h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

While this is a bit of an old thread I thought I'd make a posting anyhow.

I can't believe how much the show has been destroyed since Aaron Sorkin left. Leo, the Chief of Staff has been a central fixture on the show since the start but something tells me that NBC wanted to 'spice things up' and bring on a new lead character. But to end it in the way they did --- with Leo arguing with the President and the president accepting his resignation and then Leo having a heart attack? AH! That is a big flaw because Bartlett would never accept Leo's resignation. It is just bad writing!

Flashback:
Bartlett to the Agriculture Sec. Prior to the State of the Union
"You got a best friend?"
"Yes."
"Is he smarter than you?"
"Yes."
Would you trust him with your life?"
"Yes."
"There's your Chief of Staff."


Meanwhile the show is littered with uninspirational charachters and continues to go downhill.

I just hope they aren't setting Josh up to leave -- the president no longer listens to him either and his key ally is gone:

Season Two -- Leo To Josh:
This guy's walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep. He can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on. Then a priest
comes along and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here!" and the friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out."

[Josh looks at him.]

LEO [cont.]
As long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?

-------
What have they done to Leo

Do you know why Leo is out?

Was John Spencer fired from the show or did he want to quit himself? Because if he quit, we can't very well blame the show for Leo leaving But I agree that his departure could be handled better than they did.

And I was very surprised to see who took Leos place, I would have thought Josh was next in line for the job...

Well I missed one of the episodes in the last three weeks and learned that Leo was found in the forest and did not die there as we were led to believe as we were lead to believe at the end of the episode in which he had his heart attack. He did however resign his post and will be off the show I gather.

I don't know if John Spencer chose to leave or if he was pushed out in the hope to heighten ratings. I've been disappointed with the show for two years now. It just has not been the same since Aaron Sorkin stopped writing.

If anyone has more information than I do (which they probably do because I've slowly stopped following it as I did in the first four seasons) that would be great!

"I would have thought Josh was next in line for the job..."

Josh makes a lot more sense than who Leo suggested (too many hospital drugs maybe?). His primary focus was domestic policy though but still, it makes more sense than a press secretary. I think C.J. is great but Chief of Staff?

Actually I think C.J. is doing a great job And after thinking about it, I think it's a good choice. I mean they would have to promote from within, anything else would just be unfair. And everyone else is absolutely needed where they are. The job Josh does is a lot different than the job Leo does, and they need Josh at his post. So C.J. makes sense to me, as she is the only one who could be replaced without to much trouble. Unless of cource he had given the job to Charlie

About the Aaron Sorkin thing... I felt that way in the beginning of season 5, as I felt they could have dealt with Zoeys safe return in a bit more emotional of a way, or at least I felt that Aaron would have. But as time went on, I found that it was still the same West Wing and the same characters that I knew and loved. I think we could be a lot worse of than we are with the people who took over, and I think it's still a great show that makes me laugh and makes me think about things...

Give it a chance again, it's really not that bad, at least not so bad that it deserves missing 3 shows