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Just finished my re-watch of the series. On a second, compressed viewing, season 6 and 7 were amazing and give the early seasons a run for their money. Maybe it's just one of the most recent, but I humbly nominate the following for the funniest scene in the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oePRkLEaB40&feature=player_detailpage#t=30s The tone of CJ's "Did you take an awkward pill?" gets me every time.
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Aug 24, 2011 05:16
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Man compare that to CJ in season 4. She just looks so tired, why would anyone want that job. It was a great moment when she turned down Santos' offer to stay on a few more years. You put olives in my jacket again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtwaDbXK440 Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Aug 24, 2011 |
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Aug 24, 2011 05:23
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Deadpool posted:Yeah, and they're awesome. You can check out a screenshot from them I posted on page one of the thread. They are the only place I know that has season one in widescreen. It was never shown on TV or released on DVD in widescreen. Since season 1 was never aired in widescreen, I assume they shot it with full screen in mind. Watching it in widescreen, are there any screw ups in the edges of the screen they didn't bother cutting out since they were showing in full screen? Boom mikes or anything like that? Is it awkward watching it in widescreen when that's not how they shot it? Is it basically everything crowded in the middle, with useless stuff on the edges? (Please note I have been a huge proponent of widescreen since before widescreen TVs became the norm. Been defending black bars for years. I'm just curious how it works here, when they shot it without thinking it would ever be in widescreen.)
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Aug 24, 2011 14:41
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thrawn527 posted:Since season 1 was never aired in widescreen, I assume they shot it with full screen in mind. Watching it in widescreen, are there any screw ups in the edges of the screen they didn't bother cutting out since they were showing in full screen? Boom mikes or anything like that? No but the composition is very center mass most of the time. Occasionally the wide screen adds something to it but its few and far between.
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Aug 24, 2011 16:35
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Damnit, now I need to add this to my Netflix queue again. Since I coudn't satiate my immediate hunger for Awesome Presidentialness, I watched The American President instead. I like to think that between being the governor of New Hampshire and being President, Jed Bartlet went by his college nick name of A.J. and was the Chief of Staff for Andrew Shepard.
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Aug 24, 2011 21:54
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Chamberk posted:Actually, "Access" was nowhere near as bad as I heard. It was good to have a CJ-centric episode and the talking head stuff wasn't too annoying. How anyone can like that episode I'll never know ... They hosed up future continuity by saying CJ was the only press secretary to last two full terms. Hint: she didn't, and a documentary set after Bartlet's presidency would have god drat mentioned that! Wells 
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Aug 24, 2011 22:04
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brylcreem posted:They hosed up future continuity by saying CJ was the only press secretary to last two full terms. Hint: she didn't, and a documentary set after Bartlet's presidency would have god drat mentioned that! I thought it just said she served two terms, which she did, she just didn't complete the second one. Also, it had Bartlet; the dog hater.
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Aug 24, 2011 22:26
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Started a re-watch tonight. Idle thoughts: - Ugh Mandy scenes. Ambivalent to the character and actress, although they wrote her very poorly (someone else did a great breakdown earlier in the thread about her always being both adamant but wrong which is a horrible pairing), but having her listen pop rock while wearing a beret and running red lights kills the pilot for me every time. Ditto anything to do with her and Daisy in that office they had for one episode. Her scene with Josh in 1x03 is nice though. - The early version of the intro credits theme is godawful. It's so muted and tinny, and I could swear that's a synthesized piccolo at the end of it. - I don't know if it was a conscious decision to make her look older and thus more experienced and wise or something, but C.J. had the worst hair in Season 1. - It's a bit lame that Sorkin hit the viewer over the head with "this doctor/officer has a 10-day old child!!!". It's so damned transparent, but I guess it was a quick way to give us perspective on Bartlet's fury. - When Leo confronts Bartlet just before they go on-air to announce the attack on Syrian targets, and he describes how Bartlet's vendetta would require the deaths of everyone and that Leo would rise an army up against him, goddamn that's great writing and phenomenal acting. - Mrs. Landingham is the second-greatest character in the history of the show. Sorkin-era Toby is #1 obviously.
