What's next?

Anybody got a Kleenex? Because I sure didn't expect my face to be quite so moist throughout "The West Wing" series finale. That was really, really lovely. Honestly, I'm not sure how much better it might have been had Aaron written it. (And did everybody catch him as one of the people on the dais at the inauguration? Glad he found some way to participate.)

John Wells has taken a lot of crap since he took over the show, and rightfully so, but he nailed just about everything here. He kept it simple, and that made the emotions seem more genuine and more powerful. While there was just enough time spent on Team Santos to invoke the sense of awe that wouldn't be coming off the departing staffers, but the focus was primarily on the characters that the audience has known and loved since 1999. Back in January, John said he knew that the last two scenes would be Santos sitting behind the Oval Office desk and asking "What's next?" and Barlet on Air Force One, and that he needed to wait until he was in the editing room to decide which would go last. There's no question he made the right choice.

Jed pulling out the framed napkin from "Bartlet for America" unleashed the last bout of waterworks for me, but the biggest gusher came when he gave his pocket copy of the Constitution to Charlie. Dule Hill so rarely got anything of interest to do, but the surrogate father-son relationship between the president and Charlie was always my favorite coupling on this show. The two hadn't shared a significant scene in forever, but the two picked up like every episode has been part of "The Jed 'n Charlie Show."

Other moments I loved: Donna's smile at her new office (though what the heck is Annabeth doing as the First Lady's press secretary? Isn't that a demotion?); Bartlet shaking hands with the Communications staff (and knowing which one is Ed and which one is Larry); Jed complaining about having to see his daughters that night; Debbie explaining the importance of her job to Ronna; Will throwing Toby's ball against the wall (though, come to think of it, where the hell was Toby? the one fumble of the hour); the reference to Mallory's relationship with Sam; any and every appearance by Ron Butterfield (somebody needs to do a spin-off with him and the guy who plays Aaron on "24"); pretty much the whole hour, really. (Except the absence of Toby and the clumsy stand-in for Glenn Close.)

In this morning's column I wrote that the rerun of the pilot would no doubt make the finale suffer in comparison. I feel very, very wrong right now. But it could just be the emotions of the moment talking. What say you?

Farewell to the 'Wing'

Before "The West Wing" finale tonight, here's my column looking back at the life of the series, with a list of my 10-plus favorite episodes at the end.

Il returno de Sam Seaborn

When Rob Lowe left "The West Wing" in a fit of pique over lack of money/screen time/respect/whatever, all I could think was what a foolish egomaniac he was. Lowe may have been the big star coming into the series, but by the time he left, he was clearly behind Sheen and Spenser and Schiff and Janney and Whitford in terms of most important/beloved regular. And when he signed on to one embarrassing flop after another, I felt secure in my belief that he had grossly overestimated his value, both to "West Wing" and in general.

It helped that his exit coincided with the period when Sorkin was going completely off the rails, followed quickly by the awful transition to the Wells era. So for the last three and a half years, I never doubted my theory.

Then Lowe/Sam came back last night, and I realized how much I had missed him. No, he may not have been as essential as Jed or Leo or CJ, but the show really did lose something when that stammering Boy Scout left to... um... why the hell did he leave, anyway? When they did the election storyline, it was said repeatedly that if Sam lost the race, he'd get his job back. He lost, yet he never came back, and there wasn't even any discussion of that in the reunion with Josh. (I'll give them a pass on that, just for the call-back to the best scene in "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen.")

With Sorkin long gone and without a three-year transition to get used to hearing other people's words coming out of his mouth, Sam didn't seem quite like Sam last night -- as the show's token idealist, I think he'd leap at the offer -- but Lowe and Brad Whitford settled back nicely into their old rhythms. And deputy chief of staff is a much more plausible idea than vice-president. (And, speaking of which, I'll believe they're going to make Vinick the VP -- suggestive promo or no suggestive promo -- when he actually gets confirmed in an episode.) Still would have liked some kind of explanation for why he stayed away after the election fiasco, but good to have him back for a few weeks at the end.

