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Jack_Bauer

A West Wing Event!

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On Sunday November 6th, The West Wing goes live for the first time in its 7 year history.

 

President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) second term is winding down and the race to determine his successor is being hotly contested between Democratic dark-horses Representative Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) (TX) and former Bartlet Chief-of-Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) and moderate Republican front runner Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) (CA) and Governor Ray Sullivan (Brett Cullen) (WV).

 

Tonight, the two presidential candidates square off in a debate that will be seen live around the country.

 

 

btn_debate_santos.gif

 

VS.

 

btn_debate_vinick.gif

 

Here are links to learn more about the candidates, the history of their campaigns, and the election itself:

 

Santos/McGarry Campaign

Vinick/Sullivan Campaign

 

Arnold Vinick @ Wikipedia

Matt Santos @ Wikipedia

 

U.S. Presidential Election 2006

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I haven't watched the show in a long time, but I plan on watching it tonight - unless my husband wants to watch something else (not likely).

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Well, the debate was great. The differences between the two were really clear and the performances by Alda and Smits were terrific. The whole real debate was just great, and it didn't real feel all that scripted, the responses seemed natural based on the characters. After all the discussion on abortion last week I was amazed that it was left out and the death penalty was barely acknowledged (probably saving that for down the road).

 

Overall, I'd say Santos (Smits) won the debate because he really made it clear that he had plans for all the programs and Vinick just didn't come across that way, but both were very well spoken and the actors had their characters down perfectly from what we've seen so far.

 

I have to think Santos will make up some ground on Vinick in the polls and start getting firmer holds on the swing states, because he needs to win all of them the way things are going. As near as I can tell, tracking indicates Vinick has control of 268 potential electoral votes and Santos only has 100 with 170 in the swing states.

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i rarely watch west wing but i was intrigued by the live episode. i wanted to see how they'd set up the debate. it was great. i really thought i was watching a real debate. i loved the performances by smit and alda. i especially liked how it said "live nbc news" in the corner and they had forest sawyer be the moderator. they could have done without the ellen degeneres stuff.

 

tm :drool:

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My prediction is this: Santos, being a Democrat, will win, because it's an NBC show, and hey, NBC likes Democrats, not Republicans. That's how Hollywood is.

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Is this West Wing's last season? It seems that no matter who wins the election that most, if not all, of the characters would be replaced with a new president, especially if it's Alan Alda's character who wins.

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I almost never watch the West Wing, but it could be that yes, this is the last season, or simply that the actors on the show now just don't want to deal with it anymore. Remember, each Star Trek series ended after 7 seasons except TOS and ENT (Which combined for 7)

 

The other thing is, if this is the last season for West Wing, it could be a set-up for a spin-off.

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In all likelihood this is the last season and the presidency will not be decided until the last episode. The biggest problem is the ratings are sagging and the actors are some of the highest paid in TV. I'm not sure how much disinterest there is from the actors but they are clearing some out already: Dule Hill, Stockard Channing, Joshua Malina and Janel Maloney are all pretty much recurring now and Richard Schiff is gone. Only Bradley Whitford and Jimmy Smits are typically in every episode. Seriously though, they don't do themselves any favours by casting who they do (Patricia Richardson, Janeane Garafalo, Ron Silver...).

 

As for who will win , I don't think its clear cut. From a political point of view the writing staff have set up, Vinick has a mortal lock on the electoral college since he has California and currently has control of 268 electoral votes (more if the spoilers about a Santos pullout from Washington State). However, from a dramatic point of view, a Santos victory makes more sense because his character is better developed and receives more focus and his dark horse status is appealing dramatically. However, less development for Vinick would make it easier to develop him provided he wins the presidency (and provided the show continues). It's not self evident at this point.

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In all likelihood this is the last season and the presidency will not be decided until the last episode. The biggest problem is the ratings are sagging and the actors are some of the highest paid in TV. I'm not sure how much disinterest there is from the actors but they are clearing some out already: Dule Hill, Stockard Channing, Joshua Malina and Janel Maloney are all pretty much recurring now and Richard Schiff is gone. Only Bradley Whitford and Jimmy Smits are typically in every episode. Seriously though, they don't do themselves any favours by casting who they do (Patricia Richardson, Janeane Garafalo, Ron Silver...).

