The West Wing

4. “Modern History Is Another Name for Television”: Representing Historical Relevancy and Cultural Memory

Chapter 4 “Modern History Is Another Name for Television” Representing Historical Relevancy and Cultural Memory 85 The West Wing debuted as a mildly successful show but, by the following spring, “[had] caught fire in the press, with cover stories in major magazines and articles in major newspapers ” (Podhoretz 2003, 222). Writing for the now defunct political lifestyle magazine George, Sharon Waxman concluded that the beltway drama had “become that rarest of rarities on the pop-culture landscape: a zeitgeist show, a reflection of the tenor of our times” (2003, 206). This notion of the series as somehow making sense of the post–cold war and later post9 /11 world, dialoguing with the troubled Clinton administration before acting as the liberal imagination to a conservative reality under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush, defined for many scholars and media commentators the milestone significance of The West Wing. Never before had a television drama about presidential politics captured the popular imagination in quite the way that The West Wing did. Whether real or imaginary, celluloid presidents have, by contrast, long thrived in the movies: from President William McKinley filmed by the Edison Company taking the oath of office in 1901 and Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln in John Ford’s 1939 classic Young Mr. Lincoln to John Travolta 01 McCabe text.indd 85 9/12/12 9:22 AM 86 Chapter 4 as the philandering yet politically gifted Governor Jack Stanton (a thinly disguised Bill Clinton) in Primary Colors (Mike Nichols, 1998)—including a fine cameo performance by Allison Janney as the librarian made so nervous by Stanton that she falls up the stairs. Then there was Sorkin’s prelude to The West Wing, The American President, in which Andrew Shepherd was staffed by some familiar faces: Martin Sheen as chief of staff A. J. MacInerney, Anna Deavere Smith in the role of press secretary Robin McCall, and Joshua Malina as David, an advisor—while not forgetting Nina Siemaszko as Sydney Ellen Wade’s younger sibling. On television, the presidency has more often than not been the subject of late-night satire, from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (CBS, 1967–70) (with the fictitious “Pat Paulsen for President” campaign) to Saturday Night Live (NBC, 1975–present ) (including Will Ferrell’s impersonation of George W. Bush and Fred Armisen’s Barack Obama). It is discussed on the Sunday morning talk shows and is often the theme of documentary specials. Rarely is it depicted in drama. “Quality shows about politics,” observes veteran TV watcher Marvin Kitson, “have always failed, a tradition dating back to Hal Holbrook’s The Senator [NBC, 1970–71]” (2000 B2). From Hail to the Chief (1985), starring Patty Duke as the first female president, to George C. Scott taking the eponymous title role in Mr. President (FOX, 1987–88); from Tanner ’88, HBO’s satirical series about a fictitious Democratic contender from director Robert Altman and Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, to Comedy Central’s sardonic sitcom That’s My Bush (2001), starring Timothy Bottoms as George W., shelved soon after 9/11. Often lasting no longer than one season, television shows about the denizens of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have long found it hard to find a viewing constituency. Until, that is, The West Wing. It is impossible to disregard the reverberations of the popular media in real-world politics. Only in this modern age of 01 McCabe text.indd 86 9/12/12 9:22 AM 87 Modern History Is . . . Television saturated twenty-four-hour news coverage, in fact, does The West Wing somehow become possible. It was during the Clinton administration that the presidency and political process became “demystified” as never before. One reason for the ubiquitous blurring of entertainment and politics, image and reality, is that Washington politics “often plays out in the media as entertainment ” (Kilday 2001, 39)—whether as juicy soap-operatic TVoriented political scandal involving sex, lies, and a stained blue dress or the suspenseful 2000 Florida election featuring judges obliged to political patronage, which was subsequently made into the HBO movie Recount (2008) starring Kevin Spacey. The Internet and rise of cable and satellite television also played a part with the proliferation of voracious media outlets requiring content for a relentless twenty-four-hour news cycle. Whereas mainstream media, often with unquestioned deference, reported on Washington politics, The West Wing took a step back to dissect the process of governance. The...