A Program We Can Support
                         TV gets serious about politics — in 'West Wing'
                          By DAVID BIANCULLI    Daily News TV Critic
 

                   It's a day before the presidential election, and the guy millions of
                   Americans would rather vote for isn't even on the ballot.

                   He's Josiah Bartlet, the admirable, Scripture-quoting incumbent
                   played by Martin Sheen on NBC's top-rated "The West Wing."
 
                   The man behind this President is writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, who did the
                   script for the 1995 movie "The American President." Using the film's basic
                   framework, one of its supporting players (Sheen) and even the same set,
                   Sorkin has crafted a densely populated weekly drama about national politics
                   and the individuals who make policy, or try to.
 

                   It's a very intricate, intelligent, demanding series. It has also
                   gotten strong points for credibility, from the accuracy
                   of its set to the intricacies of give-and-take Washington
                   politics — though at least one D.C. insider gives it a mixed review.
 

                  "I find it interesting, but it's not totally realistic," says former
                   President Gerald Ford. "I think there's a degree of accuracy to it."

                   Directed by Thomas Schlamme and others, "The West Wing" is the political
                   equivalent of a roller coaster. Characters and ideas zip in and out faster than interns
                   on "ER." In an age when irony is king on television, the show is almost
                   old-fashioned in its patriotism and idealism. And with its verbal and visual
                   elements equally frenetic, "The Wing Wing" is hardly a passing diversion.

                   And yet, at a time when real-world politics and politicians seem to bore most people,
                   "The West Wing" is a colossal success. As of last week, it was tied (with CBS'
                   "Everybody Loves Raymond") for fourth place for the TV season to date. The most
                   recent episode was seen by more than 12 million people.

                   So how does a show that demands so much from its viewers become so popular?

                   Mike Donovan, professor of radio, TV and film at New Jersey's Rowan University,
                   concedes he isn't sure — that the inside-baseball level of the politics in "The
                   West Wing" reminds him of another TV show he thought was too "different" to
                   catch on: NBC's "Seinfeld."

                   "I thought the humor in 'Seinfeld' was so urban, so New York, I couldn't imagine it
                   playing anywhere else," Donovan says. Similarly, he thinks "The West Wing" is
                   "almost too smart for what I would believe most television viewers can handle" —
                   though he's thrilled to be proven wrong.

                   "I think it's the most complex visual show on television," Donovan says. "It's one of
                   those shows where you don't watch while reading the paper. You have to actually
                   pay attention. But as a teacher and a viewer, I love that. If I can just listen to a
                   TV show, then it's radio."

                   Bob Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at
                   Syracuse University, has, like Donovan, shown "The West Wing" in classrooms
                   since its premiere last fall. And while marveling that TV writers in general have
                   not made more use of national politics, Thompson also is amazed by the show's
                   timing, as well as its contents.

                   With its unveiling in the fall of 1999 — "right on the heels," Thompson notes, "of
                   the biggest soap-operatic TV-oriented political story of all time with the Monica
                   [Lewinsky] stuff" — Thompson expected "The West Wing" to be "very 'Melrose
                   Place'-like, with all the sex and scandal and stuff."

                   Instead, it went for nobility and for politics with a purpose, fought by characters who
                   were flawed but committed. Yes, deputy communications director Sam Seaborn
                   (played by Rob Lowe) slept with a prostitute, but he didn't know she was one.
                   Yes, chief of staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) has a substance-abuse problem,
                   but he confronted it years ago and was willing to go public with it. Yes, press
                   secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) has a romantic relationship with a White House
                   reporter, but on the job, both of them are totally professional. And, yes, the President
                   is shown heatedly thinking about having sex in the West Wing — but with his own
                   wife, played beautifully by Stockard Channing.

                   "I think the stroke of genius," Thompson says, "was that Sorkin and Co. figured out
                   that the wave of irony and cynicism has crested, and they went the exact opposite
                   direction — with this incredibly sincere and earnest Frank Capra-esque sort of
                   presentation.

                   "When we talk about Washington and Hollywood having this battle for the
                   American soul, these so-called culture wars, it's no wonder Hollywood is winning
                   it. Look at how political candidates — at any of the debates you want — are so
                   totally incapable of talking in a style that suggests a degree of earnestness and
                   sincerity that people can understand. They all sound like Charlie Brown's teacher —
                   'Wha-wha-whaaa, wha-wha-whaaa.'

                   "And then you turn on 'The West Wing,' this fictional place, and you've got all of these
                   people who, in fact, have developed language and imagery that can work in the
                   post-Watergate, post-Monica era. And they can talk about politics in a sincere way."

                   Politics in Earnest

                   Thompson cites a recent episode that ended with the staff members sitting on a
                   stoop and saluting each other, and the country, with a heartfelt "God bless
                   America" toast.

                   "The scene was moving," Thompson says. "It made sense. What they've captured on
                   this show — and most of it is due to Sorkin — is a type of language in which we can
                   talk about our country, our nationhood, our citizenry, our responsibilities. That we
                   can, in fact, take it all seriously again.

                   "I don't think the real Washington has figured out how to do that," he adds, "and I
                   think therein lies the show's popularity."

                   Thompson pauses for a moment, just as President Bartlet does before making his
                   final point, and adds, "As goofy as it sounds, Washington politicians could do
                   very well to make an appointment every Wednesday night to watch episodes of
                   'The West Wing' very carefully.

                   "If for no other reason than to learn how to talk."