by Benjamin Casebeer

Created on: January 27, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

These days, anyone with access to television (which includes those browsing flat-screens at Circuit City and the local pawn shop) has access to the King of network entertainment, the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC. They've been known the world over for 100 years as a premium provider of entertainment in commercial radio and television.
The premium notables of NBC Entertainment include

"The Tonight Show" (from Jack Paar to Jay Leno)
"Seinfeld"
"Cheers"
"Friends"
" Baywatch "
"L.A. Law"
AND one of the most powerful and creative television dramas, "The West Wing".

As an owner of all seven seasons on DVD , which seems to be a true statement of fandom , I believe "The West Wing" to be not only a representation of American politics, but an irreplacable object on the mantle of escaping from reality. No doubt, of course, escaping from reality has two meanings, the first is the obvious literal meaning and the second is channel-surfing until a program is found which is NOT reality-TV. Not surprisingly, the latter is difficult, especially in primetime .

It was "The West Wing" that broke another mold of TV drama, one that demanded that television be written for people without high-school diplomas, one that ordered a suspension of disbelief when it came to human behavior, and one that insisted on a regurgitation of things we had already seen, such as the daily workings of hospitals, police stations, and New York City apartments.

It was "The West Wing" that inspired me to be proud of having a good education, let me know that it was okay to use a word like "obfuscate" intelligently. "The West Wing", with all it's quirky characters and rapid-fire dialogue , allowed me to finally be comfortable with being who I am.

This was not an ordinary TV show. And for all the things NBC is knows for, they should be known for airing "The West Wing", as this gem of entertainment did not pirate ideas from other shows and treated it's viewers to seven years of championing creativity, individualism, and the fact that people are not perfect, but it's sure fun to watch them try to be.
~finis~

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