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THE MOVIE
Well, for Australian West Wing fans the release of the fifth season on DVD will come as a huge deal. You see, Channel Nine was playing the show earlier in the year, but inexplicably and unceremoniously stopped about 16 episodes in. Why? Who knows? When would it return? That is anyone’s guess. Will they get around to ever playing the sixth season that has already completed a 22 episode run in the States? I would not hold my breath. Considering some of the crap the networks play at 10.30pm, I find it hard to believe that The West Wing’s numbers were so low the show had to pulled. Any way, that is enough cursing of Channel Nine. (They can have another lickin’ when I review the sixth season release.)
For those who have read my reviews for The West Wing: The Complete Third Season and The West Wing: The Complete Fourth Season you will remember that Channel Nine is not the only corporation with which I have an axe to grind. The DVD releases by Warner Brothers have been no better, but more on that later. For now let us focus on one of the best shows to ever grace televisions screens: The West Wing.
For those not in the know, I wont recap what the show is all about (you can catch up by looking at the following links: The West Wing: The Complete Third Season and The West Wing: The Complete Fourth Season.) The fifth season of the show was monumental for two big reasons: the departure of executive producer, creator and head writer Aaron Sorkin, and the other executive producer and director Thomas Schlamme. Along with John Wells, Sorkin and Schlamme created the West Wing. Sorkin wrote over 90 percent of the first four seasons episodes, and Schlamme directed a good chunk of it. Loosing them sent chills through fans of The West Wing as to how the show would fare with only John Wells behind the wheel.
John Wells is the man who has run ER for an unbelievable 11 seasons. Despite the fact that the original cast long since left, the show maintains a level of popularity and quality that is almost unbelievable for such an aged show. The problem people seem to have with Wells is that unlike Sorkin or Schlamme, Wells makes good shows rather that great shows. By taking the reigns of both ER and The West Wing, Wells is unfortunately given the stigma of taking two great shows, and making them merely good. While the fifth season of The West Wing and the later seasons of ER are better than most crap on television (All Saints and 7th Heaven, I am looking directly at you) these shows were once brilliant. Loosing Sorkin and Schlamme was ripping the guts and heart out of The West Wing. No one would have envied Wells’ task of continuing alone, so the fact that The West Wing still has a pulse at all is an achievement in itself.
The fourth season ended with the kidnapping of the President’s youngest daughter as retribution for the assassination of a terrorist leader. In the chaos, Bartlett gave his powers to the Speaker of the House (John Goodman in terrific form.) The opening episodes picking up this thread are great, and continue seamlessly from the fourth season. The rest of the season however gets a bit muddled. There are far too many stand-alone episodes, and characters seem to jump around erratically in their personalities and convictions. It takes time for the new show runners to find their feet this season, but from what I hear they find them greatly by the beginning of season six. Season five appears to be 22 uneven episodes of transition, and while it is rocky, it is still good television. With the Bartlett administration coming to an end in season six, Wells is clearly pulling an ER, and setting this show up to be able to sustain huge cast losses. Season seven will judge whether or not The West Wing can survive the loss of Martin Sheen and others, but if anyone can pull it off it is Wells.
Speaking of the cast, like I said there are some jarring movements in characters and the tone of the show overall, but being the pros that they are, the cast manage to sill do some sterling work. The opening episodes allow Sheen and Stockard Channing (The First Lady) to do some great work, and Channing is given the best material to work with all season. The near loss of her daughter and the perceived betrayal of her husband and Leo allow Channing to do some great acting. Bradley Whitford is given the least interesting stuff to do until the end of the season, and the same goes for Janel Maloney as his assistant. Lumbered with an irritating Intern (poorly written for Jesse Bradford, a not-awful performer) for the majority of the Season, they do not really have anything to do until the last few episodes. (From what I read however, the sixth season belongs to both Whitford and Maloney.) The same applies to the character of Leo played beautifully by John Spencer, who does not have a great deal to do.
Richard Schiff and Joshua Malina are given more interesting stuff to play with, moving from co-workers to political rivals when Malina goes to work for the new Vice President. Schiff gets a new secretary played by Melissa Marsala, who is a great addition to the cast. The most consistent performer however is, as ever, Alison Janney, who really becomes the star of The West Wing this season. Given how her prominence in the show has grown over the years, loosing Janney may be the more jarring loss than even Martin Sheen. Janney won the Emmy for Best Actress this season and it is clear why: the show more or less revolves more around her than any other character, even Sheen. And why not? Janney is an amazing actress who hopefully will have a long career after The West Wing. The season is worth buying for her performance alone.
