Why don't they see that I'm right?
This is my new take on glogging...I'm going to call it "togging" - blogging and doing a running commentary on a TV show that is not a sporting event.We are about 15 minutes into the live episode of "West Wing" and my statement that live prime-time episodes are a bad idea stands true.
I had such hope in the first 47 seconds. I thought, "Wow, this has potential and they may prove me wrong." The set is large and they have enough cameras to allow for great angles (like Matt Santos getting a little kiss on his cheek from his wife behind stage), and when you think about it, the subject matter of this episode (a presidental debate) is conducive to live TV. And then in the 48th second it just went downhill.
* Forrest Sawyer is playing himself in the role of the moderator. While he was explaining the rules of the debate, Alan Alda (I can't remember his character's name) couldn't stop laughing for no reason. Something was obviously amusing that we couldn't see. When that happened on the live episode of "Will & Grace," it was OK because that was a comedy. This is a drama.
* Matt Santos had a line after Forrest finished the rules, but someone forgot to tell the sound guys that because his microphone wasn't on. Ooops. (By the way, this is the point in the episode at which I would have cut from the live episode and started rolling the pre-recorded tape of the same episode.)
* Alan Alda had the opening statement. He got through being happy to be there and thanking the audience before forgetting his lines. Then the camera panned to Forrest, who was like "What the hell am I supposed to do?" and to Matt Santos who looked very confused. When Alan started saying lines again, I was unsure if they were really his lines or just something he was saying. Matt Santos was biting his lip to not laugh.
* This is boring. The episode.
* They forgot to practice camera angles beforehand I guess.
* Alan Alda is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad at live TV. REALLY bad. I can't tell you how bad he is at this.
* Alan Alda is NOT very presidential. If I was a voter in this election and watched this debate, I would definately vote for Matt Santos. I hope that Alan Alda never runs for President in real life because this will really hurt his campaign. But then again, look at our current president...maybe TV does imitate life.
* This would never happen in real life. I thought that "West Wing" was supposed to be drama based on how the White House could be/would be/is run. A debate would never happen like this. This is insane.
* I'm so disappointed in this episode. I knew it was going to be bad, just because it was live. But this is just beyond saving. I was prepared to be disappointed and not like it. I can't believe that they went beyond my disappointment. I love this show. This makes me really sad :(
posted by Steph @ 5:16 PM
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