allied

Have you noticed how many shows are ending their runs this year? Alias, West Wing, Will & Grace, Malcolm in the Middle... and those are only the ones I can think of off the top of my head. The loss of Alias really bums me out, but I guess that's what we have DVD boxsets for.

The one that kind of stumps me is the West Wing. For a while early on, I really loved that show; it was the Clinton presidency as people really wanted it to be. But I always thought they screwed up and ultimately made the show lose relevance. First, they should have spun off a show with Rob Lowe once he got disgruntled over not being the focus, as he was originally promised. Second, they never created a likeable, viable Republican adversary to President Bartlett. They brought in James Brolin to run against him, but never developed the character, which was really a missed opportunity. Then they got the Administration and the First Lady embroiled in a scandal involving the President contracting MS and covering it up, which was designed to be a critique of the Clinton/Lewinsky debacle, but it never gelled. And by then, they basically lost me. I'd tune in every once in a while, and I watched most of the last few episodes, but it just lost steam. Too bad because at one point, it was the smartest show on mainstream TV.

Anyhoo, enough of my ranting. Enjoy your week.