The one thing The West Wing does better than anyone else is use a large recurring supporting cast away from its principals. Returning favourites include John Amos as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Anna Deavere Smith as the National Security Advisor and Mary-Louise Parker as Amy. All three are brilliant, but have reduced roles this season to make way for some new blood. Lilly Tomlin as Bartlett’s assistant and NiCole Robinson as Leo’s assistant are hoots, and provide able support for the actors playing their bosses. They really do assist the proceedings here. As mentioned John Goodman is great as the Speaker of the House, and when he resigns Steven Culp (Bree’s husband Rex on Desperate Housewives) takes over as the Republican leader and nemesis. Gary Cole (yes, Mr. Brady from The Brady Bunch movies) is the new Vice President and is a great addition. Other notable guest stars include Tom Skerritt, Mathew Perry, James Cromwell (a former President), Marlee Matlin, Gabrielle Union, Jay Mohr (in a brilliant parody of those blow-hard Republicans on Fox News), Phillip Baker Hall, Tim Matheson, Glenn Close, Jason Isaacs and Elmo (yes, Elmo.) The cast keeps the show running, I just hope they do not get to a point where the cast is running on empty.
There are some stand out episodes this season including Han, about a North Korean defector, Constituency of One in which Mary-Louise Parker gets fired, Full Disclosure sees the return of the disgraced former VP John Hoynes, The Supremes sees Glen Close possibly become the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the last two episodes sees a Congressional Delegation to Gaza go horribly wrong, and gives a great season cliff hanger. The standout episode however is No Exit, where the White House is possibly under terrorist threat, and the main cast is paired off and held in their offices, with nothing to do but confront some issues they would rather not. A 4 star season rather than the 5 star stuff we are used to, but great nonetheless.
THE TRANSFER
Video:
In 2000 a stack of shows began to be filmed and broadcast in the 1.77:1 aspect ratio. Like Jon Well’s other show ER, The West Wing was filmed in widescreen and looks amazing! The West Wing is one of the most beautiful shows on television, and we get to watch it in widescreen! The Bartlett White House is technically unrealistic as the White House due to the amount of natural light being used on the set, but who cares? Every hallway and office looks beautiful, and the show improves when it goes to Washington D.C. for location shooting. The picture is absolutely crisp and clear, unlike the first season, where the cinematography was so soft it was like they had Vaseline on the lens. The third season saw about two episodes where there was some brief pixalisation, but the fourth season saw at least a third of the episodes suffering from the digital faults. The fifth season is on par with the other releases and looks beautiful. The video transfer is thankfully true to its aspect ratio and beautiful, and despite the odd pixalistation, the presentation really can not be faulted.
Audio:
The West Wing is presented in Dolby 2.0 stereo. While many people will complain about this I honestly find it a little forced when shows recorded for 2.0 television broadcast are forced into a 5.1 surround mix (Eg: Buffy and The Sopranos.) For a show like The West Wing which is all talk, not complicating things with a 5.1 mix is not the greatest sin these DVD’s have committed. For a show like Buffy where there is action a 5.1 mix may be missed, but here the show is all about dialogue. Even the music, while fantastic, is not centre stage. Dialogue is clear and understandable and for this particular show, a 2.0 mix is more than adequate. From time to time the dialogue will drift from the centre speaker to the left and right, creating quite an unnatural effect, however this is rare. The left and right speakers are dominated by the musical score, some dialogue and other ambient effects. Also provided is a French audio track which is an odd experience to say the least, but useful if your French.
THE EXTRAS
And here we get to my other problem, the DVD release from Warner. The Region One releases are up to season three, and all three have a wealth of quality extra features. Australian fans get none. Here is my theory, and please, tell me if I sound insane: Warner Brothers knows that for fans of The West Wing in Australia, DVD is really the only way to enjoy the show. The shabby treatment from Channel Nine means that fans will pay top dollar for all seasons of the show, so for Warner to only release the first three seasons with quality extras does not really make sense. What makes more sense is to release each season with no extra features, charge top shelf price knowing full well that fans will pay it. After all, for those of us who want to find out what happens after episode 16, we have to buy these discs. I guarantee in a few years Australia will see the release of The West Wing: Special Editions, where Warner will release each season packed with extra features. This way Warner gets fans to buy each season twice, what could be better than that?
SUMMARY
While the fifth season of The West Wing does not reach the high benchmark set by Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, John Wells and the rest of the cast and crew try to hold the show together and do better than could have been expected. While far from being in its prime, the fifth season of The West Wing is still better than most crap on television, and a highly recommended watch for anyone.
I really do not want to buy these DVD releases. They are not good value for money by any stretch of the imagination. If Warner wants to know how to release TV on DVD, they need only hire a few Fox releases to see how it is done. But why would Warner do that? Like I said, in a few years they can release Special Editions and get fans to buy them twice. |
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