The West Wing

Is this tv-kino? I've had an unusual interest in political dramas/thrillers lately, and was wondering if this was worth checking out. Is it better or worse than House of Cards (I've seen neither)? If my favorite show is Mad Men, will I enjoy this?

I'm part way through the first season. From what I've seen so far, this isn't one of those shows that became famous because it "pushed the boundaries" like The Sopranos or Seinfeld (or maybe it did and tv dummy like me doesn't know how). It's just really well written and well made. If you like Mad Men, I assume you'll like some nice character based drama and this show does it well.

It's not really comparable to House of Cards at all other than it's about politics, but that's not saying much. I don't really like HoC anyway.

That's good to hear, I do love character-based drama. Only difficult thing on my first viewing of Mad Men was it taking ~2 seasons to really get a well rounded view & appreciation of all the characters.

And yeah from what I've heard HoC has a very cynical view on politics, whereas this seems to be very realistic. Wasn't sure which one to start first.

It was always overrated and it has aged terribly. It's basically how liberals view themselves in power (incorruptible saints basically).

Also Aaron Sorkin is the most insufferable writer of dialogue in existence.

3/10 tv imo

I mean if you can get past the lack of realism involved in having politicians actually be good guys then maybe.

Basically this but I'd add that the dialogue really draws you in and the story is rarely boring.
The fact that every single main character (i.e. every face that you can see in the OP pic) has the political views of a second year liberal arts undergrad can be frustrating at times though, especially when they're so smug about it and constantly epically burn the conservatards at every opportunity.

Oh, in case it's not clear, I highly recommend it. It's definitely ocasionally tv kino, like when Bartlet gets shot or when Zoe gets kidnapped or both debate episodes (but moreso the Santos/Alan Alda debate).

True it's not boring. I disagree that the dialogue draws you in, it just makes me cringe constantly.

I'm always reminded of the phrase, "wit of the staircase" when I think of the West Wing. The liberal always has the upper hand, always has the perfect thing to say, the conservative simpleton always falls into the trap. It's just not realistic dialogue and throws me out of the narrative. I'm very aware I'm watching a tv show when I'm watching The West Wing.

I'm just baffled by your assertion that the dialogue draws you in. Complete opposite for me. It's not just the ideology. I like a lot of left wing entertainment (basically all of it is written by lefties). Just not Sorkin.

I can't agree with you, I really enjoy the walk and talks that are scattered throughout every episode. I know it's a Sorkin cliche, but the pace is really engaging to me. You follow just enough of it to understand its relevance to the narrative and catch the punchlines, and the rest is just the characters being the characters, Toby's really sober, Josh is erratic, Bartlett is head and shoulders above everyone else... I know I'm just describing them to you, but these are the parts I enjoy.
>I'm very aware I'm watching a tv show when I'm watching The West Wing.
Maybe you misunderstood what I meant by drawing you in. I meant it in the sense that it grabs your attention and keeps it, not that it makes me feel like I'm a part of the story. I don't necessarily watch tv as escapism, I'm perfectly capable of enjoying a tv show without accepting it as plausible.

are you fucking kidding me with these spoilers in a reccomendation post.

First of all you don't know the outcome of any of those things, they're basically cliffhangers to you. Secondly they're both early on in the series. Thirdly you probably don't even know who those people are yet if you haven't seen the show and would forget the content before starting it. Fourthly welcome to Sup Forums. Fifthly there are almost never WW threads on Sup Forums and I never get the chance to talk about it. Sixthly suck a dick.

i've seen most of the first season so I know at least who bartlett is, not to mention anyone reading this thread and starting would quickly find that out.

>welcome to Sup Forums
hurr.

I understand its an old show, but its clear most people interested in this thread probably haven't see it. So you should probably not spoil shit.

It's a decent show you watch when there's no anything else on television.

I'm the OP. I don't mind the spoilers. Will probably start watching soon. Thanks for your input

It's a great show. Interesting episodes (most of the time) and compelling characters. The criticism in this thread is not entirely misguided though. It wasn't called "The Left Wing" when it aired for nothing. It isn't really untill the final season they introduce a Republican that is not just a punchin bag. The quality takes a dive when Sorkin left after season 2 (?), and only really comes back for the final season. It is still very watchable though.

Josh & Donna is my OTP.

If you like characters you should watch the wire, it is pretty political also. Especially in police station and in later seasons real politicans also

It's pretty good until Sorkin leaves.

One of the worst post-Sorkin moments was when they have to fill 2 vacancies in the Supreme Court. They decide that since moderation and being unbiased is bad for the Supreme Court is bad, that they should add a left-winger and a right-winger to balance them out.
I mean, I can understand the Democrats wanting a left-winger, but why the fuck would they think adding a right-winger is a good idea? Just because they'll have interesting debates?

I hate Brad Whitford so fucking much, like, if he was drowning I'd throw him a cinderblock. Such an obnoxious-looking cunt.

>whereas this seems to be very realistic
this is on the other end of the scale (as opposed to house of cards), sickeningly optimistic

Its excellent and much better than house of cards.

Mad Men is my personal favorite show and the two overlap in flavor quite a bit

Worst part is that I've seen real pundits act like this is a good idea and that Obama should bargain with Republicans for something similar.

I don't know what "tv-kino" is supposed to mean, but it is a good series. It's first few seasons were better than the later ones, it's all a slow roll downhill once Sorkin left.

Interesting characters and an interesting look at politics. It's funny how many of it's issues raised were able to be applied to things that came up years after.

filtered

Saw a clip on youtube where they spent 4 minutes explaining the THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES what the Mercator projection is. Knew then it would be pretentious bullshit dumb people watch to think they're smart.

First season sucked. Second and Third seasons are amazing television. Gets worse after that, but the last season is pretty good.

actually they explain that to the press secretary and deputy chief of staff

>took out the kill yourself counter
you've changed since BB15 man

I think you meant BB14 (RIP).
also the guy before me only got up to 101 before he gave up and I was at 110 and thought it was getting a bit over the top.
I'm at 147 now though.

9/10 TV, despite the blatant leftist bias. There simply exist so few political tv dramas, and the plot can be really good sometimes.

>that feel when season 2 ends

if you can forget how biased it is when it comes to domestic politics, the show is actually very good

this coming from a right-leaning Finnish memelord

The show was:

> shamelessly lefty
> OTT preachy
> insanely pretentious
> loaded with know-it-all dramatization
> political correctness

OP here, I've watched the first two seasons of The Wire, oddly enough I found s2 to be fucking fascinating, despite multiple people telling me s2 would be awful, but I tapered off at the beginning of season 3. I should probably finish it, considering that I've heard it only picks up from there.

I'll admit going into s3 it was somewhat difficult to take it seriously with bigguy4u suddenly becoming a big player. Maybe Sup Forums has ruined me

>Josh feels episode
oof

>season 2 finale
OOF

>Leo feels
MAKE IT STOP

what about blonde republican lawyer who goes away randomly and then becomes mathew perry republican lawyer?

All fine except for-

>Conservative strawmen

Fucking everywhere. Doesn't help that I know that Lawrence O'Donnell wrote those parts

To be fair, they also had left-wing strawmen, like opponents to free trade, radical feminists and guys that refused to compromise, that were treated just as bad, if not worse.

Dropped it halfway season 1, I don't even know what the fuck they're doing, are they trying to put people to sleep? I have no fucking idea, it's a piece of shit