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Aug 25, 2011 07:06
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thrawn527 posted:Since season 1 was never aired in widescreen, I assume they shot it with full screen in mind. Watching it in widescreen, are there any screw ups in the edges of the screen they didn't bother cutting out since they were showing in full screen? Boom mikes or anything like that? I forget which season but I saw a wide screen error, might be season 1. Sam and Toby are in Toby's office discussing something and Sam shuts the door and the next cut it's Sam sitting on Toby's office couch but on the left edge of the screen you can see the door is still open.
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Aug 25, 2011 07:18
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kalensc posted:- Ugh Mandy scenes. Ambivalent to the character and actress, although they wrote her very poorly (someone else did a great breakdown earlier in the thread about her always being both adamant but wrong which is a horrible pairing), but having her listen pop rock while wearing a beret and running red lights kills the pilot for me every time. Ditto anything to do with her and Daisy in that office they had for one episode. Her scene with Josh in 1x03 is nice though. And oh god, Hip Cool Mandy, what on earth is that? 1x01 and 1x02 both feature her driving with loud music playing, as though I was watching... oh god what's on ABC Family these days? Dirty Little Liars? I don't know. That. I agree with your character choices, too. Mrs Landingham and Toby are brilliant. Expecting, anticipating, waiting for it, Mrs Landingham telling Toby that she wanted to come to the cemetery for the funeral gave me goosebumps again, as it always has and does. "Hi Senator, why don't you take your legislative agenda and shove it up your rear end? ... Turns out I was fine." On re-watch, I think it's a little clearer to me that there was interchangeable plots and ideas before the idea of The West Wing even existed. And by that, I mean, let's have an episode about a dead veteran, let's have an episode about an every day person replacing their dead congressman spouse, let's have an episode about picking the right justice rather than the easy one, let's have an episode about the moral dilemma of the death penalty. I suppose that could be any first season, but the episodes are very interchangeable and standalone, rather than the serial nature of the later series. Toby status: Sam, you're gonna come to a verb, right?
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Aug 25, 2011 07:36
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:
The veteran story is based off the writers father and I am guessing the everyday person replacing their congressman spouse was based off of Sonny Bono hitting that tree. Then Supreme Court one is also important to have since its a presidents real legacy since they stay on till they die.
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Aug 25, 2011 08:01
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The ending of Dead Irish Writers was the best thing a  could hope for. Hilarious and poignant!
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Aug 25, 2011 08:05
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bobkatt013 posted:The veteran story is based off the writers father and I am guessing the everyday person replacing their congressman spouse was based off of Sonny Bono hitting that tree. Then Supreme Court one is also important to have since its a presidents real legacy since they stay on till they die. The Short List (Mendoza) is 9th, but I don't feel like I need to see it 9th. That kind of thing.
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Aug 25, 2011 08:08
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:No I understand, it's just particularly clear on re-watch that the episodes are not "okay, our characters are at X, how do we get them to Y?" - it's just, okay Mr Willis would go well here. Oh how the first season is less serialized then the other? Ya I assume that is due to them having to change the show from having little focus on the President to having a lot.
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Aug 25, 2011 08:11
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Popo posted:I thought it just said she served two terms, which she did, she just didn't complete the second one. Either way, that documentary should have mentioned that she went on to become Chief of Staff.
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Aug 25, 2011 08:32
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One thing I will never get over about this show is the absurdly peppy end-credits music compared to the down-note on which most episodes end. It's enough to give me whiplash.
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Aug 25, 2011 09:16
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Alaemon posted:One thing I will never get over about this show is the absurdly peppy end-credits music compared to the down-note on which most episodes end. It's enough to give me whiplash. Oh god, I remember this most from the first time I watched What Kind of Day Has It Been. Bang bang screams CHEERFUL MUSIC.
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Aug 25, 2011 09:19
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Alaemon posted:One thing I will never get over about this show is the absurdly peppy end-credits music compared to the down-note on which most episodes end. It's enough to give me whiplash. I always turn it off before that happens. That was a bizarre choice of music.
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Aug 25, 2011 12:14
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It didn't air that way. There would be a commercial break after the producer credits or they'd do voice over to announce the next show while the credit ran. It's only mashed together for the DVD and I guess it's the only music that had available. Does the new HD BluRay set make the same mistake?
