Thursday, August 5, 2010

Why I still love The West Wing

For the past couple of years, I've been addicted to the reruns of The West Wing on Bravo. I was addicted to the show when it originally aired, and after a few years off, that addiction has not waned. I think I finally figured out why.

It's not the politics of the show, although I love those, but it's the relationships. The show mostly focuses on the President's senior staff, and I can't get enough of them.

They spar, they trade quips, they debate passionately, and most importantly, they respect and like each other tremendously.

Maybe one of the reasons I love that so much is because I have that now, too. The people I work with are just as smart, funny, warm, and dedicated. The only difference, really, is that we all balance families, too, and if I do say so myself, we do so pretty damned well!

When one of us has a personal crisis, everyone is there to support our colleague emotionally and professionally. People first. Always. We enjoy spending time together, both on and off the job. We don't battle egos, but bounce ideas off of each other, learn from each other, and are committed to doing the best job possible. And we keep our sense of humor because it makes our day easier.

Obviously, the objectives and challenges of The West Wing have much higher stakes, but hey, that's what makes it a good drama. The characters feel real, complete with flaws, and they bounce back from failures by supporting one another, and moving on to "what's next."

This is why I keep watching this series over and over (and yes, over) again. Their journey as a group of committed friends and colleagues continues to entertain and inspire me.


*Just to be clear, no one paid me to promote a show that's long gone. These opinions are my own. But, sure, if you decide to buy the series from Amazon through the link above, I would get a small referral fee. Think this obsession will finally pay off for me? Yeah. Me neither.

1 comment:

Danielle said...

I wish my office was like this. It isn't horrible by any means, but nothing like you have described.