Difficile est satiram non scribere.
(It is difficult not to write satire.)
--Juvenal
'The West Wing' Comes to Terms With the G.O.P.
By BILL CARTER
The New York Times, September 24
…But the show is also being scrutinized for the possibility of a shift in its political tone. Since the rise of the Bush administration "The West Wing" has been criticized in some quarters as being out of touch with the real-life events in Washington that have overtaken it since the show first went on the air in 1999, featuring a White House of liberal Democrats led by President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. Suddenly a newly installed conservative Republican administration made the action seem especially fictional.
As a result Mr. Wells has been given the task of trying to make the series more politically relevant, and his efforts are being felt. Behind the scenes he has brought in two consultants who would be entirely out of place in a White House led by President Bartlet. One, Kenneth M. Duberstein, was once chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan. The other, John Podhoretz, a conservative columnist who has written for The New York Post and other publications, has been harshly critical of the series.
A preview of the expected changes reveals a new look in every aspect of the show. For one thing, acting president Walken, played by John Goodman, will show a decisive leadership style and an abrasive personality. He will bring with him a new group of aides whose style will contrast sharply with those of more familiar cast members. They will use far fewer big words, and will de-emphasize the dense and witty dialogue favored previously. All conversations now will consist primarily of sports and biblical metaphors and will feature a good deal of arm-punching exchanges of good will when the characters find out they already agree on everything. The characters will continue their trademark walking and talking the halls of the West Wing set, but the walls will be draped with more American flags, and the characters will use better posture.
Even the character's backgrounds will change. Instead of a passel of liberal Jews like Josh Lyman and Toby Ziegler - not to mention the Jesuit-trained President Bartlett - the new characters will all be evangelical protestants. The opening credit sequence will now show a montage of morning prayer meetings and bible-study retreats at Camp David.
Speculation continues that the the First Lady (Stockard Channing) may see her role in the show re-defined in some manner. Reports are circulating that the character will either be written out of the show as she "spends time running for the Greenwich Village Senate seat," or perhaps be burned at the stake when she is discovered to be a witch. No decision has yet been made, and insiders suggest that a lesbian kissing scene involving her and her aide is being kept in reserve for sweeps week.
The character of the President's political advisor, played during previous seasons by Ron Silver as an oleaginous homage to Dick Morris and largely absent since Bartlett's re-election, will be overshadowed by a new character named "Rarl Kove," who will be a humble yet brilliant man of the people who acts as the president's conscience and moral guide, as well as performing the President's higher cortical functions.
(Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product. The rest is the fakey part.)
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