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Aug 25, 2011 12:25
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Alaemon posted:One thing I will never get over about this show is the absurdly peppy end-credits music compared to the down-note on which most episodes end. It's enough to give me whiplash. I've got the same complaint, but I think this might actually be an artifact of the conversion to DVD. The original series had a commercial break between the last scene and closing credits, and I believe jeffersonolives noted that those credits were accompanied by different music. Can't find too much about it from a quick search though V  V
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Aug 25, 2011 12:25
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Alaemon posted:One thing I will never get over about this show is the absurdly peppy end-credits music compared to the down-note on which most episodes end. It's enough to give me whiplash. Yeah this is dumb but it wasn't how it aired live. Also I just watched 18th and Potomac and Two Cathedrals again. Jesus Christ it's still amazing 10+ years later. Is there a better ending to a TV episode/series than the ending of Two Cathedrals? Maybe the end of 24, or the end of Battlestar: Galactica's miniseries, or something from Veronica Mars? Breaking Bad and Doctor Who have been great but man. Two Cathedrals just kind of stands out on its own when the Dire Straits song hits. I wish I could go back to the first time I watched it. edit: The Rome series finale owned too, and the Sopranos (totally debatable). Yet I haven't re-watched them nearly as much as "Two Cathedrals" just saying. Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaUPDYXQUtw Mandoira fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Aug 25, 2011 |
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Aug 25, 2011 17:21
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUwm6WJRPIQ Leo interviews Ainsley Hayes CJ and Joe Quincy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3ZqakVXJY
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Aug 25, 2011 17:56
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scr0llwheel posted:Just finished my re-watch of the series. On a second, compressed viewing, season 6 and 7 were amazing and give the early seasons a run for their money. Season 6 is pretty shaky in places. Season 1 and Season 6 are the only seasons where I will actually skip episodes 7 is up there with 2 for bein awesome
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Aug 25, 2011 18:26
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hypocrite lecteur posted:Season 6 is pretty shaky in places. Season 1 and Season 6 are the only seasons where I will actually skip episodes What do you skip in season 1?
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Aug 25, 2011 18:30
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kalensc posted:- The early version of the intro credits theme is godawful. It's so muted and tinny, and I could swear that's a synthesized piccolo at the end of it. The whole thing was synthesised for at least the first few episodes, maybe even the whole first season, I can't remember. The orchestral recording comes later. No idea why they haven't replaced it on the DVDs, maybe it's a slightly different length?
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Aug 25, 2011 19:40
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Mandoira posted:Also I just watched 18th and Potomac and Two Cathedrals again. Jesus Christ it's still amazing 10+ years later. Just got through them too, the last 20min of Two Cathedrals has an intensity that is incredible. Also, when these shows aired in Australia we often didn't get the commercial break before the end credits and it went straight to that jaunty music. Particularly when it aired on our public broadcaster (ABC). It was amazingly jarring at the best of times.
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Aug 26, 2011 03:36
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I adopted 3 month old brother/sisters kittens today and my roommate suggested name them Josh and C.J.. Great idea, or greatest idea? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3433483
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Aug 26, 2011 04:19
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Huck and Molly. Cats come with hats.
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Aug 26, 2011 04:41
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Josh and Donna would be more appropriate, no?Mu Zeta posted:Huck and Molly. Cats come with hats. IAWTP eta: though you are a terrible person for getting two of the same type of cat instead of compromising like Donna's parents 
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Aug 26, 2011 04:42
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t3ch3 posted:Josh and Donna would be more appropriate, no?
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Aug 26, 2011 04:59
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Ehhhhh, here's a knock against the show. I really hate the way Ainsley is hired. I understand it from a production standpoint - we need a prominent opposition voice, we need another strong feminine presence, etc. I just hate how biased her hiring is. It's the democrats who are honorable, it's the democrats who are amazing, she's just lucky to work with them. Most egregious is the final reveal. Ainsley meets her two friends at a cafe, and they are saying cliché things like "did you meet anybody there who isn't worthless?" and "I hate these people so much", which Ainsley answers with a 74 minute monologue on why the Bartlet administration are the best people in the world. The only way that scene could be any more biased is if it had taken place at a Klan rally. Just doesn't sit that well on viewing #8 or whichever this is.
