Reminder to watch (or record) the West Wing

[question everything]

this Sunday, when the two "candidates" will "debate" on live TV.

This season all of them: the West Wing, Commander in Chief and Boston Legal have been borrowing heavily from real events. At one point one of the writers "admitted" that they don't need to come up with story lines; just follow the news.

Of course, both Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits are accomplished stage actors (we saw Jimmy Smits last year in Anna of the Tropics and he was great!) so performing live should not be a problem for them.

I really think that this should be a required viewing by high school students.

[underpants]

1. Already got it set to tape

DING!

[Benhurst]

10. And just think, the election which is to follow will be

every bit as valid as the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

[Benhurst]

11. Sorry about that. Managed to post same thing twice. NT

[liberalnurse]

2. Okay....

I do have to work so it's the only way to catch it....

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I'm sooo excited!!

:bounce: I can't wait! I've been seeing all of the ads on NBC and so excited!

[pacalo]

4. Thanks, I will.

[Spazito]

5. The producer, yesterday, said to watch both the eastern show

and the western one as they will both be done live and 'ad libs' are bound to occur. It should be great!

[PinkTiger]

15. How do we do that?

I have Dish Network and get my locals on them. On Central time. So how do I watch both?

[Spazito]

19. I don't know how when it relates to satellite dishes, I have cable

and access to channels both in the east and west. I just do a search on my cable for shows on 3 hours earlier than they appear on the pacific (western) time zone channels.

Can you do a search on your Dish schedule for the show which, for the eastern show, would be 1 hour earlier if you are on central time and 2 hours later on western or pacific , I believe?

[VolcanoJen]

29. When "Will & Grace" did their live episode, NBC put both east and west...

... versions of the show on their website.

I hope they do the same with West Wing, so I can watch the west coast feed, too!

[Metta]

6. We love West Wing.

... think it's the best show on tv.

[question everything]

9. And... I don't know if there is any football game

that will delay "60 Minutes" which means we will not watch all of "60 minutes." This is one mistake that NBC made, IMO, as both "60 Minutes" and "the West Wing" are aimed at the same segments of TV Viewers.

Or.. perhaps, a way to kill the program kindly.

[BattyDem]

7. Thanks for the reminder! Speaking of Commander in Chief ...

did anyone catch Tuesday's (Nov. 1) episode? There was a scene where President Allen was reading to a group of children. Her Chief of Staff came up to her and whispered in her ear to tell her about a dangerous situation that was developing ... and she immediately got rid of the book, said goodbye to the kids and got up to deal with the problem! All that was missing was a scroll across the bottom of the screen saying, "Attention sheeple. THIS is how a REAL leader handles a national emergency!" :rofl:

[question everything]

21. Yup. We even had a thread on this

and the Speaker's house was destroyed in the hurricane..

[BattyDem]

23. Ah ... sorry I missed the thread.

I signed on late Tuesday night. :-(

I laughed when they did the "house destroyed by the hurricane" thing - I kept thinking about Bush* and Lott during the press conference and Bush* making such a big deal out of it, as if a rich senator's loss of a vacation house could actually compare to the losses suffered by average people. :eyes:

[question everything]

26. Found it, enjoy (already in the archives)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5238691

[BattyDem]

27. Thanks!

:toast:

[VolcanoJen]

30. I'm going to have to hurt my Tivo.

I have a Season Pass for "Commander in Chief." It's set to record new episodes only.

So, when it didn't record "Commander in Chief" on Tuesday, I figured it must have been a repeat.

And now, reading your post, I find that I missed a new episode of my favorite new show this season!! :grr: :grr: :grr:

My Tivo will be disciplined, harshly.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. I tried to watch "The West Wing"

for a few episodes after Sorkin left, but the writing was so bad it was painful, especially trying to watch characters that I had become so fond of having to spit out melodramatic crap straight out of an old "ER" script. It was too much for me.

[BattyDem]

12. Same here

I tried it after Sorkin left, but it just wasn't the same. However, I do want to see the "debate" because I expect Alda and Smits to be incredible!

[PinkTiger]

13. Actually, it is improving, the writing, anyway. But I have a question:

If you record a live event, is it still live????

(ha)

[BattyDem]

14. Questions like that give me a headache, LOL!

:crazy:

[T Wolf]

17. If you record a live event,

can you fast-forward it to learn the future?

[ticapnews]

25. Is it live

or is it Memorex?

:P Sorry, been watching too much VH1 :P

[Spazito]

16. I agree, to a point. The first year after Sorkin left was abysmal, imo,

however, the last two years have been very good, much like the excellent episodes made while Sorkin was there.

[underpants]

20. I just started rewatching it this year

it isn't as good as the Sorkin ones (could it reallly be?) but they don't suck...if that is really a category.

[Oreo]

18. Give it another try

I stopped watching too but it's so much better now.
Give it another try

[question everything]

22. Many of the characters are either gone or have reduced load

Toby was fired. Mrs. Bartlett appears only sporadically; you don't see much of Leo, either, and even President Bartlett does not appear on every show - that's how they cut the cost as were ordered by NBC last year.

And these two candidates came after Sorkin left so there is nothing to compare.

What pains me is to know what a difference this White House is from what we have had for the past five years. When first aired, at least it had some resemblance to the Clinton White House, w/o Monica, of course. Now all the idealism and high hopes for a better society, on how a government can better the life of the citizens just looks phony..

[ticapnews]

24. It is getting better

Not quite up to Sorkin's early years, but it's still one of two shows on prime time TV I watch. I have really enjoyed the last two seasons, especially with the focus on the campaign. The trips back to the west wing to check up on Toby, CJ and POTUS are actually diversions at this point. I'm looking forward to seeing the debate and how the campaign concludes. I don't think a Santos victory is as assured as most people.... And if it doesn't start pulling in better ratings, it won't matter because the show will be off the air...

[gkhouston]

28. It has improved since then. I agree, it sucked for a while after

Sorkin left, but it's gotten most of its old zing back, IMO.

[Perky]

31. I am pretty conviced that it will be a draw.

Keeps the winner of the election under wraps for as long a possible.


I still think that preacher may launch an indpendent run.


Don't hate me I find it difficult to imagin the Santos character in the Oval....Alsa looks so much charper in the role. I still think it is going to be Santos so that they can keep Josh and Donna around.