Other than Sam, kind of a blah episode -- though, of course, I'm not a Josh/Donna 'shipper, and this was mainly throwing them one last bone. The surprise reveal about Bartlet and Santos playing good cop/bad cop felt forced -- even if Santos had kept it from Josh (because somehow, after all this time, they still don't trust each other), no way Jed doesn't tell C.J. -- and I've never cared much, if at all, about Mrs. Santos. (On the plus side, the writers did find a plausible way for Josh and Donna to both have White House jobs and still date.)

So, only three more episodes ever. Weird. I hope they can at least hit the last one out of the park.

Bye, Leo, we'll miss you. Now LET'S SMOOCH!

I came down harder than many on last week's "West Wing" for making the death of Leo almost a sideshow to the end of the Santos and Vinick campaigns. I had higher hopes for "Requiem," since, with the election over, the hour's focus could turn entirely to paying tribute to Leo/John Spencer. With Sorkin long gone, I wasn't expecting "Two Cathedrals Part II," but I was expecting more than the wacky bedroom hijinks we got last night.

Look, I get that life goes on, and in the world of politics there's very little time to stop and mourn. I actually liked the scenes with Santos interfering in the Speaker's race and talking with Amy (though if Santos somehow winds up with a female VP, it'll be Nancy McNally). I was pleased and moved to see virtually every important character in the show's history, save Sam and Mandy (was Mandy an important character?) sitting in the cathedral for Leo's memorial. Loved the Toby/Charlie scene and the look on Toby's face as he gave his phony excuse for not going to the cemetary. I thought Martin Sheen was amazing in that sequence where Bartlet went from pained silence to joyous life of the party because it was what his friends needed from him, and I loved the final exchange between Jed and Josh. (Though I would have liked some kind of reference to the fact that both Josh's father and his father figure died during successful presidential campaigns.)

But I felt like too much of "Requiem" was a missed opportunity. How do you gather seven year's worth of great actors and not let a single one of them speak during the funeral? How do you skip over the trip to the cemetary? How do you spend so much time on CJ/Danny and Josh/Donna trying to get laid?

Again, I get that life goes on, and that the show has a lot of stuff to wrap up before we see Santos sit behind that desk in the Oval Office a few weeks from now, but this was an extraordinary circumstance. Rather than devote parts of two crowded episodes to Leo's passing, couldn't we have just gotten one all-Leo episode? If you take his death out of it, does "Election Day" need to be a two-parter?

What did everybody else think? And did anybody watch "What About Brian"?

Bye, Leo, we'll miss you. Now LET'S DANCE!

When John Spencer died, I know the writers of "The West Wing" were placed in one of those impossible situations, but last night's episode really pissed me off. Would it have been so hard to wait a week, keep Leo off-screen during the election stuff (I think the audience would have accepted whatever excuse they gave for Leo not being on stage for the acceptance speech) and deal with his death more fully at a time when we could devote an entire episode to the reactions of the original characters?

And yes, I know that that's exactly what next week's episode is going to be about. But the initial reactions of the characters is half of what I wanted to see, and with the exception of Josh and, to a lesser extent, Jed, we didn't really get them. How do they skip over Margaret finding out about the heart attack in the first place? How do they cut away just when C.J. and the prez are about to have their first conversation? How do you leave Toby out of the episode altogether?

And how do you end the episode where the most beloved character in the show's history dies with a scene where everyone's dancing and cheering and happy? I know, I know: for the new people like Bram and Otto and even Santos, they didn't know Leo long enough for the grief over his passing to overwhelm their joy at winning the election. And they did have that beautiful bit at the end where Josh said, "Thanks, boss." But after getting genuinely involved with the campaign storyline in the last year and a half, I felt angry that these interlopers were having themselves such a big ol' party; didn't they realize how much we, the people who'd been around for seven seasons, cared about Leo McGarry and John Spencer? It was realistic, and yet a slap in the face, and it's really killed my interest in any transition scenes in the remaining episodes.

