Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
The Kingfish
Oct 21, 2015


I've never watched the show but I might give it a shot. Is it just regular bad or is it bad and also an interesting glimpse into the ideology of the beltway media elite??

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Captain_Maclaine
Sep 30, 2001

Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!
Depends a lot on what season/episode. Most are pretty good, some are mediocre (particularly in the waning seasons), and a few are cringe-inducingly bad.

Overall though it was a fun show and worth watching.

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

It's not awful, but it's already very dated just in terms of writing and style. It's the best Sorkin show, but it's still a Sorkin show. I'd rather watch West Wing than the Newsroom, which is unbelievable garbage. West Wing is at least a mostly-competent drama. But frankly, if you want punchy dialogue and character moments, just watch Gilmore Girls instead.

Captain_Maclaine
Sep 30, 2001

Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

FactsAreUseless posted:

It's not awful, but it's already very dated just in terms of writing and style. It's the best Sorkin show, but it's still a Sorkin show. I'd rather watch West Wing than the Newsroom, which is unbelievable garbage. West Wing is at least a mostly-competent drama. But frankly, if you want punchy dialogue and character moments, just watch Gilmore Girls instead.

Yeah it's absolutely a product of its times, gotta watch it with that in mind if you've never seen it before (and seconded on Newsroom being utter poo poo).

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

In general I don't like what Sorkin does, but West Wing launched him for a reason. It's not a bad show by any means. But it was part of that wave of late-90s/early-2000s TV dramas, when TV was just starting to get big budget and serious, but before that really took off.

ScrubLeague
Feb 11, 2007

Nap Ghost
It's actually quite good if you're a fan of high fantasy. Just remember it's a political show for a broad audience so literally nothing in it approaches realistic.

The Kingfish
Oct 21, 2015


What shows/episodes should I watch if I want to see some funny liberal stuff where somebody makes an Obama speech and melts politician hearts? Like some "this is what liberals actually believe" poo poo.

Jewel Repetition
Dec 24, 2012

Ask me about Briar Rose and Chicken Chaser.
OP do you, like me, only know about it because of Chapo?

Prav
Oct 29, 2011

The Kingfish posted:

What shows/episodes should I watch if I want to see some funny liberal stuff where somebody makes an Obama speech and melts politician hearts? Like some "this is what liberals actually believe" poo poo.

any episode

The Kingfish
Oct 21, 2015


Jeb! Repetition posted:

OP do you, like me, only know about it because of Chapo?

This sounds like stdh, but my Comm 101 professor made us watch a monologue called "America isn't the greatest country in the world.":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPHSXUS0_1c

He thought it was an amazing speech, but I thought probably the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. I didn't realize until Chapo that over-educated liberals really do believe this poo poo.

Fallen Hamprince
Nov 12, 2016

The Kingfish posted:

This sounds like stdh, but my Comm 101 professor made us watch a monologue called "America isn't the greatest country in the world.":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPHSXUS0_1c

He thought it was an amazing speech, but I thought probably the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. I didn't realize until Chapo that over-educated liberals really do believe this poo poo.

guy who went to a coms 101 class has some extremely valuable thoughts about anything, at all

deadgoon
Dec 4, 2014

by FactsAreUseless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY

Trumps Baby Hands
Mar 27, 2016

Silent white light filled the world. And the righteous and unrighteous alike were consumed in that holy fire.
It's okay but it's not as good as Battlestar Galactica

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

The Kingfish posted:

What shows/episodes should I watch if I want to see some funny liberal stuff where somebody makes an Obama speech and melts politician hearts? Like some "this is what liberals actually believe" poo poo.

literally any of them but watch bad moon rising from season two because it has the best character, White House counsel Oliver Babbish

Raskolnikov38 has issued a correction as of 00:30 on Mar 19, 2017

BAE OF PIGS
Nov 28, 2016

Tup
I liked it when I was little but I tried rewatching it a few years ago and I didn't really care for it because it just seemed like a dumb drama.

The Kingfish
Oct 21, 2015


I had to take a speech class to graduate and they took attendance.

Baloogan
Dec 5, 2004
Fun Shoe
it made me cry

The Muppets On PCP
Nov 13, 2016

by Fluffdaddy
be careful: watch too many episodes and it'll turn your dick into a lanyard

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

https://youtu.be/dVgK5HKj3P4

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

the 'accomplishments' bartlet rattles off will never not make me laugh

sure buddy i bet god really gives a poo poo about increased foreign trade and a SCOTUS pick

Bear Retrieval Unit
Nov 5, 2009

Mudslide Experiment
Jed!

