A very special waste of time

[vilakins]

I'm guessing that West Wing is too classy to do clip shows, but sadly they draw the line on the wrong side of Very Special Episodes and I hate those just as much. I sat through the one with C J and her father because I thought that, you know, there'd be a B plot back at the White House, but no--and she didn't even finish her speech and there was no reason for her not to wind it up in few sentences. I want that 45 minutes back (and her father did say time was important so there's no excuse, WW). I had to watch a Mythbusters to clear my viewing palate.

Comments

[gwendraith]

I know it's supposed to be a good series but for some reason I've never followed it.

[vilakins]

It took me till this year to get round to it. I'm not very up on US politics but the characters are wonderful.

[elmey]

Is The Very Special Episode just a U.S. thing, or do you get it in your series too? I hate those episodes with a burning passion--always sentimental and manipulative, just awful. Any series that manages to stay away from them gets a thousand points as far as I'm concerned.

[vilakins]

I think it's just a US thing; I've certainly never come across it in any other series. What you said, totally. I really thought West Wing was better than that.

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

It's been many years since I've watched West Wing. We used to love the show - at least the first two seasons or so, before it did the slow spiral down the drain. I don't remember the episode you're mentioning.. but I hate those VSEs, too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

This is season 4. It's still good at this point but this ep? What the hell did that achieve? It wasn't even entertaining; just a dollop of misery. it was just so unlike WW.

I've heard that it's not worth watching after Sorkin leaves but someone recently said that if you stick to it, it gets better. I'll see when I get to that point, which seem to be season 5 on.

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

Is the episode you're talking about the one where CJ goes back to her hometown for her high school reunion? I do remember seeing that one, though I can't remember any concrete details.

I think as the seasons progress, the quality of the show's writing begins to fluctuate. There are still some excellent episodes through to the end of the series, but it's not at the consistency it was in the beginning.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the one. :-P I'm amazed Sorkin kept it up as long as he did; it must have been a gruelling schedule, writing or co-writing four seasons. I like the characters enough to probably keep watching.