Just finished the fifth series of the West Wing. I really don't understand the people who say the show suffered a marked drop-off in quality after Aaron Sorkin left. It's a different show, I'll grant you: often bleaker, less warm, sometimes missing the wit of the first series. But I don't see as that's a problem. The characters are so established by this point that their dialogue probably writes itself. We all know how everyone is going to react to any situation. Also, it's coming toward the end of the term, so the politics is getting serious, while the characters are getting jaded and tired. That makes sense to me from a story-line point of view.

And John Wells throws so much new stuff into the series. The Access episode. The fading in and out before the shutdown. And An Khe, with the shooting down of the aircrafts, which is a brilliant weaving of two stories together as one. The series contains two great liberal triumph episodes ("Shutdown" and "The Supremes"), another minor one in the "Slow News Day" episode, great character development in CJ, plus another gripping season finale (I make that five from five). Also, "We don't like Asians".

My feelings toward the West Wing are always going to be a little biased, but still, why so little love? More love please.