends with the President swooping in at the end of the episode to save the day. In this Deus Ex Machina feat of situation resolution, President Bartlet enters the episode with an air of fearful power and awesome presence. I have few fictional role models, but President Bartlet and Indiana Jones are two people I aspire to be like.
Jokes
There is a funny little joke between Leo and his secretary, Margret, where Leo asks her to tell the New York Times that they made a spelling mistake in their crossword (a callback to Leo’s introduction to the show). Margret asks, “Is this for real or is this just funny?” Leo answers, “Apparently it’s neither.” I like this joke because of the light is shows on Leo and Margret’s relationship even as she’s first introduced.
Leo is speaking with a group of economists and he says “The President's going to look at the W.B.O. revenue analysis and say that economists were put on this planet to make astrologers look good.” This joke is continued when he asks two economists the same question and they give opposite answers. This points out how the President pokes fun at his own specialty (although because this is so early I the show, the addition of President Bartlet’s Nobel Laureate in Economics may have made this joke seem out of character).
Issues
The separation of church and state is a big issue in this episode. The first amendment to the United States constitution is this: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Yet in this day and age we are seeing more and more religion in politics. Abortion is a defining characteristic in any politician’s campaign. This issue is brought up in this episode with Josh’s gaffe and the political consequences from it.
Another issue brought up in this episode is the issue of the personal lives of White House Staff coming into play. Anyone who works for the White House, particularly at such a high position like the Deputy Communications Director, represents the administration and the President himself, and they should be aware that they are setting an example for the nation. Sam’s relationship with Laurie reminds me how the people who work for the government are the face of the government.
Music
The music in this episode is not of the caliber of the shows to come. This is because, as the first episode, the producers were still experimenting with the show. The episode opens, not with a brisk drum beat, but with soft piano music, which we later see is coming from the bar in which we see Sam and reporter discussing Josh’s gaffe and the ramifications that will come.
The music usually found in the end credits is use in the show’s first “walk-and-talk” where Leo walks t his office greeting staff along the way. The walk-and-talk became a signature of the show that inspired many other shows to do the same (Scrubs for example). This music is also used for the end credits in this episode.
Errors
In the meeting with the Christian lobbyists at the end of the episode, Toby says that “honor thy father” is the third commandant and this is blatantly wrong. In Christianity it is the fourth commandant and in Judaism it is the fifth. This mistake is even bigger because the character Toby Zeigler is a dedicated Jew and would definitely know his commandments.
Leo tells someone at the New York Times about the mistake in their crossword and he says he recommended an “Exocet missile strike against his air force.” The error here is that The Exocet is an anti-ship missile, not used on any air force.
Plot
The episode starts with a discussion of Josh’s future in the White House between Sam and a political reporter. He made a blunder on national TV when he insulted some powerful people, a Christian group, after being provoked by Mary Marsh, a Christian political lobbyist. We see Josh has not dealt with this well because he has slept in his office.
The other major characters are introduced; Leo is seen in his home complaining about the crossword he is doing, CJ is seen trying to chat up a man in the gym, we see Josh waking in his office and we see Toby harassing a flight attendant on an airplane.
The President’s bicycle accident is an issue that recurs in the form of jokes at his expense, and we see he is in crutches at the end of the episode.
Sam finds out that the girl he spent the night with is actually a call girl and that he revealed this in a fit of emotion and frustration to Malory O’Brien, Leo’s daughter. The call girl is played by Lisa Edelstein who most of us will recognize as Lisa Cuddy, the Chief Hospital Administrator and Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital from House M.D.
The Cubans illegally coming to America on poorly built boats, and what should be done about them is a minor issue that only comes up a few times in the episode.
The show ends with the President swooping in at the end of the episode to save the day. In this Deus Ex Machina feat of situation resolution, President Bartlet enters the episode with an air of fearful power and awesome presence. I have few fictional role models, but President Bartlet and Indiana Jones are two people I aspire to be like.
Jokes
There is a funny little joke between Leo and his secretary, Margret, where Leo asks her to tell the New York Times that they made a spelling mistake in their crossword (a callback to Leo’s introduction to the show). Margret asks, “Is this for real or is this just funny?” Leo answers, “Apparently it’s neither.” I like this joke because of the light is shows on Leo and Margret’s relationship even as she’s first introduced.
Leo is speaking with a group of economists and he says “The President's going to look at the W.B.O. revenue analysis and say that economists were put on this planet to make astrologers look good.” This joke is continued when he asks two economists the same question and they give opposite answers. This points out how the President pokes fun at his own specialty (although because this is so early I the show, the addition of President Bartlet’s Nobel Laureate in Economics may have made this joke seem out of character).
Issues
The separation of church and state is a big issue in this episode. The first amendment to the United States constitution is this: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Yet in this day and age we are seeing more and more religion in politics. Abortion is a defining characteristic in any politician’s campaign. This issue is brought up in this episode with Josh’s gaffe and the political consequences from it.
Another issue brought up in this episode is the issue of the personal lives of White House Staff coming into play. Anyone who works for the White House, particularly at such a high position like the Deputy Communications Director, represents the administration and the President himself, and they should be aware that they are setting an example for the nation. Sam’s relationship with Laurie reminds me how the people who work for the government are the face of the government.
Music
The music in this episode is not of the caliber of the shows to come. This is because, as the first episode, the producers were still experimenting with the show. The episode opens, not with a brisk drum beat, but with soft piano music, which we later see is coming from the bar in which we see Sam and reporter discussing Josh’s gaffe and the ramifications that will come.
The music usually found in the end credits is use in the show’s first “walk-and-talk” where Leo walks t his office greeting staff along the way. The walk-and-talk became a signature of the show that inspired many other shows to do the same (Scrubs for example). This music is also used for the end credits in this episode.
Errors
In the meeting with the Christian lobbyists at the end of the episode, Toby says that “honor thy father” is the third commandant and this is blatantly wrong. In Christianity it is the fourth commandant and in Judaism it is the fifth. This mistake is even bigger because the character Toby Zeigler is a dedicated Jew and would definitely know his commandments.
Leo tells someone at the New York Times about the mistake in their crossword and he says he recommended an “Exocet missile strike against his air force.” The error here is that The Exocet is an anti-ship missile, not used on any air force.
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