(no subject)

[yesthattom]

One of the best West Wing moments was the last 5 minutes of the pilot:

Thanks to la_directora for linking to this.

Comments

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

What was so brilliant about the pilot - that scene in particular, but the episode as a whole, too - is how BRILLIANTLY they established everything we needed to know about this show we were just seeing for the first time, without EVER feeling like exposition. I mean, how much more do you need to know about what kind of president Bartlett is than his two minutes of screen time in this scene? Throughout the episode, every character is introduced in such a clever way that tells us EXACTLY what they are like without ever having anyone TELL us what they are like or who they are.

Seriously, the Sorkin/Schlamme partnership will be a hard one to ever top.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I put on our tape of episode 1 a couple of weeks ago, just for the heck of it, and from the first minute to the last it was mesmerizing. I think actually I like the teaser even more than the climax, where they go through and show a few seconds of everybody getting the "POTUS fell off his bicycle" news, for the same reason - it introduces us to all of the characters and gives us a good sense of what kind of people they are, in just a few minutes.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Martin Sheen's entrance in that scene is pitch-perfect. One of the all-time best entrances on TV.

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

Best. First. Line. By. A. Character. EVER! :)

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

Leo's one line in the scene is also perfect. Maintaining his side's power advantage while his tone of voice conveys reparable underlying camaraderie as an incentive. Quintessential Leo.

[penk.livejournal.com]

Yegods I forgot how awesome that show was.

[rwgill.livejournal.com]

It was that scene that hooked me on the series.

[catness.livejournal.com]

This TV show makes the last 8 years quadruply unbearable.