Fun
Knit to This: The West Wing Weekly
Dear Kay,
Remember that time when you and I were sitting in my den last week, high on brisket, casting about for something to watch without much luck, until we saw The West Wing float by on Netflix and we both simultaneously shouted “WEST WING YES”?
It didn’t really matter that we have both watched the whole seven-year saga.
After we gobbled up a few episodes (while knitting) (duh), I can confirm that I’m committed to being back in the White House, circa twenty years ago. What a group! I love them all: Sam, Josh, Toby, Leo, President Bartlet, and of course the brilliant Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg, the world’s greatest press secretary.
I have to say: men’s suiting was at a breathtaking low point. The fit! The shoulders! The pleats!
A while back, you mentioned the podcast that provides conversation and commentary on The West Wing. Sign me up!
So not only am I wallowing in the presidency of Jed Bartlet (again), I am also listening to The West Wing Weekly, the podcast that lovingly covers every single episode of this series. Hosted by Joshua Molina and Hrishikesh Hirway, this lovefest is a combination of fan fever (hilarious given the fact that Molina is one of the actors starring in the show) and Talmudic commentary. There’s a ton about screenwriting and plot along the way, which is my cup of tea for sure.
The West Wing is one of the few TV series I’ve watched that I can sit through twice. Now, with this podcast, it’s even more fun.
Love,
Ann
Love the West Wing! Still one of my favorite shows, I often watch an episode or two or three…on Netflix.
I feel I need to say a few things…
– I also love the West Wing Weekly, especially the episodes when the original cast is on. I feel like almost everyone has been on, but I don’t keep track.
– There are good episodes and there are some not so good episodes, just like in the show. So if you pick a clunker, move on to the next episode. It will probably be better
– They are about halfway through season 7.
– I’ve read that The West Wing is moving to HBOMax in 2020. So watch up now! https://ew.com/tv/2019/10/15/the-west-wing-hbo-max/
It is such a joy to see such a wonderfully functioning government unit! Madam Secretary bears a second round, too.I look forward to finding the podcast. Thanks.
If I didn’t adore you all already, this would have pushed me over the edge.
I can’t knit for crying when I watch The West Wing. These days it feels like a fairy tale.
You won’t believe it, but it is not available in Canada! You’d think that I pay the same price for the subscription, but, no content! What a joke!
Yes, as is the case with many good TV series on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. iTunes to the rescue – they have the complete series for $69.99 CAD! Not a perfect solution, but better than not getting it at all, and definitely cheaper than trying to buy the series on DVD, at least in Canada…
West Wing is the best series that has ever been televised PERIOD! Better than Madam Sect’y, Lone Survivor or Veep. I loved binge watching it a few years ago. Every character and plot twist was so perfectly chosen. We are binging on Grey’s Anatomy now and watch a few episodes before going to bed. I love it, too. Most of the rest of TV is a wasteland, but it’s nice to find these diamonds in the rough once in awhile.
Beware – I read that West Wing will be leaving Netflix for a new streaming services (HBO Max?) in the next few months. That being said (written) I have been a ‘Wingnut’ since it aired and I have the dvds – and have long recommended the show as a civics lesson to young ones.
But in 2016 the show’s optimism was initially depressing I am still watching(and listening to the Weekly) again.
P.S. – this was good, via Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/best-west-wing-president-bartlet-moments.html
See #14 – Liberal is not a bad word.
Been watching it for the last few months, from beginning to end and I’m 5 episodes from the end. I think I may cry! Loved West Wing when it was on originally, love it now! And yes, I knit to it often!
Love the podcast and the show!
WE ALL NEED THE WEST WING BACK!!!
One more thing……I watch Bluff City Law for Matt Santos….I mean Jimmy Smits. Perfect Harmony for Bradley Whitford and the Good Doctor for Richard Schiff….and Josh Molina was just in it. Allison Janney us in Mom, but I never picked that one up, for some reason.
I missed West Wing completely until it was over, and only in 2015 did I finally binge-watch the entire thing, in a very short period of time and insomnia. Oh my gosh. It was so good. Not perfect – some of the writing of women characters kind of grated on me, but not enough to make me not watch. After 8 Nov 2016 when wistful references to the show started – very understandably – surfacing everywhere, I was a little sorry I had already seen it…it would have been precious escapism to see it for the first time, but having watched it so recently, I was pretty sure the rational drama of a functional White House would have brought me to tears through every episode.
I feel the same about Foyle’s War!!
Oh yes! I’m watching it for the third time now. Excellent from start to finish.
When The West Wing originally aired, I was a devoted fan. My child knew that Wednesday nights were DO NOT DISTURB nights for me.
Now, for the past couple of years, I’ve had a standing weekly date with The West Wing Weekly. I listen to the podcast, then watch the episode on Netflix. I can’t bear to think about what will happen when it comes to an end in a few short weeks.
Thanks for joining me (again!) in one of my fangirl obsessions.
I love The West Wing and have been listening to the podcast since it started. You all can look forward to learning more about Gail’s fish bowl — and the fantastic Lin Manuel Miranda episode where you come to realize how The West Wing influenced Hamilton…