Watching Studio60

A blogger reading a NY Times article on the terrorism was reminded of the post 9/11 episode of The West Wing, “Isaac and Ishmael,” and the scene above discussing “why they hate us.” I hadn’t thought about that episode in a while. I remember quite a debate on the Television Without Pity site after it aired over many inaccuracies and oversimplifications and knee-jerk reactions. It wasn’t the show’s finest hour from a dramatic point-of-view, either, consisting mostly of staffers giving speeches to a group of students on particular aspects of terrorism in the wake of a not-defined crisis. Still, it was kind of thrilling at the time to see the show ripping something from the headlines and responding to it at a time when no one quite knew how it was going to be acceptable to translate the tragedy into art. Anybody watch it recently? Does it work at all removed from the emotion of the moment?

An episode I did quite enjoy and am eager to see again is the one on Bravo tomorrow morning, “It Is Surely to Their Credit,” in which Ainsley Hayes comes to work at the White House, to the pleasure of just about nobody. I look forward to John Larroquette’s scenery-chewing as Ainsley’s boss, the introduction of the luxurious Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue workspace, C.J.’s smackdown of a general and Sam’s smackdown of Ainsley-baiting staffers, lots of Gilbert and Sullivan-related banter, and the terrific concluding scene of early-morning redecoration and camaraderie as Our Gang rallies around their conservative colleague.