The Washington Post’s Lisa de Moreas has a nice column about the cancellation of West Wing.
The first four seasons of the West Wing were pretty much as good as network drama gets. Great writing, great acting, great directing, and intelligent, issue-based plotting all contributed to a show that deserved its four straight Emmys as TV’s best drama. Writer/producer/creator Aaron Sorkin’s drug use and resulting work problems led to his leaving the show, which then led to a rapid downturn in quality (spurred by NBC bringing on ER’s John Wells, a guy who loves a good helicoptor crash).
After a couple of mediocre melodramatic seasons, a lot of people stopped watching. And once people stopped watching, NBC must have given the writers a lot more freedom to write about whatever they wanted–the show, while languishing in bad time slots and cultural obsolescence, improved a lot. It still paled in comparison to its first four seasons, but it was one of the more interesting and intelligent shows on the networks.
But ultimately, nobody was watching. And unlike Arrested Development, it’s hard to argue that the network didn’t give this show a chance. I’d say the last couple of seasons were icing on the cake, and although I’m sorry it’s heading off the air now I feel like they had a good run. Still, the recent death of John Spencer makes it more than a little bittersweet. Ultimately, however, I’m glad that West Wing is ending at an appropriate time–a change in presidency–and the only real disappointment is that Sorkin (and his producing partner Thomas Schlamme) won’t be involved in the finale.
And apparently Sorkin’s got a new show in the works centered around an SNL-type sketch comedy show. Sounds like a welcome return to his Sports Night days.
Interesting update: “Producers are negotiating the return of Rob Lowe, the early series star who left because he was upset by his diminished role, for the finale.” [AP, via West Wing News Blog]
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