Right Full Rudder

'West Wing': Is It Facing a Struggle to Survive?

I feel mixed emotions as I read about the ratings and creative difficulties that have NBC execs thinking about pulling one of my favorite shows from the air after this year. Part of me wants to say "I told you so" because I knew losing Aaron Sorkin would hurt the show. Another part of me wants to cheer this possibility because I could reclaim another free hour on Wednesday nights during a time when I'll probably be busy with grad school. Yet another part of me could care less because I've been spoiled by the quality programming on HBO and no longer live or die by this old standby.

Still, there is a tiny part of me that hates the idea that The West Wing might die, even if the sentiments of this paragraph from the article linked above are true:

In Mr. Wells's first year the ratings dropped even further. Instead of the stylized rapid-fire dialogue created by Mr. Sorkin for White House figures on the edge of personal or political crises, the series turned contrived and convoluted, critics said. Some White House staff members, already smug in the Sorkin years, turned insufferable. The series, which had confined itself almost entirely to the White House in its early years, branched out into plots involving terrorism and foreign intrigue.

True, true, all too true. C.J. was obnoxious this year, Leo's behavior made me want to throw John Wells out a window, and Josh became, as the Times notes, insufferable. Abby annoyed me, Bartlet annoyed me, Toby annoyed me. The whole Will working for the VP thing was silly. And sending Donna to Gaza, nearly killing her, letting a beloved character like Fitzwallace die in service of a stupid plot development--all of these are reasons to rejoice that WW might bite the dust.

Still, I hold out meager hope that this season will bring back all that was good about this once-mighty show, even as the producers pledge a swing to the right and a focus on the upcoming fictional election (the one on the show, not the one in November). And if that doesn't happen, there are more terrible things I can imagine than another free hour on Wednesday evening. Like waiting until 2006 for The Sorpanos to come back.