I thought it was great. I thought to lecture to the Highschool kids was great, because half the people I know in the real world needed to hear this inforation. The people here on this board are so much better informed than in the real world.
Yeah, the scenes with the students was kinda lame, but it was a plot device, nothing more. How else are you going to get all those ideas floating around?
For something banged out in a week or so I thought the show was pretty damn good, but then I’m biased - it’s the only show I stop my life for.
I shy away from these kind of absolutes. Knowing Aaron Sorkin’s work from A Few Good Men (the play) to A Few Good Men (the movie) to The American President to Sports Night to The West Wing, and given the speed with which this episode was expedited, I’d be very surprised if anyone else did anything on this script that would be close to sufficient for a writing credit. Not every project is Armageddon–sometimes one guy does write the whole thing.
I think you’ve let your Hollywood experience jade you. 
Yeah, the scenes with the HS kids were heavy-handed, but there was no pretense that they were anything more than a device to move along the discussion. I mean, apart from the terrorist subplot, this wasn’t really an action-driven episode.
I thought it was well-done, really. It covered a lot of different sides of the issue – the people who say it’s OK to let a few of our civil liberties slide if it means safety from terrorism, the people who want a nonviolent solution, the people who want to bomb the crap out of the terrorists, and the people who think all Muslims are evil. To name a few. (I’m not saying that each of those was an idea that someone expressed directly in the episode, just that all of those ideas were discussed.)
Anyway, I liked it a lot. It clarified some of the thinking I’ve been doing about the issue. If it had come down hard on either “let’s bomb the crap out of them” or “no, no, war is baaad, m’kay?”, I would have been turned off, but I felt that the treatment was intelligent and even-handed.
Damn.
I was enjoying the program immensely but, after back-to-back 12+ hour days at work, I was only able to watch the first half-hour before falling asleep. Woke up in time to watch the first ten minutes of Law and Order before passing out again.
I was disappointed. I thought it would deal with how the White House operates during a terrorist attack, not be an hour lecture.
He used ER tactics of balancing important events (terrorism) with simple silly stuff (apples).
And those kids, for being a group of smart kids worthy of going to the White House seemed awfully stupid.
I also question the ability of the staff to deliver an on the spot lecture with such clarity and pace. Their monologues were delivered better than any university lecture I’ve ever seen.
The show didn’t offer anything that I haven’t heard on TV already. We’ve seen these lectures on talk shows and from our politicians. Sorkin didn’t have to waste our time with HIS opinion. It came off as arrogant. “Hey, listen to what I have to say”.
Having said that, I realize this was written almost immediately after the attacks and they had to film and produce it so I give them a break on that. It’s a stand alone episode, so no harm done, other than wasting my hour. What else was I going to do? Play on the internet?
I did like the Press Secretary’s subtle cleavage.
This was very important symbolism. Don’t let terrorism cleave a gap between our country. Brilliant!
As for Sorkin as the sole writer. There has BEEN some controversy. He has script consultants that pitch him ideas for the show. He takes their ideas, crafts the show and writes it himself. Thus, they get no screen credit. No royalties. Nothing but a pay check. There was word that they may file a grievance with the screenwriters guild.
You need to look at the history of Babylon 5.
I thought it was long shot, but Godwin’s Law is in the dictionary! Now I know what the heck you’re talking about 
http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=Godwin's%20Law
Anyone else recognize the suspected terrorist? I am about 99% that it was Ajay Naidu who played Samir Nayeenanajar in office space.
I liked last nights episode. I expected it to be more about how the white house reacts during a terorist attack but I was very happy with the episode anyway.
Did anyone else get the impression that the episode takes place in the wake of a terrorist attack (not neccesarily WTC)? Seems the kids and white house staff were already on edge before the “crash”. They mentioned numerous crashes earlier that week too.
Yes.
Yes.
