[.ca] The West Wing: The Complete Second Season

From Amazon.com:
The second season of The West Wing takes up literally where the first season left off and, after a few moments of patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration. The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on lows include "Noel," the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the episodes in which President Bartlet, following a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin. Other new aspects include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tensions grow between him and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realizes, in the episode "Third State of the Union," that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet that he must go public with his MS, and his staff is forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster, and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drug situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In." These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are master classes in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. The West Wing is one of the all-time great TV dramas. --David Stubbs

The BEST show:
Been a fan of The West Wing since the first season. I have been waiting for second one to come out. The West Wing has some of the best writing and acting on television - I would say the show is to drama television as Friends is to sitcoms. I absolutely recommend getting The West Wing - The Complete Second Season, as well as The West Wing - The Complete First Season. They're well-worth the money.

pathetic lameness:
you call this drama? ill show you drama! go watch southpark, that is REAL intelligence not this LAME hash

I would give it more stars if I could:
See my review of the first season. My politics lean towards conservative more than liberal. And I don't really care for Martin Sheen that much. At least I didn't before watching this series. Still, this is GREAT TV. In fact, it is a great show regardless of the venue. The second season is even better than the first. If you want a show that will make you laugh, make you cry and make you feel good that you are an American try this one. You just have to see it to appreciate what I am saying. This is one of the very few movies that I would consider buying so that I could watch it again and again.

Great show, disappointing DVD:
Sadly, this DVD does not do the 2nd season justice. The extras are almost non-existant. A few commentaries and a "virtual set tour" result in far less than half the extras the Season 1 DVD had. Still, at 40 bucks its a good deal, just not a complete steal like Season 1 (even though this season was vastly superior).

"THE LEFT WING":
"The West Wing" (or "The Left Wing" as us conservatrives call it) is a brilliant piece of work, well written and very well acted. For political junkies, it is Manna from Heaven. Aaron Sorkin is a dedicated Democrat, as is the star's show, Martin Sheen. It is a show that attempts to make Democrats look like idealistic, well meaning, courageous, 24/7 workaholics. These people do exist, but in light of the recent death of Ronald Reagan and the new Bill Clinton book, it is instructive to recall that this show, along with "The American President", was an attempt to disuade the public from the realities of the Clinton Presidency. If the Democrats were all like the ones shown in "The West Wing", they would get 90 percent of the vote. Th show does try to stay balanced on occasion, but a comparison between President Bartlett and his wife and Bill and Hillary Clinton provides a dose of reality that is not of help to Clinton apologists. STEVEN TRAVERS AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASAEBALL'S SUPERMAN" ...