Well, not entirely. Predictions on the replacement veep? Vinick seems too obvious and corny even for this show, and while Rob Lowe's coming back, Sam Seaborn has all of Santos' young and inexperienced liabilities, only moreso (Santos at least served a few terms in Congress; Sam has never held any elected office that we know of). So my guess is either Bingo Bob or John Hoynes. Gary Cole and Tim Matheson are both coming back, both characters have experience in the job and would probably have an easy time getting confirmed in the wake of Leo's sudden death. Plus, if either of them ever has any aspirations of running for president again when Santos is done, they'd have to take it. My money's on Bob, since he doesn't have any scandals in his past like Hoynes.

Moving on... About nine years ago, my friend Mike Schneider (you may know him from such websites as Franklin Avenue and Variety.com) were joking around about how "The Simpsons" should do an episode where Patty and Selma meet Richard Dean Anderson, are horrified to discover he's nothing like MacGyver, then imprison him in their apartment, "Misery"-style, until he finally escapes by cobbling together everyday household objects. So what happens? Nine years later, they freaking stole our idea, man! I mean, yeah, we never actually told anyone about it, or wrote anything, or copyrighted it, or... but you get the idea. Intellectual property is intellectual property, and... ah, nertz. As Mike put it, if we cared, "maybe we should have written it nine years ago." And now that I think of it, the other plot we came up with for that episode was Bart getting a job at the comic book store, and they did that one, too. Does Matt Groening have some kind of psychic powers? Is there any way we can get residuals?

Actually, the thing I'm most surprised by is that it took the "Simpsons" writers seventeen seasons to get around to bringing Patty and Selma together with the object of their obsession. (I think the last time they even mentioned "MacGyver" was 11 years ago in "A Star Is Burns.") And what a weird episode overall. The Homer goes to India plot felt like large chunks of it were missing, possibly pasted over by the MacGyver scenes, and the entire thing was basically an excuse for the Bollywood number at the end. Now, who am I to complain about a good Bollywood number, especially one that has Carl sporting two extra arms? That's the kind of gratuitous dance scene I can get behind.

Ahhh, Brent-ie

I was super-geeked at the prospect of Ricky Gervais both writing and appearing in an episode of "The Simpsons," until I read an article in the newest Entertainment Weekly where he listed his five favorite "Simpsons" episodes ever, none of which would be close to my top five, one of which -- "Homer's Enemy" -- represented everything I came to dislike about the later years.

Thankfully, that article helped me, to quote Tony Soprano's doctor, recalibrate my expectations. I came in expecting another Frank Grimes-esque celebration of Tony at his oafish worst, so the actual episode was a nice surprise. Not top 10, or even top 150, but by the standards of the last few seasons, pretty good.

The best part, by far, was Gervais writing and playing himself as David Brent: the career choice, the awkward flirtation, the inappropriate jokes that require five minutes to explain, etc. Plus, the visit to the Fox lot was pretty funny, especially a Mischa Barton statue that gave a much more convincing performance than the real Mischa ever has.

(By the way, when Paulie Walnuts took one in the walnuts on last night's "Sopranos," was I the only one who instantly thought of "Barney's movie had heart... but 'Football in the Groin' had a football in the groin"? Not just me? Good.)

The only other Sunday TV I finished was "West Wing," which was mostly campaign filler, other than the Toby scenes. My daughter's not a lot younger than Molly, and while I've never violated national security (not that I can think of), the notion of having to be away from Julia for a long period of time hit home for me. Plus, I much prefer Toby's ex-wife when she's not singing in front of burning cars. My prediction for next week, influenced by the least subtle preview reel of all time: Santos wins, but the victory celebration is ruined by the death of Leo.

His name is Leo and he dances on the sand

So let's see... HBO has the lights off until March, "Grey's Anatomy" was a clip show, continuing to avoid "Desperate Housewives" was on my list of New Year's Resolutions, so in terms of things I actually watched...

