On Sunday NBC’s The West Wing ends its run after seven up and down years of both glorifying and criticizing politics and the individuals who take it upon themselves to run our government.  Created by Aaron Sorkin (An American President, A Few Good Men, Sports Night), The West Wing’s first three years were some of the best television you could find anywhere.  Its trademark was sharp, intelligent dialogue, complex subjects simplified, and characters who actually had things to say that were important and relevant to what was happening in society.  It became a hit and one of those water cooler shows that didn’t just mirror what was happening in the country at the time but created almost a utopian administration where many viewers actually wished President Bartlett (a.k.a. Martin Sheen) actually occupied the White House.

The best thing about The West Wing in its heyday was that it not only shed light on the inner workings of the White House and the day-to-day chaos that is the federal government, but it also helped viewers understand the complexities of running a super power.  But a television show can only show so much, and the reality is it’s even harder and far more stressful and difficult to be a staff member of the administration in power than an actor playing one on TV.  If Leo McGarry makes a mistake, perhaps viewers are cheated a bit, but if a “Scooter” Libby makes a mistake, the country suffers.

Like so many acclaimed ratings winners on television, they hit snags and riffs and the quality goes down, or they lose their way due to network interference, tired creative staff, or simple boredom by both producers and viewers.  In The West Wing’s case, the jump-the-shark moment involved the leaving of two key people which caused the show to shift focus and turn more into a soap opera than an intelligent dramatic tutorial on the inner-workings of a fictional White House.  First was the departure of star Rob Lowe, who played deputy communications director Sam Seaborn and, who like Noah Wiley’s John Carter on another NBC show ER, was the heart and soul of the show — the character with idealism who reminds the rest of the characters why they do what they do and without many pats on the back.  Who knows the real reason — money probably or a shift towards highlighting Martin Sheen’s President Bartlett — but when Rob Lowe left, he took away the one character who was the surrogate viewer, the character to which we placed ourselves into the show to ask the key philosophical questions about the rights and wrongs of serving the public.  The next change was more significant when creator, executive producer, and chief writer Aaron Sorkin was booted out, which always happens when a show’s ratings dip and the network gets nervous.  They ask for changes and when they get resistance, it’s the guy in charge who gets axed.  They brought in a very capable producer to take over the reins in John Wells, proven on ER, but it was just good enough to keep the show on the air — the magic was lost as the show just got boring, to say the least, and viewers decided there was something better to watch.

But in true fighting spirit, this past season some of the old vigor was resurrected and somebody on the show was channeling Aaron Sorkin (I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t the man himself) to return to the show’s original intent of showing the frenzied behind-the-scenes look at politics — this time a presidential campaign between republican Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) and Democrat John Santos (Jimmy Smits).  The many fresh faces, plus some old reliables, made the show watchable again, and you began to care about the characters and what happens to them — key to any great show (see Lost, 24 and American Idol).  The trouble was that it was too much, too late and the puny ratings, plus the death of actor John Spencer in December 2005, helped justify to NBC that pulling the plug on The West Wing was for the best.  But it’s fitting that as the Bartlett administration bows out, the show does the same.  I enjoyed The West Wing in the beginning and have enjoyed it here at the end. As the last episode plays out Sunday, I must say I enjoyed getting to know Josh, C.J., Sam, Charlie, Donna, Tobey, Leo, and Jed, and I probably would have watched another season if the writing stayed vibrant and the stories interesting.  But we’ll just have to imagine what a Santos administration will be like and if happiness comes to those who served seven years for the good of the country and Nielsen households.

The series finale of The West Wing airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, May 14th on NBC, preceded by the pilot episode, so you can see where it all began and how different the actors look after seven years.

Rich Burlingham