The West Wing - The Complete First Season (DVD, 2003, 4-Disc Set, Digi-Pack)

I did not watch the first season on TV. I loved the second season. So I wanted to catch up on what I missed. Well-written and superbly acted. What makes the show shine is the dialog created by Aaron Sorkin, it's like poetry. Great rhythm. The characters work off one another and make potentially boring topics more interesting. Watch the bonus special features first - you will enjoy the sharp dialog and the rhythm better. This is one great drama. The West Wing season one is riveting and keeps you on the edge of your seat from one episode to the next. You care about the characters. They and the great plots draw you in and leave you looking forward to the next disc. I will watch this over and over again.

When the Big Networks' TV Season is over, (or on hiatus like this past Season!), we usually rent DVD Sets to catch up on new series that we have found after they have been on, or sets that have compiled some of our favorite series recently.

Right now we are waiting for Season 3 of 'The West Wing' to come in, after viewing Seasons 1 & 2 this past week.

This great TV Series was one of Tina's 'TV Shows' that she watched before we married a few years ago.

I hadn't watched it before, and found myself very interested in the final seasons, starting midway in Season 4. I usually don't like getting 'involved' with a series that has been on for a while, but found the actors to be well casted and after a while tended to ignore the sometime 'preachy' aspects from the producers and just let myself be entertained by the storyline.

Recently with the 'presumptive' nominee Obama winning the Democratic nomination, I've missed watching the fun of actual campaign races being fought everyday on the cable networks.

When I saw Season One of this TV Show for rental, I queried Tina if she wouldn't mind if I rented the DVD for us to view.

Turns out she had only see most of the episodes of Season 1 & 2 herself, and thus we have been enjoying watching this 'timely' show the past couple of weeks.

Now we are watching another DVD set while waiting for Season 3 of 'West Wing' to come in.

BTW, if you have not seen all the episodes of this series, it has a high recommendation from Tina and myself!

We do watch more than just Sci-Fi and Comic Book Movies!

Please note: The above was from our blog post date 06-29-08, and is shared here as our 'review' of this DVD Season 1!

Michael (and Tina)

The Weat Wing is the best dramatic TV series ever made, pure and simple. Superb writing, magnificently casted, this drama sweeps you into the lives and activity of White House. If you saw any of he episodes, you will want to see the whole season. This season has some classic episodes and the season ends with a cliffhanger ending setting up Season Two. The Christmas episode with the White House staff gathering in the West Wing to hear a children's choir spliced with scenes of Toby and Mrs. Landingham attending the burial of a forgotten Vitenam Veteran in Arlington National Cemetery set to the children singing "The Little Drummer Boy" is a gripping cinematic masterpiece.

If you like no nonsense politics and common sense desitions, I think you will like President Jed Bartlet! No matter if you have a party affliation, if you are a common sense person, you can relate to it. Snappy wit, deep characters, and a good team feeling show, then sit backand enjoy the ride! It shows a glimps into how deals are made too for things (not something I like at all about politics). If you like the above things, clear some time from your schedule and watch The West Wing Season one!

If you like smart, witty, superbly acted, engrossing entertainment that's more about process than over-the-top action, this show is for you! Season one contains arguably one of the best pilots ever written -- in fact, it's so finely and subtly crafted that you'd never even know it was the pilot episode (no clunky exposition, yet totally graspable; no feeling that the actors are still trying to get a handle on their characters).

This is a great series to own on DVD because the episodes are extremely rewatchable -- I've seen each of them probably a dozen times and it never gets old. With each re-viewing, I either discover something new, or enjoy the anticipation of the great lines I remember from before.

The West Wing has provided me with the most fun civics lessons I've had since watching School House Rock's "How a Bill Becomes a Law" as a kid!