I’ve been sampling the new show Commander-In-Chief, staring Geena Davis as the first female, independent President of the United States…
It tries hard…it’s very earnest…it has some great actors…
…but it’s pure soap…and not the good kind.
The creator of the show — who has already taken pot shots at The West Wing — says the show is “anti-partisan”: a fantasy scenario which sets it apart. He says his fantasy is nothing like government of old white men that is represented in Aaron Sorkin’s magnificent creation.
The only problem is that this fantasy just doesn’t have enough basis in the real world to make it fly as a superior concept.
More than anything else, The West Wing is capable of taking events from our real world, and creating a new dynamic by examining such issues through the distorting mirror of its television administration. Far from being anti-partisan, it tackles the party loyalty issue head on. It examines the difficulties of establishing policy and making the right decisions in the face of so much insurmountable opposition. Whether it be party politics, bureaucracy, lobby groups…even the American people…The West Wing embraces the structure of real life and turns it on its ear.
Commander-In-Chief doesn’t demonstrate this. It’s a very black-and-white show, without subtlely, and without that spark of verisimilitude that makes The West Wing what it is. The shades of reality that masquerade as substance on Commander-In-Chief are simply used as window dressing. On the other hand, even in the most common episode of The West Wing, it’s the synergy at the heart of the show.
Give Mackenzie Allen a pass and stick with Josiah Bartlet. Your mind and your heart will thank you.
