"Seventeen People," "Two Cathedrals" and one "Newsroom"

Yesterday, I read about "Seventeen People," a website developed by Jon White to analyze his favorite hour of television ever ... the episode of the same name from "The West Wing."

It has actually been a while since I watched "The West Wing," the DVDs long since completed and Bravo no longer showing marathons on pretty much every national holiday. But after I told my wife about it, we cracked open the second season DVD to compare "17 People" to what I believe is considered the show's finest episode, the season-ending "Two Cathedrals."

Without a doubt, "17 People" is astonishing television. Among all the things going on (and one thing White points out is that there were five different stories), to me the standouts are being able to watch Toby think on his way to the realizing that Bartlet wasn't going to run for re-election (the always-brilliant Richard Schiff truly at his best) and the exchange between Donna and Josh where she tells him that, contrary to popular belief, she broke up with her boyfriend and not the other way around.


"If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights" ... what a line, what a way to express unyielding devotion. Speaking of lines ... "You get Hoynes."   Once, I thought that meant Bartlet was telling God that he was done with Him, but I have since read that was Bartlet's way of saying he wasn't going to run again. Either way, this is a man who, between publicly acknowledging his MS in the context of deciding on a re-election bid all while dealing with the death of his beloved Mrs. Landingham, is at the end of his rope. And he's at the end of his rope to the point where he would stand in the National Cathedral and curse out God ... in Latin. I didn't know what he was saying at the time, and didn't until I read a translation, but you don't need to be a scholar of Latin to know this devout Catholic, a lifelong follower of the faith, could get so angry that he would question God's motivation and could do so in the church's own language. Then he goes to the press conference, ignores the medical reporter who C.J. had told him would start with a relatively friendly question about his health, gets a question instead about his plans for a second term and proceeds to stuff his hands in his pockets, turn away and smile slightly ... which thanks to a flashback with Mrs. Landingham means we know, without Bartlet saying a word, that he's going to run again. End scene. End "Two Cathedrals." End season. So which way do I fall? As great as "17 People" was, I've always been a "Two Cathedrals" guy, and a "Two Cathedrals" guy I remain. But if you go the other way, I'm not going to fight you. Yet as I was watching, I started thinking about another show, "The Newsroom." I am a huge fan of "The Newsroom." I am aware that many people hold the opposite opinion. There are people I know who like the show and have problems with it. I have heard the Aaron Sorkin misogyny arguments; I don't necessarily notice, but then again, I'm a guy. I freely admit to perhaps needing to check my male privilege at the door.  (The best argument on this front is one I heard from a female co-worker, which was basically that the women in our office don't run off screaming or crying whenever anything bad happens to them. She one of the ones who likes the show, but with reservations.)  So why do I like it? I like that, particularly in the first season, and yes, with the benefit of hindsight, they do cover how journalists often do their job terribly. And you'll never convince me that at least some of the vitriol wasn't because journalists, especially Washington political journalists, really don't like to be told their doing a bad job. (Stephen Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner routine says hi.) Even in a limited amount of time, far less than he had for "The West Wing," Sorkin, the actors and the actresses have created characters I care about. If you watched it, tell me you didn't love when Sloan absolutely planted one on Don (by the way, "The Newsroom" earns kudos if only for giving me a reason to be a fan of Olivia Munn), and then when Don says, "What I have, can't be taught" ... priceless.
However, right about in the middle of "17 People," the thought hit me ...
... "The Newsroom," as much as I like it, is Sorkin's junior varsity stuff. Not only can he do better, but he has done better, a lot better, and it was on my television that very moment.

A small-town boy in the big city

Hey look ... over there ... the Empire State Building

I live just outside of Boston. I've been to London, Vancouver, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, Montreal, New Orleans and a whole bunch of other places.

But New York City is different, especially if you're from a small town in upstate New York like I am. Granted, to some of the people where I grew up, "New York City" is synonymous with all the things they don't like: too big, too liberal, too dirty, too mean, gets all the attention while the rest of the state is ignored, gets all the money while the rest of the state is ignored.