"The West Wing": Sadly fitting that the first episode to air after John Spencer's death was all about Leo. Even sadder is that it wasn't very good. Even by post-Sorkin standards, this was a predictable one -- anyone who didn't see Leo doing fine in the debate, not to mention that he was the source of the leak, needs an eye exam. I liked the interplay between Leo and Annabelle, Josh and Toby on the phone was good, and I appreciated a glimpse inside the Vinick camp that didn't make them look like the Evil Empire (maybe because Vinick was nowhere to be found), but overall: meh. I'm incredibly sick and tired of Josh being a complete moron, solely as a means to make Santos look smarter for always disagreeing with him (in this case, by telling Leo to skip the debate prep). Couldn't care less about Will and whatsername having the least romantic TV dinner of all time. Here's hoping Sorkin and Schlamme are coming back for multiple episodes.

"Cold Case": I wrote about this both in Friday's column and in a Friday blog entry, but just coming back to it for one reason: in this New York Times interview, "Cold Case" creator Meredith Stiehm says she was on the nose with all the songs on purpose, and that she originally wanted the episode to have no dialogue whatsoever, to let the songs tell the story. I'm sure she got talked out of that by someone at CBS or Bruckheimer Inc. who thinks deviating from the formula too much is bad for the bottom line, but I think the show would have been much stronger had she been able to go with the original plan.

"The Simpsons": This is the Be Careful What You Wish For season. I wanted more narrative coherence, I wanted more focus on the family and their emotions. I'm getting both, and yet the couch gags are almost always funnier than the rest of the episode combined. (Lenny and Carl as the new parents was the best family photo.) Now, Homer having an epiphany about Abe while lost in a multi-million dollar mini-sub isn't quite on par with Lisa developing a crush on her substitute teacher or Homer buying Marge a bowling ball, but if this season keeps going the way it has, I'm going to start asking for more wackiness for the sake of wackiness, sort of like...

"Family Guy": One of the better ones, and I loved the random cameo by Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank from "American Movie" as Quagmire's production crew for the lesbian video. Question: are we approaching a point where getting to do a guest voice on "Family Guy" is considered a bigger deal than "The Simpsons"? Probably not; if "The Simpsons" is good enough for Ricky Gervais and Michael Chabon, it's good enough for me.

RIP, John Spencer

I was about 90 seconds from leaving work last night for our office holiday party when my editor walked up and said, "John Spencer died." After a minute to process this, Matt started working the phones while I began looking for archival quotes so we could write the obituary.

John Spencer was one of the nicest celebrities I've ever had the pleasure to meet. He always considered his post-rehab life to be time he hadn't expected to have, so while 58 is way too young to die, he enjoyed every damn minute of the last 16 years.

It's obviously much too early to know what "West Wing" is going to do without him. The show caught a bizarre lucky break when Leo wasn't included in the flash-forward to the dedication of the Bartlet presidential library in the season premiere. At the time, I heard lots of speculation about his absence: Leo's busy doing some VP assignment; Leo is actually the president (Santos having died sometime after winning the election) and is therefore the guy coming out of the limo; Leo suffered another heart attack and died. I'm almost certain they have to kill him now; the only question is how close production was to the election episode.

About the only silver lining of this whole situation is that it could spur Sorkin and Schlamme to come back to write and direct Leo's farewell. Hell, if we're really close to the end of the series, maybe Santos chooses a familiar face to be Leo's replacement: Sam Seaborn.

Sunday night dead

I wish I could call the awful live "West Wing" debate episode a disappointment, but that would imply I had high hopes for it to begin with. John Wells is now 0-2 with live gimmick episodes, both of which completely ignored why people watch those shows in the first place. The live "ER" ditched the action movie production values, editing and music that made the show so cool back then, while the "West Wing" episode completely abandoned Aaron Sorkin's mission statement to show viewers what goes on right before or right after the big moments you see on TV. It was slow and tedious. It completely ignored everything that happened in the previous episode (no questions on abortion or attack ads?). And despite the writers' paper-thin attempts to make viewers forget that they liked Vinick last season, Alan Alda was so damn good that I'd vote for him, even though I agree with more of Santos' positions.

Hey Mr. Wells: I know that "China Beach" usually did well with the format-breaking episodes, but you're now responsible for the two biggest formula-breaking "West Wing" episodes of all time (this and "Access," the PBS documentary from the future episode), which also happen to be the two worst "West Wing" episodes of all time. There's a lesson in there somewhere, maybe.

