The West Wing in Ten Episodes - Part 2

This is the second of two posts exploring the ten most representative episodes of The West Wing.  Here are the first five episodes

"In this White House" Episode 2-04
General Douglas MacArthur once said  "Duty, honor, country.  Those three hallowed words irreverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be."

The introduction of Ainsley Hayes is a landmark for the series because it provided a consistent, competent opposition voice to the liberal Bartlet administration.  Having a recurring conservative character probably made it easier for Sorkin to write her as likeable, than as the Republican Of The Week who sometimes, especially late in the series, drifted into straw man territory.  Considering her first scene is to completely smack Sam, who we know to be brilliant, up and down the Capitol Beat show they appear on, her credentials are well established.

Leo and Jed appeal to her sense of duty and public service to work for a Democratic administration.  Characters will often do things either against their political views in the interest of another, greater good or principle such as voting against a gun bill because it's not a strict enough or abstaining from a vote because of ethical concerns about being a lame duck.  It is again a "valentine to public service."  Putting politics aside for service is never more evident than when Ainsley joins the White House. 

"The Two Bartlets" Episode 3-12
Much of Season Three and Season Four focus on the re-elect and the common theme is intellectualism versus commonality.  Sorkin takes issue with intellect painted as aloofness and the implicitl argument that it's better to be folksy and accommodating.

This episode also raises a similar issue first explicitly stated "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" where Leo challenges the staff to "raise the level of debate" though the idea is a major theme of the entire series.  Unfortunately, Season Three took a slightly more cynical tone where the practicalities of implementing such a vision are far from easy, especially when walking a tight line to re-election.  Much of the cynical tone may be a result of the show finding footing post-September 11th.  Compare the season premiere, written and produced before September 11th, and "Two Bartlets", written and produced after September 11th.

"Manchester Par II"
BARTLET
There's a new book and we're gonna write it.  You can win if you run a smart, disciplined campaign, if you studiously say nothing - nothing that causes you trouble, nothing that's a gaff, nothing that shows you might think the wrong thing, nothing that shows you think.  But it just isn't worthy of us, is it, Toby?

TOBY
No sir.

BARTLET
It isn't worthy of us, it isn't worthy of America, it isn't worthy of a great nation.  We're gonna write a new book, right here right now.  This very moment.  Today.

versus "The Two Bartlets"

BARTLET
I don't want to campaign today.

TOBY
What happened to writing a new book?

BARTLET
We will, but we don't...man we don't have to piss people off everyday...

The show explores the dynamic via Toby and Jed's conversations and Toby's point that there are "two Bartlets", each embodying folksiness or intellect.* 

Once the censure and the MS coverup was resolved, the show shifted it's storyline to re-election which included the underlying theme of the elite versus the everyman.  Other episodes would delve further into this including Jed's tete-a-tete with Richie in "Posse Commitatus" leading to one of the most epic lines of the series** and in "20 Hours in America" as Donna, Toby and Josh flounder their way through Real America.  But there are probably few episodes that set off an exploration of the life feelings of America, and liberals' disgust towards both George W. Bush, the media coverage of him and the scorn received for having any opposing opinions,*** than this one.

* It also has a bonus of Jed taking a speech that Toby was working on for him and using it, but simultaneously making it his own...a window into how the president relies on his staff but still is his own man.

** "Crime, boy, I don't know" is when I decided to kick your ass.

*** Say what you will about George W. Bush but he was the catalyst for a lot of great television, especially from the Davids Three (Chase, Milch and Simon) and even comedies like Arrested Development.  That is the topic for a post I'm currently working on.

"Twenty Five" Episode 04-23
Sorkin departed West Wing at the end of Season Four but not without symbolically taking away the leader of the free world.  John Wells took over as showrunner starting in Season Five.  He picked up the plot where Sorkin left it, where the Bartlet administration was no longer the Bartlet administration.

When Zoe is kidnapped in a scenario he foretold in Season One, Jed recuses himself from the situation so it can be dealt with effectively and impartially.  Unfortunately, that means handing over the keys to his political enemy, the Speaker of the House. The stakes of doing so show just how much respect Jed has for the office, and that he truly believes the office is bigger than the man occupying it.

Sorkin did not leave on the best terms and the show did not find its footing again for over a season and a half.  Even then it did not live up to its hey day of Season Two, albeit still a good show.  Season Five is most similar to Season Three in that it is darker and more cynical.  The sets even seem, literally, darker, as though Warner Brothers was saving money on electricity.  Not only that, but Season Five was almost completely devoid of humor.  Instead we saw infighting by the staffers as Jed retreated far into himself.  The series also for the first time introduced recurring political opponents in Speaker Haffley and Vice President Russell.

Twenty Five represented a turning point for the series, and possibly a symbolic middle finger as Sorkin walked out the door.

"King Corn" Episode 6-13
West Wing split time between the West Wing and the campaign trail beginning mid-Season Six.  On the trail they spent time mainly with three candidates, Vinick, Russell and Santos.  Vinick was a longtime senator putting the cap on a distinguished career.  Russell was an automaton who did whatever Will told him.  Santos was difficult for Josh to control as he tried to reconcile what he would have to do to become president in order to give the country the president he thought it needed.  "King Corn" split the episode into three vignettes "A Day in the Life of...." those three candidates.  It gave a peek into the grueling schedule candidates had to keep, the provincial events they had to attend and the compromises they had to make within themselves to get where they wanted to be.  It also showed the lives of the staffers and the sad Holiday Inn hotels they slogged through the snow to get to before crashing for a few hours until they had to get up with the candidate.  Details such as staffers receiving automatic wake up calls versus candidates receiving calls from actual people helped paint the picture of the different roles people filled on the trail and the direction the final season and a half went for the series.

