Saturday, June 23, 2012

I'M AN ALCOHOLIC. I DON'T HAVE ONE DRINK. I DON'T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONE DRINK: NYMag ranks Aaron Sorkin's top 38 tv characters and, for once, it's not a slideshow, Isaac.

14 comments:

  1. Joseph J. Finn9:47 AM

    I...disagree with a lot of that list (Margaret that low?  Meh), but everything is happier after seeing Nancy McNally that high.

    ReplyDelete
  2. J. Bowman9:54 AM

    <span>"She let Charlie put oregano in chili!"</span>

    The w is watching the first season, and I just saw that. My immediate reaction was "she must mean Mexican oregano." Because if you're not putting that in your chili, then, frankly, you are making shitty chili.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had a bit of a startling/humorous realization a few weeks ago: I've seen more episodes of Studio 60 than I have of The West Wing (or of Sports Night, for that matter). Not that I LIKED S60... I just never really got into TWW.

    And I say this a someone who's a huge fan of much of Sorkin's movie work - particularly Moneyball and The Social Network. Especially The Social Network, which is a movie I flat-out adore. And I think it's the fundamental difference between the two media that explains my response to Sorkin's work. Film is much more a director's medium, and TV is far more a writer's medium. TV gives us Sorkin untamed, which is a style of writing that generally doesn't work for me.

    Having said that, I can't wait to hate-watch the hell out of The Newsroom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm forgetting which of the TV critics I follow (think it was van der Werff) argues that part of the reason Newsroom gets so preachy/shouty is that for the first time in his TV career, Sorkin isn't working with Tommy Schlamme regularly, who usually knew how to dial things back from that level of shouty.  Not sure how much I buy that, since Studio 60 could get awfully shouty, and Greg Mottola isn't exactly a shouty director, but it's interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah, Toby. Josh was too cocky, Sam was too pretty, Jed/Leo too old. Toby was my West Wing crush.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joseph J. Finn11:44 AM

    And he enjoyed a good cigar.  Plus, his funeral scene it Mrs. Landingham, for the homeless veteran?  Sublime work by Schiff and Joosten.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yep, while I disagree with certain placements on this list, I can forgive all because they placed Toby first. He was the most complicated, infuriating, smart, committed and infuriating character Sorkin's ever written and Richard Schiff played the hell out of him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Watts1:06 PM

    Wait? Mottola directed Newsroom? The same guy that made one of my favorite movies - Adventureland?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Joseph J. Finn2:12 PM

    Mottola's got a rather interesting TV resume.  Undeclared, Arrested Development and a couple episodes of The Comeback.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I loved Toby in the flashbacks to the early days of the Bartlet campaign, particularly his drunken advice on answering the milk question.  I have borrowed the line "I have no new information since the last time you asked me that question" many many times, but I can't quite do it like Toby.

    And this, from In Excelsis Deo:
    Bartlet:  If we start pulling strings like this don't you think every homeless veteran will come out of the woodwork?
    Toby: I can only hope so, sir.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nancy8:55 AM

    Seriously, I didn't think anyone hated slideshows as much as I do. I appreciate that extra note because knowing that up-front made me much more inclined to click through.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Benner10:07 AM

    Placing Toby fist is acceptible if limited to seasons Sorkin wrote . . .but where are Lord John Marbury and Albie Duncan?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Duvall11:06 PM

    Will McAvoy - DFL?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Marsha2:35 PM

    He is absolutely spot on about Joey Lucas. One of my favorite TWW (and Sorkin) characters ever, but when Josh found her with that lummox in the hotel room, my heart broke.

    ReplyDelete