TheDad

TheMom and I don't watch much TV and while we had heard about "West Wing," we'd never watched it when it was broadcast for the first time. But a friend early last year implored me to take a look, saying that professionally (writing) I needed to be aware of this TV icon and so we started watching it on DVD.

Got hooked. Own all seven seasons, often watch an episode in the evening (and a few times two!), now midway through Season 5. Season 7 should be great later this year when the campaign is in full swing. [Fwiw: I've never seen any film or TV that so completely captures the look and feel of politics in D.C.]

Here's the question: for those of you who are fans, which (if any) character do you identify with the most. (My answer for me at the end.)

President Josiah Bartlett
Mrs. Abigail Bartlett
Leo McGarry
Josh Lyman
Sam Seaborn
CJ Cregg
Toby Ziegler
Charlie Young
Donna Moss
Will Bailey (VP's aide)
Vice President Bob Russell
Joey Lucas


Okay. Temperamentally, Toby Ziegler is so me. I don't smoke cigars, I have more hair (but gray), and I'm not Jewish. But.

HeliMomNYC

I'm loyal and I work hard, so maybe I'm one of the administrative assistants....not Donna though....all that unrequited pining stuff is annoying. In my next life I want to come back as Ainsley Hayes....the scene in the basement where she sings "Blame It On the Bossa Nova" is priceless.

Brilliant show with amazing writing and acting. I have all the seasons too.

emeraldkity4

I can't believe you hadn't watched it- I stopped watching it regulary a few years ago- when I was just too swamped- but I know so many people who decided to pretend that it was the news & Bartlett was the POTUS!

I liked all the characters so much that I identified with all of them- but probably Abby & Toby the most - so many great characters- oh I know- I am Amy- if I didn't have an H and kids- and a dog
but I miss Leo.

xiggi

I am also surprised TD never watched the show. I agree that the show offered wonderful writing and the amazing power of creative writing in the fiction genre. Fwiw, watching West Wing illustrates why Commander-in-Chief was such nauseating garbage.

As far as the interesting question posed by TD, I'd prefer to "rank" the characters in order of my preferences:

From worst to best

In a special category
CJ Cregg: by far the most annoying, especially in latter seasons that demonstrated how quickly a great show can turn into a terrible mess.

The so-so
Donna Moss
Mrs. Abbey Bartlet(t)
Josh Lyman
President Jed Bartlet(t)

The very good
Charlie Young
Toby Ziegler
Will Bailey (VP's aide)


The stars
Lionel Tribbey
Ainsley Hayes
Leo Thomas McGarry
Sam Seaborn

overseas

I am going to start the season over again. I think I am missing season one. I will have to order it. It has been soooo long.

Amy was my favorite character when she'd show up. Really, I liked them all.

churchmusicmom

I got absolutely hooked on this a few years ago after having back surgery. I love this show!

I would say that Ainsley Hayes is my hero....

But I love Charley Young!

Packer

Loved that show. But who was Lionel Tribbey?

alwaysamom

Lionel Tribbey was the White House counsel, played by John Larroquette, if I'm remembering correctly.

TheDad

I mean to put Ainsley on the list of characters and forgot. She was kinda interesting. One of the interesting things about WW is that all of the characters are annoying in one way or another...just like real life! I don't know if I've met Lionel Tribbey yet.

Xiggi, I know many women of a certain (middle) age who identify very strongly with CJ. It could be that you're genetically impaired to appreciate her.

EK: I, too, know people who decided WW was real and the news was fiction.

One of the things I really like about the show is that the conflicts are very nuanced, no black and white, just interesting patterns of gray. It also captures the clash of the personal and the professional when you work on political staff.

Marian

I didn't watch The West Wing when it was broadcast, either. I started watching it on DVD last winter, when I had a broken leg and had time on my hands. I love it. In my opinion, it's the best TV series ever made. I've finished the series and plan to watch much of it again, one rental disk at a time.