And while I do find it humorous that what passes for "upstate" in some people's minds is basically "all the stuff that's not New York City" -- I once had co-workers excitedly tell me about the intern we were going to have from upstate ... as in Plattsburgh, near the Canadian border (I'm from the Albany area; we weren't neighbors) -- I've always thought of New York as kind of a mythical place.

I actually hadn't noticed the Victoria's Secret ad until just now.

Times Square, Broadway, the United Nations, Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (even though I've never liked it ) ... with the exception of Central Park, which I rode through a few years ago, these were all just things I've heard of or seen on TV, since aside from Yankee games and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my wife that included the aforementioned Central Park cab ride, I had made it to my 40s without actually ever having really gone to New York City.

So I was excited when we went to New York for a few days earlier this week, and I'll admit it was in a "Wow ... look at that" sort of way.

Just your ordinary, average one of the most-famous venues in the world.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, and walking around the scaffolding.

I actually asked my wife if there was a sign that said you were in Times Square, or if you just knew. She told me that I would just know, and she was right. From seeing it on TV, the size and the color of the signs have always been what caught my eye, so that was what I noticed most (including one for a rather unfortunate show on Fox) when we got there.

It wasn't until after the show that it hit me ... I saw "Les Miserables" ... on Broadway.

After Times Square, lunch, Central Park and dinner of a hot turkey sandwich that could be spoken of favorably against the ones from the diners in my hometown (as a bit of a small-town diner snob, I can give no higher praise), we went to see "Les Miserables" on Broadway. I actually liked London's West End better, but still, it's "Les Miserables" and it's on Broadway.

By the way, the show was terrific, although I got confused when Eponine didn't sing "On My Own" when I thought she would. Fortunately, the "Les Mis" expert I'm married to reminded me that the order of the songs was different in the movie.

We didn't get to see the U.N. General Assembly chamber, but we did get to see the Security Council chamber.

We didn't expect to be part of history when we went to New York, but we were.

The rain started Tuesday afternoon, and basically didn't stop until Thursday morning. And it was cold, to boot. By the time it was done, New York City had experienced its 10th-rainiest day on record, and the city has a lot of records.

It'll do a lot to ruin your day, and not just because the Yankee game we were supposed to go to Wednesday night got rained out. It was a rain that soaked through your clothes, and it never relented. For another whole day, when I went outside, I braced myself for rain, even after the rain stopped and I was back home.

There actually wasn't a ton to see at the United Nations, especially since the General Assembly chamber was closed for renovations, but we got to walk through a couple committee meetings where everyone looked really, really bored, and we were able to see the Security Council chamber.

So that was cool, but I'll have to get back to New York sometime when it's dry and warmer than 45 degrees.

"Harry" could be the end of the world as we know it

Some people will apparently do anything if they think it will get them here.

Tuesday was my first time in Times Square (more on this in a future blog post), and as I was taking in the lights and the colors and the overall energy of the place, I saw something highly disturbing.

Off to my left, on a huge video board, was an ad for Fox's new show "I Wanna Marry 'Harry.'"

As in Prince Harry ... of Great Britain ... son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana ... grandson of Queen Elizabeth II ... brother of Prince William ... brother-in-law of Princess Catherine ... uncle of Prince George ... fourth in line to the British throne ...

... but not really. The producers have found some guy who looks enough like Prince Harry if you squint hard enough and a dozen American women looking for their Prince Charming.

The most-charitable thing I can say is that maybe the whole thing is staged, not just the faux-Harry, but the women vowing for his hand. Maybe the women aren't being fooled, but are actually playing being fooled for the benefit of the television audience.

The reason I say that's the most-charitable thing is because of the alternative ... that there are 12 women (plus however many more were rejected during the casting process) who honestly believe that  Prince Harry, who can probably have just about any woman in the world he wants, would choose his wife on a reality television show ... and that his family would begin to allow such a thing.

Yet I fear this is the case.

And I die a little more inside.