CSI, The West Wing, and Me
More time spent over at Scott's place recently means more time exposed to the bizarre and just plain awful. For someone who seeks out the extremes of the cinematic bell curve (to borrow a phrase), my friend certainly does have his finger on the pulse of mediocre television. You can read his take on CSI Miami's recent "Crime Wave" episode. The only thing I have to add to his analysis is the fact that I really miss the vibrant character of Ainsley Hayes on The West Wing, as played by Emily Procter. Ms. Procter plays a character on CSI Miami who is so obtuse and lifeless that I wonder at the fact that the same actress speaks the lines on both shows.
Why single out Ms. Procter, you ask? Shouldn't I be missing all the other characters too, since I stopped watching The West Wing about four episodes into the last season? It's time I confessed my dirty little secret: they sucked me back in. I skipped the oh-so-eventful Middle-East peace-brokering episode, yes, but I've seen all the other eps this season and I'm engaged, if not hooked. Leo's departure from the Chief of Staff slot and the subsequent promotion of CJ has made for some really interesting television -- and how can anyone resist Kristin Chenoweth (so luminous as Glenda in Wicked that I actually went to see it twice) as the deceptively ditzy new deputy press secretary?
It's true that the John Wells moments are ridiculously easy to spot. Wells and his stable of like-minded writers handle important scenes with sweeping melodramatic gestures instead of Aaron Sorkin's quiet and graceful moments of emotion. The fact that CJ's potentially poignant farewell speech to the Press Corps was interrupted by the President of the United States and a standing ovation was practically an admission that this crew doesn't have the dramatic finesse required to handle the moment. Still, there's some sharp dialogue and the characters remain more or less true to themselves. I'll keep watching. For now.
Why single out Ms. Procter, you ask? Shouldn't I be missing all the other characters too, since I stopped watching The West Wing about four episodes into the last season? It's time I confessed my dirty little secret: they sucked me back in. I skipped the oh-so-eventful Middle-East peace-brokering episode, yes, but I've seen all the other eps this season and I'm engaged, if not hooked. Leo's departure from the Chief of Staff slot and the subsequent promotion of CJ has made for some really interesting television -- and how can anyone resist Kristin Chenoweth (so luminous as Glenda in Wicked that I actually went to see it twice) as the deceptively ditzy new deputy press secretary?
It's true that the John Wells moments are ridiculously easy to spot. Wells and his stable of like-minded writers handle important scenes with sweeping melodramatic gestures instead of Aaron Sorkin's quiet and graceful moments of emotion. The fact that CJ's potentially poignant farewell speech to the Press Corps was interrupted by the President of the United States and a standing ovation was practically an admission that this crew doesn't have the dramatic finesse required to handle the moment. Still, there's some sharp dialogue and the characters remain more or less true to themselves. I'll keep watching. For now.
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