Good soup!
Nov 2, 2010

It's okay but it's not as good as DBZ

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

Raskolnikov38 posted:

the 'accomplishments' bartlet rattles off will never not make me laugh

sure buddy i bet god really gives a poo poo about increased foreign trade and a SCOTUS pick

God loves new jobs

Helsing
Aug 23, 2003

DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU :love::love::love: JOE BIDEN

The Kingfish posted:

What shows/episodes should I watch if I want to see some funny liberal stuff where somebody makes an Obama speech and melts politician hearts? Like some "this is what liberals actually believe" poo poo.

"Slow News Day" Season 5, episode 12, not sure if it has any inspiring speeches but it's peak beltway

Alfred P. Pseudonym
May 29, 2006

And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss goes 8-8

It's pretty solid for a network drama but it goes downhill when Rob Lowe leaves.

WampaLord
Jan 14, 2010

Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:

It's pretty solid for a network drama but it goes downhill when Rob Lowe leaves.

Yes, Seasons 1-4 are generally excellent, with only a couple bad episodes in there. After that, quality varies, with the election plot being much more interesting than the White House stuff.

Captain_Maclaine
Sep 30, 2001

Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

WampaLord posted:

Yes, Seasons 1-4 are generally excellent, with only a couple bad episodes in there. After that, quality varies, with the election plot being much more interesting than the White House stuff.

The addition of Alan Alda as Senator Vinnick seriously helped buoy the series at the end.

paul_soccer10
Mar 28, 2016

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

lol holy poo poo this is gay

WampaLord
Jan 14, 2010

Captain_Maclaine posted:

The addition of Alan Alda as Senator Vinnick seriously helped buoy the series at the end.

It's also pretty interesting how they kind of predicted the 2008 election. Younger, minority, charismatic Dem vs. maverick, older, experienced Rep.

Alfred P. Pseudonym
May 29, 2006

And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss goes 8-8

Captain_Maclaine posted:

The addition of Alan Alda as Senator Vinnick seriously helped buoy the series at the end.

Yeah Alda was good but that storyline also gave us that godawful nuclear meltdown episode.

Tewdrig
Dec 6, 2005

It's good to be the king.

Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:

Yeah Alda was good but that storyline also gave us that godawful nuclear meltdown episode.

Was that not after Leo died IRL? I thought we were supposed to have Pres Alda but it got rewritten after he died. I assumed that was the shoehorn, but it's been a long time.

The West Wing is decent tv and promotes generic corporate liberalism. I was going to recommend the episode where Serious Liberals work across the aisle to cut social security, but whoops it turns out that is Slow News Day, which was already suggested.

Also the president assassinates people. Basically it's a preview of the Obama administration, but with better casting.

Captain_Maclaine
Sep 30, 2001

Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

Tewdrig posted:

Was that not after Leo died IRL? I thought we were supposed to have Pres Alda but it got rewritten after he died. I assumed that was the shoehorn, but it's been a long time.

The way it went down, according to the writers, is that they originally had Santos slated to win but when the season opened Vinnick resonated much more than they had ever expected him to and so there was a period mid-season where they were arguing about whether or not to alter the outcome of the election so he'd end up winning. John Spencer died during all of this, which may have had an impact on things but no one's come out and said it was the deciding factor or anything.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound
It's good but dated

Watching it now would probably be depressing if you're left wing, in a "gently caress, what could have been" sorta way

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

We did see what could have been. We got the Obama presidency, and it was lame & fixed practically nothing.

The Muppets On PCP
Nov 13, 2016

by Fluffdaddy

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It's good but dated

Watching it now would probably be depressing if you're left wing, in a "gently caress, what could have been" sorta way

nah it's more like oh god people actually took this poo poo seriously

GobiasIndustries
Dec 14, 2007

Lipstick Apathy

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It's good but dated

Watching it now would probably be depressing if you're left wing, in a "gently caress, what could have been" sorta way

I watched a couple episodes of S2 the other day and it's actually hilarious when juxtaposed with the Trump presidency.

Helsing
Aug 23, 2003

DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU :love::love::love: JOE BIDEN

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It's good but dated

Watching it now would probably be depressing if you're left wing, in a "gently caress, what could have been" sorta way

"What could have been" i.e. the Obama administration

Doktor Avalanche
Dec 30, 2008

I like it a lot but it can be cringy. And as somebody else said, it's high fantasy, a constantly scrolling subtitle "THIS IS WHAT THE POLITICAL LANYARD PEOPLE ACTUALLY BELIEVE" would be useful.

get that OUT of my face
Feb 10, 2007

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It's good but dated

Watching it now would probably be depressing if you're left wing, in a "gently caress, what could have been" sorta way
this is why dem shills love it

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Victory Position
Mar 16, 2004

the only thing I know about the West Wing is that the president's secretary is a cool lady v:confused:v

also that she died. that blows.

  • Locked thread