Entertainment on my TV set
Apr. 8th, 2005 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rscI couple of almost-but-not-really-related things as a result of recent TV viewing:
OK, West Wing fans: did any of you see that coming? (I mean, more than about two lines ahead.) I'm still trying to convince myself that it's plausible (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jwg thinks it is), other than as a means for keeping John Spencer around for another season. Which, incidentally, I'm all for. But I'm a little surprised they're willing to risk having his old addiction problems raised again. We don't even know what state he's from, which I thought was always the first consideration in picking a VP candidate.
They're now set up, it seems to me, to have the election reasonably early in next season and not have to have huge amounts of turnover (assuming Santos wins). We have established roles for Josh and Leo, and I wouldn't be surprised if Josh found a way to get Donna to work for him again. Maybe even Will, although I wouldn't if I were Josh.
Toby? Maybe not. And I'm really interested to see what's going to happen to C.J., who could be in a heap of trouble. I'd be sorry to see Allison Janney disappear, that's for sure. But I read somewhere that the show's budget is greatly reduced for next year, so presumably some of the stars have to go.
Meanwhile, as a result of our (well, John's) having wishlisted John Cusack, we watched City Hall last night. Pretty good movie, actually. The tie-in here is the appearance of Richard Schiff in a good-sized secondary role -- without the beard! John recognized him pretty quickly, mostly by the sound of his voice and the manner of his speech. He looks pretty different.
Actually, we kept being distracted by seeing actors we'd seen in various TV shows, such as David Paymer, familiar to us from Line of Fire from a couple of years ago, and then we saw another actor in a much smaller part that we knew we'd seen but couldn't place -- it turned out to be John Slattery, whom John eventually remembered from Jack & Bobby. I'm beginning to think we watch too much television.
And I hadn't seen Al Pacino in quite a while. He continues to be an excellent actor.
But John Cusack should not attempt a Louisiana accent.
OK, West Wing fans: did any of you see that coming? (I mean, more than about two lines ahead.) I'm still trying to convince myself that it's plausible (
jwg thinks it is), other than as a means for keeping John Spencer around for another season. Which, incidentally, I'm all for. But I'm a little surprised they're willing to risk having his old addiction problems raised again. We don't even know what state he's from, which I thought was always the first consideration in picking a VP candidate.They're now set up, it seems to me, to have the election reasonably early in next season and not have to have huge amounts of turnover (assuming Santos wins). We have established roles for Josh and Leo, and I wouldn't be surprised if Josh found a way to get Donna to work for him again. Maybe even Will, although I wouldn't if I were Josh.
Toby? Maybe not. And I'm really interested to see what's going to happen to C.J., who could be in a heap of trouble. I'd be sorry to see Allison Janney disappear, that's for sure. But I read somewhere that the show's budget is greatly reduced for next year, so presumably some of the stars have to go.
Meanwhile, as a result of our (well, John's) having wishlisted John Cusack, we watched City Hall last night. Pretty good movie, actually. The tie-in here is the appearance of Richard Schiff in a good-sized secondary role -- without the beard! John recognized him pretty quickly, mostly by the sound of his voice and the manner of his speech. He looks pretty different.
Actually, we kept being distracted by seeing actors we'd seen in various TV shows, such as David Paymer, familiar to us from Line of Fire from a couple of years ago, and then we saw another actor in a much smaller part that we knew we'd seen but couldn't place -- it turned out to be John Slattery, whom John eventually remembered from Jack & Bobby. I'm beginning to think we watch too much television.
And I hadn't seen Al Pacino in quite a while. He continues to be an excellent actor.
But John Cusack should not attempt a Louisiana accent.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 04:31 pm (UTC)it was established ages ago that he wasn't a viable presidential candidate and that's why he tapped bartlet - those same issues are *definitely* going to come into play as a vp candidate. and he's had that heart attack, and while being vp is certainly less stressful than being cos, again... an issue.
also, this administration has made enemies of its own party (thanks to josh) enough times that the ticket should steer clear of that entirely.
i will miss cj, but they've been writing her so poorly for so long... (they've been setting her up to be the leak, but it could actually be toby and the way they get him out) cj would have been a better VP candidate, only she's busy running the country and can't take time to stump.
ainsley hayes for vp! whooops.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 04:34 pm (UTC)Didn't stop Cheney.
they've been setting her up to be the leak, but it could actually be toby
Didn't we actually see her doing it at the end of the previous show?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 04:39 pm (UTC)i thought we saw it implied that it was her, but they could be teasing us. i don't remember there being an *ex*plicit indication that it was cj. but i could have missed something.
if it is cj, it would be one hell of a scandal during the election period. also, alison janney rocks, but they've been writing her for shit and she might want to exit while she's still got this string of emmys and is worth something to someone else. rat, sinking ship... etc. she's definitely made her name off of this show, and it's at the point people might not want to be associated with the show much longer.
bring back sorkin! bring back sorkin!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 05:22 pm (UTC)Also in City Hall was Richard Schiff (without a beard).
no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 06:20 pm (UTC)I didn't see Leo's choice coming, but I can't say I'm surprised. He's someone who everyone in the party respected. I think it had been alluded to in a previous episode that Leo would be a good choice, but I can't remember for sure.
Are we sure CJ is the leak? I thought it might be Toby. After all, McCormack's character comes into his office and says that the FBI have a theory and Toby's not going to like it, and remember that Toby's dead brother was an astronaut, so that's gotta be a motivating influence. If Toby is not the leak, then I do think Josh/Santos will invite him to be part of a Santos administration. After all, remember Josh's line to Toby at the beginning of the episode: "We could have used you out there."
And let's not discount completely the possibility of Vinnick winning. Although Santos' speech at the convention made him come across as very presidential, Alda's is a likable character as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do a complete turnover in the cast.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 03:51 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm not really sure. I thought I remembered seeing CJ do it, but I didn't save the recording, so I could be misremembering.
Josh's line to Toby at the beginning of the episode: "We could have used you out there."
Yeah, right before he physically attacked him.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 03:52 am (UTC)Apparently I'm a sucker for a man in tights.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 04:37 am (UTC)No, I meant in this past week's episode.
Toby: You guys seemed to do alright.
No fighting this time. It seemed to me that they might have patched things up.
must file that away.
Date: 2005-04-09 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-09 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-10 12:38 pm (UTC)