So, I'm rewatching "The West Wing"

[volstork]

because:

A) It's fantastic-- one of the greatest ensemble pieces of all time, with compelling and well-drawn characters across the board.

B) It sure as hell beats watching the news.

C) It's a welcome escape from reality.

When watching Season 1, Episode 11 tonight (Lord John Marbury), I was particularly struck by the contrast between fiction and reality since 11/9/16. In this episode, India amasses 300k troops on the Pakistani border, instantly creating an international crisis that might end in nuclear conflagration. Bartlet keeps cool, identifies and calls in appropriate advisors, and disaster is averted.

I couldn't help but think want this would look like in today's REAL White House, occupied by a moronic, incurious, volatile, sociopath, in so far over his head that he should spend every day curled in the fetal position in the corner.

Here's hoping that the hammer falls soon, so someone can wake us all up from this nightmare...

[brooklynite]

1. I don't believe in escaping reality

Reality is where we have to live and make decisions.

[volstork]

2. Well, I don't disagree,

but an occasional distraction returns sanity when reality gets to be too much.

[badhair77]

3. I join you in my West Wing love. I don't think

it can be duplicated or rebooted. For me, the Aaron Sorkin years were the best.

[volstork]

5. Undoubtedly.

The quality of the writing suffered after he left, and I drifted away once the attention turned to the election with Santos and Vinick.

[badhair77]

11. I watched after he left but tried to talk myself

out of being disappointed. My library has the box sets so I check those out once in awhile.

[FakeNoose]

4. I've had the same idea that I'd like to binge on the entire series

I'm pretty sure I can get the West Wing DVDs from my local library. If not, I can probably find most of them on line.

[volstork]

6. It streams on Netflix

if you are a subscriber. I scored a boxed set on ebay a few years back for not much dough.

[elleng]

7. I watch it on Netflix when I visit a friend;

no Netflix here.

TWW is the BEST

[Leith]

8. West Wing IS fantastic

Oh, for a president like Bartlet!

Every one of the cast was wonderful. The stories were brilliant. The characters were intelligent, dedicated, and human.

Enjoy watching!

[underpants]

9. I always took Lord John Marbury as a take on Christopher Hitchens

We've been thinking about watching West Wing as our nightly hour of TV. Just finished watching The Office (US) all the way through. We just started on Sherlock with Benjamin Cumberbatch and ironically Martin Freeman

[volstork]

10. If you've not yet seen it,

you are in for a treat. Excellent show.