He left the show before the beginning of the season.


Do you miss his punch, or is the show getting along fine without him?

It seems to be doing OK, though I'm still of the opinion the Zoe Bartlett resuce thing was rushed.

I think I will miss his political spin on the show. I do think the show is doing just fine though. I will also agree that the rescue was rushed.

Of course it was rushed. Bartlet had to be in office, to elect Lumbergh as his VP.

When I heard Sorkin was leaving, I just kinda crossed my fingers and hoped that the whole thing wouldn't go down the drain.

The first few episodes were OK, but "Han" just didn't seem to go anywhere dramatically. Then last night, I saw "A Constituency of One".

What can I say? It was downright painful to watch. The cracks are really starting to show. The characters aren't acting like they should. Since when did Leo lose the guts to do the right thing? I'm referring to the whole coal industry story. What the hell was that? For the second time this season, I found myself pulling for CJ to resign! Of course, I would hate to see Alison leave the show, but within the context of the series, CJ seems to be getting more and more upset with the way things are going. First there was the final July 4th scene when she was sitting alone in her office, obviously soul searching. Then there was last night's show when Leo ordered her to write a statement for the press contradicting what she had said in the briefing. I found myself wanting to see her stick it to Leo and come back, not with the statement, but with a letter of resignation and a big "screw you".

When did Josh lose his mind!? He's a politically savy guy and yet we are somehow supposed to believe that after a little good press, he gets a Superman complex and goes off the deep end!

Then there is Will and Amy. Both of them only joined the White House staff a few months back and now they are both on their way out the door? What's with that? Neither of them are staying true to their characters either.

There's no question in my mind that all this is the result of Sorkin leaving and someone else being in charge of the character development.

It's really sad IMO.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

WHO is that little weasel working for Josh now? Am I the only one who just wants to slap him around?

That little weasel is his intern. A descendant of President Franklin Pierce.

Hey Scott, when the one Senator wasn't going to vote for the new VP, we saw that kid pick up a phone and call the Senator's office. Then when the vote came, he voted in favor. Did we ever get any more info on that or is that still hanging out there?

Just makes you wonder if the kid was trying to help Josh out on the sly, or if he has other alterior motives.

Missed the confirmation episode, so I don't know.

You know, it usually takes time for a show to fall apart after it's creator has split. I mean, Stargate SG-1 lost one of it's exec producers in Season 5, and four years later it's only just beginning to show signs of slipping from it's usal quality. West Wing on the other hand, after two pretty strong episodes, it's already going downhill. I'll stick with it for a while longer, but if it doesn't start impressing me again by the end of the season, I may have to do something drastic. Like not watch television at 8:00 PM MST (an hour of nothing to do betwee Smallville and Law & Order). Or even less likely, start watching Angel. Nah, I'll never be THAT desperate. ;-)

Brian, just a nit. It's only two years later (SG-1 is in its seventh season).

Tehcniclaly it's three since that EP left at the end of Season 4, and it enters it's 8th season next summer (after finishing season 7 in January). Two can play at that game! MUWAHAHAHA! *wink*

Actually, I have enjoyed the show more since Sorkin's departure. I always liked a lot of the writing but I got really annoyed with a lot of the things he did. For instance, the way that a throwaway bit of news or a line got repeated over and over again by one person to different people (and I'm not talking about the cast spreading legitimate news), and how, in some dramatic scene near the end, as deep things are being discussed, one of the characters--out of nowhere--brings up the throwaway piece. I'm sorry I can't think of an example, but I always felt that Sorkin had a good ability to write stories and could usually churn out impressive dialog, but that he also had serious weaknesses as a dialog writer. Since his departure, I've been much more impressed with the dialog, as it sounds more like real people talking.

As far as the direction the stories have taken...I haven't been disappointed at all. (Although I couldn't stand that intern kid that was assigned to Josh, and I hope he doesn't show his face again!) Will's departure...I think it's totally in character for him. This is a man who continued to run a pointless campaign because it provided him with a forum to express his views. He jumped up into the White House, a sound career move for any politician, but he found himself shackled to Toby's message, and so he took a demotion of sorts that meant less prestige but once again put him in charge of crafting his message and expressing his views. (Yes, I know that the VP shouldn't depart from the President's message, but Will has more freedom now than he did as Toby's deputy.)

Jesse: We could argue about the oher stuff, but I think you're absolutely rigth about Will.

I'm with Webber.

I suppose, after my anti-Sorkin tirade, I should have added that all of that was in my humble opinion. ;-)

One thing Sorkin didn't do that the newer writers did was dialogue like "I need the briefing book!"
"It's on top of the thing next to the thing."

"I'm going to the place. You want a salad?"

DIE DIEDIEDIEDIE

*ahem* That's far more annoying than the "Sorry?"
"I said..."