My TiVo screwed up the recording of "Curb" (damn IR blaster malfunction), but "Grey's Anatomy" was terrific, yet again. The male pregnancy story was funny, and kinda poignant, and managed to parallel Meredith's story without beating you over the head with it. George's continued attempt to screw up his position as Burke's "guy" and Cristina getting some comeuppance from the nurses were also good for shits and giggles. At this rate, "Grey's" may be sneaking onto my year-end Top 10 list. It's definitely the best, most consistent show ABC has (and I say this as a "Lost" fan).

Since I been gone

Spent the weekend in Boston, which should be my last travel weekend for a while, but it still leaves me lagging behind on TV.

Before I get to what I have seen lately, some links:

• Monday's All TV column, with Matt giving what may be The Star-Ledger's first positive review of a Lifetime original production in three years (since "Any Day Now" got canceled).
• Today's All TV column, leading off with my review of the disappointing season finale of "Over There" (which was pretty disappointing all season, frankly).
• Ellen Gray in the Philly Daily News delivering a backlash against the predictable "Desperate Housewives" backlash.
• A column by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV critic Rob Owen about the rise of dramas with female leads.
• Melanie McFarland from the Seattle P-I giving some blunt advice to Martha Stewart and Tyra Banks.

As for what I've watched in the last day or so, let's go in reverse chronological order:

"Prison Break": Hey, did you know this show is on Fox? They were so subtle in plugging it during the baseball playoffs that I wasn't sure if everyone knew about it. (As Phil Rosenthal pointed out to me, the "Prison Break" ads weren't as unintentionally funny as the "Skin" campaign ("His father is THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY!!!!!!") or last year's "House" ads ("You're risking A PATIENT'S LIFE!!!") because none of the main characters on "Prison Break" yell much.)

Way back in August, I called this the best new drama of the season. It probably still is, but more by default, and I spend more time multi-tasking while watching it than I should during a thriller. I'm a sucker for stories about men of different backgrounds forced together to do a tough job ("The Magnificent Seven," "The Professionals" and, of course, "The Great Escape"), and the scenes inside the prison walls are fun, if completely ridiculous. I mean, the chief hack strangled a cat, for God's sake! But whenever we cut back to The Conspiracy, I zone out. Not even the relevation that Patricia Wettig is the Vice-President was much of a shock, given that this is the season of "Commander-in-Chief."

"How I Met Your Mother": Not as good as last week's club episode, but passable. The angel and the devil battling for Ted's soul was the highlight, along with Barney's constant costume changes (you can read more about them on his blog), and the trick photo of the parrot on the pirate's shoulder. Given that last scene, though, I think the creators are making a big mistake being so definitive that Robin isn't Ted's future wife. Ted is a lot more interesting and likable when he's with her than he's been with any other woman, but barring some real Houdini writing, they're destined to stay apart.

"The West Wing": I once asked my mom what she thought of some depressing Oscar-bait movie (I think it was "The Hours") and, after a long pause to figure out something nice to say about it, replied, "There was a lot of acting. Basically, it was all about acting." This week's "West Wing" was all about acting, but in a good way. I don't for a second believe that Toby would have let the leak investigation go as far as it did before he martyred himself, but the scenes between him and CJ, him and Babish and him and the president were terrific. Too bad the flash-forward from the season premiere eliminates any suspense over Toby possibly doing serious jail time.

"Grey's Anatomy": Apparently, the DGA has some sort of clause that requires every hospital drama to hire Mark Tinker to direct at least one episode. First he was one of the executive producers on "St. Elsewhere," then directed episodes of "ER," "Chicago Hope" and now "Grey's." This was another episode with stories we've seen a million times before on other doctor shows, but they felt specific to this one. "ER" played the trapped in an elevator bit for major suspense; here, it was more of black comedy. And next week's episode looks an awful lot like the "Subway" episode of "Homicide," but I expect just enough variety to keep it interesting. The highlight of the episode, by far: Sandra Oh's bored, embarrassed porn story. That, and all the references to the Hmong making me think of the "Wayne's World" sketch where Garth was freaked out by the word "mung."