 

As for who will win , I don't think its clear cut. From a political point of view the writing staff have set up, Vinick has a mortal lock on the electoral college since he has California and currently has control of 268 electoral votes (more if the spoilers about a Santos pullout from Washington State). However, from a dramatic point of view, a Santos victory makes more sense because his character is better developed and receives more focus and his dark horse status is appealing dramatically. However, less development for Vinick would make it easier to develop him provided he wins the presidency (and provided the show continues). It's not self evident at this point.

 

I would think whether the series continues for another season may have a bigger impact on who wins the election. If Vinick were to win the presidency, does Alan Alda really want to have a bigger role in a one hour weekly drama at his age. He will be turning 70 in January. I don't watch the series so I don't know how big his role is now but I would assume as president it would be bigger.

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In all likelihood this is the last season and the presidency will not be decided until the last episode. The biggest problem is the ratings are sagging and the actors are some of the highest paid in TV. I'm not sure how much disinterest there is from the actors but they are clearing some out already: Dule Hill, Stockard Channing, Joshua Malina and Janel Maloney are all pretty much recurring now and Richard Schiff is gone. Only Bradley Whitford and Jimmy Smits are typically in every episode. Seriously though, they don't do themselves any favours by casting who they do (Patricia Richardson, Janeane Garafalo, Ron Silver...).

 

As for who will win , I don't think its clear cut. From a political point of view the writing staff have set up, Vinick has a mortal lock on the electoral college since he has California and currently has control of 268 electoral votes (more if the spoilers about a Santos pullout from Washington State). However, from a dramatic point of view, a Santos victory makes more sense because his character is better developed and receives more focus and his dark horse status is appealing dramatically. However, less development for Vinick would make it easier to develop him provided he wins the presidency (and provided the show continues). It's not self evident at this point.

 

I would think whether the series continues for another season may have a bigger impact on who wins the election. If Vinick were to win the presidency, does Alan Alda really want to have a bigger role in a one hour weekly drama at his age. He will be turning 70 in January. I don't watch the series so I don't know how big his role is now but I would assume as president it would be bigger.

Very true Takara. Alda is great but Vinick hardly appears with the focus on the Democratic nomination race and the Santos Campaign. I often say that Alda has one of the best jobs in television because he barely appears (but is gold when he does, he got an Emmy nomination) and is credited in the opening of every episode.

 

Santos, on the other hand, would be one of the youngest Presidents in U.S. history.

 

They may in fact be better off focusing on the next President in a spin-off. The show would basically clear house no matter who wins. Vinick wins: clean sweep, Santos: Leo (as VP, and neither of Bartlet's VPs: Hoynes and Russell, appeared very often) and maybe Josh stick around (rumours are Josh could be fired).

 

Interesting fact is that Alda was actually considered for the role of President Bartlet and in the original concept was to have the president only appear in 4 episodes a year (with the focus on Rob Lowe's character) but Martin Sheen prooved to be too popular.

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I also watched this episode, while in Ohio this weekend. They have a bunch of elections coming up tomorrow and I wonder if anyone was briefly confused about this debate, since it did say NBC News Live on the screen. I thought it was well done and covered candidates differences well, but could have featured reactions from Josh or the White House. The Ellen DeGeneres part was just extra, did not add or detract for me. Wonder what the ratings were?

Edited by trekz

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9.6 million trekz. Up about a million and a half from typical West Wing ratings.

 

But it still finished third in its timeslot according to zap2it:

In the 8 p.m. hour ABC took control, getting a 10.9/16 from the second "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" hour. CBS dipped to second with the 10.5/15 for "Cold Case." NBC's live episode of "The West Wing" was third with a 6.2/9, though the political drama got crushed among adults 18-49 by the new "Treehouse of Horror" episode of "The Simpsons" and "The War at Home," which averaged a 5.5/9 on FOX. The WB's "Charmed" was last for the busy hour.

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I was watching EM:HE at the time...But, I agree with TUH and Jim, if the series is to continue, the winner would probably be the Democrat, not just because of the continuity with the previous administration's cast, but also because it's a Hollywood production, where Republican scriptwriters make up something like less than 10% of the population.

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The way things are looking there will be an election in where the views will election the next President. I have visited the web West Wing.

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I've never watched the West Wing. I've started watching the new Geena Davis show. I like that one very much. Is the West Wing similar?

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I haven't seen the other show. I like West Wing, and I think its a well written show.

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