The 2003-04 Television Season

So the new television season gets underway tonight. The Emmy Awards, of course, were held last night, and while I'm not not going to bore you with a full list of winners - who's going to remember all the winners in a week anyway? - it's worth noting that "The Sopranos," for all the crap that's gone on behind the scenes of that show, won three major awards for drama. The series picked up a best actor award for James Gandolfini, a best actress award for Edie Falco, and a best writing award.

Here's something particularly interesting. "The West Wing" has been slammed by critics recently for losing its edge, it's been dismissed as being appointment televison only for those of us too habituated to watching it to stop, and it's slipped somewhat in the ratings. Yet, it won the Best Drama Emmy and a best drama direction award. The series has slipped in quality somewhat, but maybe, just maybe, one of its best seasons lies ahead. There is reason for hope. After all, there's new blood behind the scenes, seeing as original creators Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme have moved on.

The fifth season begins Wednesday, with John Goodman as the Speaker of the House serving as Acting President after President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) temporarily gives up power when his daughter is kidnapped by terrorists - while the Vice Presidency remains vacant after John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) has resigned the office in the wake of a scandal. Those of us who remember last sesaon's finale will recall that the Speaker, an Oklahoma Republican, articulately draws parallels between the President's daughter's kidnapping and the Austrian Emperor's nephew's assassination - the assassination that started World War I. So what we have here is a plot mixing history with the current wave of terrorism. The kidnapping plot may sound hokey, but if "The West Wing"'s new production team can have us suspend our disbelief in it, this could prove to be a fascinating storyline twist.

And if they can have us believe in the existence of an Oklahoma Republican who knows a lot about European history and is aware of the dangers of sliding into a major war, that'll be a miracle! :-)