YEs.
i only saw the last fifteen minutes, but there was a part i loved when some guy (i’ve never seen this show, don’t know names) was talking to the students and described how he would punish the terrorists. he went on to say that they would be locked in a room for the rest of their lives, watching home videos of the people they helped kill. then, every night they would get punched in the face by a different person every night, and they could set up a waiting list to do so. great, great idea.
and if you ask me, it looks like he’s gained a couple pounds since office space. not that that’s a bad thing, he seemed skinny as hell in that movie.
I always forget, is John Spence the National Security Advisor or Chief of Staff? I thought he was the NSA, but then who is the Chief?
Do you really think the NSA would do the actual interviewing?
Really liked the concept and the attempt - one more reason to look at this as a Golden Age of TV, where in the face of falling ratings, more chances are being taken and the quality is better than most movies…
As for the execution, pretty darn good for the time they had and the even-handedness they attempted to portray. On one hand, the high school scenes were preachy/patronizing, but on the other hand, it was a well-handled plot device and the level of dialogue maintained the West Wing “several levels above your average TV” intellect. I suppose the real question is whether you felt that you
- were being reduced to the level of one of the students,
- identified with the one smart kid
- identified with the cast
In my case, I identified with the cast - I thought they represent different positions I was cycling through in my own head (sometimes hawkish, sometimes more reserved, etc…), so I didn’t feel talked down to…
It was an Ajay kind of day for me. I watched Office Space on DVD and then saw him on West Wing and then noticed that he figures somewhat in the ads for that new K-PAX movie. I thought he did an excellent job in WW- very subtle and powerful- in a part that could be overacted fairly easily. The contrast between Samir and the WW staffer is fairly extreme, but both are sympathetic and real. I like this guy.
I also enjoyed the attempt. I have a somewhat cynical eye towards Sorkin’s pushing politics on WW, but I think this episode showed a realization of the responsibility of the producers of shows like this. It’s possible that many people in America believe and respect these characters more than those who fill the actual positions. That’s silly of course, but I think it’s good to see such a thing handled in an even-handed way.
John Spencer plays Leo McGarry, White House Chief of Staff.
WordMan, I like your take on the episode. I just read a scathing review in USA Today–which further bolstered my conviction that the show last night was very well-done.
By the way, did anyone notice Brad Whitford referring to the episode as a “play” in the opening montage? Obviously fitting for what they were trying to do.
I thought it was excellent for having been made from start to finish in three weeks. Very impressive. I also really liked the KKK comparison, as I’d been searching for a good parallel myself and hadn’t come up with this one. I’d previously thought of the Nazi’s, but hadn’t made the connection of them in Poland being analagous to the Taliban in Afganistan.
One thing did annoy me though. They discussed the Assassins as perhaps the first terrorists, but made no mention of what happend to them. Had I been one of those students, that would have been my question.
(Answer: dismantled by the Mongols using overwhelming military force. Would have made an interesting parallel to our own situation. A chance missed.)
I don’t know that we’ve “met” the director of the NSA. I know we’ve seen the SecDef (the press secretary from American President). We’ve seen the C-JCS. John Amos from Good Times. We’ve seen two White House Counsels (John Laroquette and Oliver Platt). The Vice-President is Eric Stratton from Animal House!
I don’t think we’ve seen SecState or AG (I have missed a few episodes).
One SCt Justice is played by Edward James Almos.
The show tends to favor cast members from American President (Sheen, SecDef
People from American President that Need to make an Appearance:
Michael J Fox- Maybe as Senator Alex Keaton
David Paymer- He could even play the same tpye character
Douglas and Benning- Not as same characters, but a cameo would be nice.
Rob Reiner- I think the show may be too liberal for him
Richard Dreyfuss
John mahoney
Wendy mallick
Forgot Joshua Malina. He got cast in Sports Night instead.
I saw an episode with the NSA. It was the “big block of cheese day” one. One of the staff (I don’t watch it often enough to know everyone’s names) is trying to get a pardon for a convicted spy from the Cold War era. The NSA calls him in, and shows him decrypted Soviet communications that proved the guy was indeed a spy, even though he probably didn’t recieve a fair trial (the communications were not decrypted until years later).
What struck me was that the NSA was female, before Bush chose the first female NSA, I think.
Anyway, I liked last night’s episode.