The West Wing

I'm working my way through series 5 of The West Wing at the moment, as my son, another addict, and has the entire series on DVD has lent me both 5 & 6, and he needs them back soon to lend to newly-addicted friends. He's coming over from Ireland next week so I need to finish it then. So I'm furiously watching as much as possible.
Of course, I saw them when they were first screened on Channel 4, and when they migrated to More4, the digital channel. Apparently it achieved low ratings, but I'm also very aware that the following it attracted, small though it may have been, was passionately loyal. A long-running thread appeared on the Guardian messageboard which started at the beginning of the third series and continued until long past the seventh series, the last.
I have to say that I loved it from the start. It presents a picture of US politics as it might exist in an alternative universe. Jed Bartlet, the president, is a liberal, Democrat, Nobel prize-winning academic, surrounded by equally-liberal heartfelt Democrats who believe, above all, in the Constitution, to which they are dedicated to upholding. All of them have their faults - Bartlet's is a patrician arrogance, which comes from his impeccable liberalism, and some of the most entertaining episodes concern his principles coming up against reality.
One of my favourite characters is Toby, the Press Secretary; often conflicted, tortured, bad-tempered, but with his heart firmly in the right place, he gives the series a welcome acerbity.
The First Lady, is a card-carrying feminist, whose beliefs often clash with the realities of government, and some of the best episodes concern very real moral, political and ethical dilemmas. A solution is rarely found, and this is the whole point. In a democratic republic there are never any easy answers, and this is the series' glory. The best episodes dramatise unresolvable problems and compromises have to be reached; this is, and must be, always better than the alternative. The US is portrayed as the best form of government there is, with all its imperfections, a picture of government as it should function, not, of course, as it actually does.
The acting is top-notch; Martin Sheen plays Bartlet, making a character who might have been insufferable in other hands, deeply human. We don't always like him very much, but we see why he's President, the buck always stopping at his door.
Religion also plays a part, which would be unthinkable in this country - Bartlet, a Catholic, is often seen tussling with God, frequently arguing with Him, dramatising the very real battles between Faith and politics. This was seen most effectively in an episode when Bartlet, after the funeral of his beloved secretary, who was killed in an accident, standing alone in the cathedral after everyone else had gone, contemptuously lit a cigarette, then threw it to the ground, angrily stamping it out.
After four series, Aaron Sorkin, the originator of the series, left, and his sharp, witty scripts went with him. It was never quite the same after, but the remaining three series were still a treat, following the fortunes of the presidency as it gradually acquired 'lame duck' status. As the government wound down it all began to fall apart, and soul-searching, self-interested careerism and fear began to take hold among the staff, their individual destinies becoming compelling.
A new President was elected at the end, the implausible Latino Santos. I don't know anyone who didn't prefer his rival Republican, played with consummate finesse by Alan Alda.
Its lack of cynicism was what was most refreshing about it - instead of depicting politicians as venal and self-serving, they were idealistic, with the best of intentions, if flawed in their execution. I miss it badly, but the DVDs of the 7 series remain compulsive viewing. I always watch it with the subtitles switched on so as not to miss any of the dialogue, which is unparalleled anywhere else.
The most interesting Presidential election for years gets going in 2008, and Barack Obama, the most West Wing-like candidate imaginable, is one of the favourites. The West Wing has therefore become even more essential, and perhaps more realistic after the catastrophic Bush regime, which, with any luck, may seem a bad dream by this time next year.