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Aug 26, 2011 08:58
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I said don't say that. Say they're smug and superior. Say their approach to public policy makes you want to tear your hair out. Say they like high taxes and spending your money. Say they want to take your guns and open your borders, but don't call them worthless. At least don't do it in front of me. The people that I have met have been extraordinarily qualified, their intent is good. Their commitment is true, they are righteous, and they are patriots. And I'm their lawyer. It's not quite as long as you remember, but yeah, it's pretty clunky. That said I don't think the same applies to the rest of the episode where I think Ainsley gives as good as she gets. Also all the Leo/Ainsley scenes are gold. I think the show tends to miss more than it hits when it tries to do the bipartison or "good republican" stuff, especially when Sorkin was at the helm. Although I thought Josh's gay congressman friend episode was fairly good. Although I've got to love "Just doesn't sit well on viewing #8". Sums up the show for me pretty well. There are epsisodes, scenes and characters that by the eight viewing I'm not so fond of. But 99% of the stuff I watch on TV, even things I love, I will only ever watch once. I'm not really one for watching TV shows multiple times. West Wing (along with a couple of others) is the big exception to that rule.
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Aug 26, 2011 10:42
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One republican moment I really liked was when Walken is president, and Josh goes to the Capitol Building trying to convince the republicans that pushing a political agenda at this moment will be wrong. Turns out, the republicans are in awe of Bartlet and its Josh who is the cynic.
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Aug 26, 2011 13:55
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meatbag posted:One republican moment I really liked was when Walken is president, and Josh goes to the Capitol Building trying to convince the republicans that pushing a political agenda at this moment will be wrong. Turns out, the republicans are in awe of Bartlet and its Josh who is the cynic. Episode? Also, can anyone remind me why Two Cathedrals is called Two Cathedrals? I honestly can't figure it out, I only remember one Cathedral featuring in the episode  e: just came across all the 'West Wing 201x' title sequences on youtube, hilarious. El Grillo fucked around with this message at 14:07 on Aug 26, 2011 |
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Aug 26, 2011 14:04
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El Grillo posted:Episode? The Dogs of War, season 5, episode 2. Wikipedia posted:Josh confronts one of Walken's staff about the Republicans apparently testing sound bites for future elections. The Republican staffer indicates that Bartlet's sacrifice (resigning his office to an opposing party's leader) shows a tremendous amount of patriotism and that only someone playing politics would think the Republicans were going to dishonor that sacrifice.
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Aug 26, 2011 14:11
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El Grillo posted:Also, can anyone remind me why Two Cathedrals is called Two Cathedrals? I honestly can't figure it out, I only remember one Cathedral featuring in the episode There was the cathedral the funeral was held in, and the cathedral at Jed's prep school where the cigarette was found.
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Aug 26, 2011 16:55
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John Wilkes Booth posted:There was the cathedral the funeral was held in, and the cathedral at Jed's prep school where the cigarette was found. I think the cigarette was at the cathedral the funeral was held. On a side note about that, in my country, they subtitled the Latin, but it's not subbed on the DVDs I have. On another note entirely, I just realized a weird thing. I've never seen Bradley Withford (Josh) playing anything but a lawyer. Granted, I've only seen him in three things : As a sleazy lawyer in Robocop III, a slightly less, but still sleazy lawyer in Bicentennial Man, and a not-really-lawyer in The West Wing. Can somebody suggest some stuff with him that doesn't involve robots or cyborgs? Or, if it does, slighty better than the aforementioned cinematic opusses?
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Aug 26, 2011 22:36
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Bad Wolf posted:I think the cigarette was at the cathedral the funeral was held. On a side note about that, in my country, they subtitled the Latin, but it's not subbed on the DVDs I have. I misspoke, there were actually two cigarettes (for two cathedrals!) The one the janitor finds at the end in the present day and the one Mr. Bartlet tells his son about in the past.
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Aug 26, 2011 22:45
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Bad Wolf posted:I think the cigarette was at the cathedral the funeral was held. On a side note about that, in my country, they subtitled the Latin, but it's not subbed on the DVDs I have. Billy Madison!
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Aug 26, 2011 23:36
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He's also a TV producer in a show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. You may notice the writing is similar to that of the West Wing.
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Aug 26, 2011 23:39
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