Prologue

During my semester of student teaching, Bravo showed several episodes of "The West Wing" back to back in sequential order; while I would seldom get to watch all of them, and certainly didn't start from the beginning, I was entranced.  Student teaching is very idealistic work (how much more idealistic can you get than unpaid?), and everything about the show resonated with me.  Eventually growing frustrated with Bravo's unwillingness to alter their schedule to match mine and too  embarrassed to start programming a VCR to record a show that was already in syndication, I went to Best Buy and purchased the first season on DVD.  For several years, I would receive the gift of a season of "The West Wing" for Christmas, a gift given begrudgingly and usually with some small measure of ridicule from a father who owned Ann Coulter books (in fairness to him, I never saw him read them- I think they were purchased from the liberal-leaning bookstore for purposes of intimidation).  

I hit "The West Wing" pretty hard during the 2004 election when our votes were counted but didn't count.  I watched the entire series from start to finish, all the while believing in the change that was promised in the 2008 election while moving and starting a new job.  I decided to watch it all again during the 2012 election when the change seemed to be slow moving but a change in leadership didn't seem reasonable to accept, and invited my fiancé to join me for her first time through the West Wing. 

Today, with 259 days until the general election, I need "The West Wing."  Badly.  I've never started this early in the election cycle, but the vitriol, terror and disarray of the primary season is taking a toll on me; everyone is right except those who disagree with you, the truth doesn't matter, and Donald Trump.  I have a son who goes to bed at 8pm, a Netflix subscription, and a strong desire to live in another reality's political reality.  It isn't always perfect there- but I have more faith in it than I do our own reality, and that's enough to keep me occupied until November.

There are three ground rules for this blog (presented in no particular order):

• I will watch an episode, then write about it.
• I might connect to current events, I might not.  Same goes for providing historical background.
• I will say disparaging things about Mandy, almost all Vice-Presidents and Cliff Calley.  Not all the time, but certainly when they deserve it- which is usually always.  

So, off we go!

What's Next?  S1e1- Pilot