I can't identify with any of the principal West Wing characters. I like them, care about them, and find them fascinating, but they're so utterly, single-mindedly focused on their work that I can't imagine being one of them. The whole issue of work-life balance that has been central to the lives of the people who post on this board for at least the last two decades is apparently beyond the imagining of the West Wing staff. My favorite West Wing characters -- Josh Lyman, Sam Seaborn, and Will Bailey, in that order -- are all nothing like me or like anyone I could ever be (even if I were a guy).

But there is a minor character whom I identify with. You haven't met her yet, but you will. Her name is Helen Santos, and she is the wife of a congressman who makes a run for the White House in Seasons 6 and 7.

I do not look anything like her (I have never in my life looked even one-tenth that good), but I identify with her outspoken, straightforward, but occasionally awestruck attitude and with her focus on her family.

By the way, Season 5 is probably the low point of The West Wing. The original principal writer, Aaron Sorkin, had left, and the original format didn't work as well without him (and in my opinion, without the character of Sam Seaborn, who had a uniquely passionate idealism that Will Bailey, much as I like him, didn't replicate). But in Seasons 6 and 7, several people (besides Will) take on new jobs, some interesting new characters are introduced, and the show expands by focusing alternately on the presidential campaign and events at the White House. In my opinion, some of the best shows are in those last two seasons. They don't have the characteristic Aaron Sorkin flavor, but they're fascinating on their own terms.

Edited to add: I absolutely hate Amy. I'm not sure why.

Hanna

Amy for sure, although she mostly reminds me of my sister.

I loved Ainsley Hayes. Oh, for a president who thinks it's valuable to have members of the opposition working in the White House...

2VU0609

Marian,
I also hated Amy, but recognize what her character brought to the show as it nudged the Josh and Donna thing along when Donna explained Josh to Amy in the season finale with drama about Zoe (trying to stay vague here for those who aren't quite to that point).
I don't identify with any of the characters, but like many loved Ainsley, Toby, Sam, & Josh. Loved the interaction between Mrs. Landingham and the President and between Margaret and Leo. I watched the Season 1 Christmas episode (In Excelsis Deo) where Mrs. Landingham goes to Arlington with Toby again over the holidays - I love those tearjerker moments.
Favorite episodes: Two Cathedrals, Shibboleth, 20 Hours in America, Game On, The Indians in the Lobby (can't help but crack up when POTUS calls the Butterball hotline), Game On, The Stackhouse Filibuster, 365 Days
Also so many favorite guest stars: Matthew Perry, Amy Adams, Glenn Close, etc.
IMO, the best written show ever!

ninja.of.love

Lionel Tribbey was my favorite character. "I will kill people today, Leo. I will kill people with this cricket bat, which was given to me by Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth Windsor, and then I will kill them again with my own hands." He stole scenes.

3togo

great show which I also own the DVDs ... my favorite shows are the ones right after Josh was shot and we see the flashbacks of how they all came on board with JB.

maineparent

What a great thread. We had not started watching it when it first ran on network television, but, my oldest, still in HS at the time, needed to improve his history efforts and one of my girlfriends was raving about her mother/daughter time watching Ally McBeal together. So, I asked my guy if he wanted to start West Wing together. We began over XMAS at our ski place....and often we would watch 3 or 4 episodes a nite. It was a great bonding experience....because it was a great show. The story was always topical and as this thread suggests, there was something to love/dislike about many of the characters on the show.

I loved the show where Josh suggested making college affordable for Americans. I loved the show where Toby got a homeless man a deserved military burial. I loved when Lily Tomlin tried to set boundaries on the President's time. What an incredible character to replace Mrs. Landingham.
I can't help but think of Abby Bartlett when I read about Laura and George being estranged.

I think at the end of the day I identify most with Leo.....I aspire to that level of brilliance. I count sharing WW with my oldest as one of our "unique" bonds, doing Muir Woods together was another one. Recently he had a 2 hr trip to take the GMAT....so I drove him. We had some time to kill so we hit up the food court in the nearby mall. We spent a $1 each on a 5 min massage chair.....that was actually not relaxing!! We will always have that... I share this to reconnect this thread to my college child..... and because he is a senior, I find myself trolling CC in a way to avoid the reality of his looming graduation and maturation. He talked a lot about politics while home over XMAS and I think WW helped build a foundation for the current interest. I will always be grateful for our WW experience.