"Tomorrow" Episode 7-22
The most one can hope for series finales is to do the show justice, and "Tomorrow" did just that.  Expectations for finales are so high they are near impossible to meet, but I would rate "Tomorrow" up there with finales like "Made in America" and "Everyone's Waiting"*. (**EDIT)

It covered a lot of ground, tied up loose ends, resolved longtime characters' threads and moved things into motion for the new administration (and sometimes did both at the same time).  The progressions felt natural and organic and in character, rather than forced.

While I think the goal of "-30-" was to show the never-ending cycle of destitution and institutional problems that inhabit American cities, and used characters as a vehicle to display that, "Tomorrow" took the other side of it, more optimistic.

It showed the idea and ideals of America are larger than one man or one administration, even a man as great as Jed Bartlet and used the naturally occurring courses of action in the supporting characters to show the idea that the country and the office continues. 
 
The show, originally conceived with the though of never showing the president, then only visiting the president periodically, clearly was about Jed Bartlet and the Bartlet administration through and through whether it be the president himself, his staff or the ideals they embraced and that the show conveyed through those characters.  The natural, and only possible, ending point for the show is the end of the Bartlet administration at noon on January 20th.

 As his final act he pardons Toby.  Then, he raps his fist once on the desk, like a judge ending court.

And in the final scene, it reminds us that for all the social studies lessons, pontification and calls to duty the show gave us, it would not be effective in the slightest if not for the strong characters and relationships Sorkin created. 

* "Everyone's Waiting" is up there not just in great finales, but in great episodes

EDIT ** Upon reflection, it is a bit of an exaggeration to put this finale in the category with those of The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.  Probably my own bias and favoritism of West Wing creeping in on that statement.

Honorable Mentions
"And it's Surely to their Credit" & "Posse Commitatus" both examine themes of duty to public service and the Office of the Presidency but those are covered in other episodes listed.

"The Supremes"
Noteworthy as the clear high point of Season Five, which is why it's not representative

"2,162 Votes" & "Election Day"
Both are frantic episodes involving counting.  "Election Day", and I am lumping Parts 1 and 2 together, represents the pinnacle of West Wing 2.0 and the viewer has sincere motiviation to root for both sides.  "2,162" represents both the end of the primary and the launching point for the final season, putting characters into place so they can fulfill their Season Seven roles, whether as candidates, or back in the West Wing, and notable for fulfilling an allusion from all the way back in Season Four's "Commencement". 

The West Wing in Ten Episodes - Part 1

Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom is returning on HBO soon, so now is a good time as any to talk ab bit about his great work, The West Wing.

A tweet from a political scientist led me to Buzzfeed's 10 best West Wing episodes, and I found I disagreed with a lot of it.  Though, rather than do my own top 10 list (filling in early Christmas episodes and "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" and "Two Cathedrals" doesn't leave much space), I thought I'd follow AV Club's model of:

“The 10 episodes that best represent a TV series, classic or modern. If you watch those 10, you’ll have a better idea of what that series was about, without having to watch the whole thing. These are not meant to be the 10 best episodes, but rather the 10 most representative episodes” . 

This is you would use to show what this show is about to someone who's never seen it, like an alien or a foreigner, or an alien foreigner. 

Here are 1-5, in chronological order:

1. “Five Votes Down” Episode 1-04

Bartlet opens the episode in front of a banner proclaiming “Practical Idealism” which was a theme of the entire series, or at least the first part of Jed’s administration. Sorkin wrote the show as a “valentine to public service.” Part of this was showing the toll it takes on the personal life, and that’s not better represented than when Leo’s wife leaves him. He even admits to her that his job is more important than his marriage. The sense of duty permeates the rest of the series.  Not only that but it showed motivations of different politicians Josh and Leo whip for votes seeing hold outs for reasons petty and noble. Ultimately Leo’s political foe, the vice president, offers Leo to attend his own AA meeting when he worries Leo may relapsedue to his impending divorce (oh yeah, they are both alcoholics!).  Hoynes also helps his own agenda by getting the final vote the Bartlet people need, ultimately getting all the credit.  For all their efforts the Bartlets get criticized for not going for a stronger bill and do not even get the credit for the bill they desperately worked to pass.

2. “These Crackpots and These Women” Episode 1-05

West Wing had a nerdy fascination with history.  It showed through characters like Sam and Jed and Leo, who created Big Block of Cheese Day. Each staffer took meetings with advocacy groups they normally viewed as “below them” or at least not at the level to swing a meeting at the White House.  Slowly but surely the staffers came around to care about the Plue the wolf or the injustices of the Mercator projection*. And isn’t that what government is about?**  West Wing was there to inspire confidence in government and that one person can make a difference, blah blah blah, Margaret Mead. 

Josh’s survivor’s guilt was introduced and would play a major part in his character. And at Jed's chili party he combines his roles as boss and grandfather to the staff (and country) by exercising one of the perks of the presidency by forcing everyone to come (“Look down at the seal, now back up at me”) but all with the good intention of surrounding himself with the people he loves. It gave the staff a family feel which continued throughout the show especially when one staffer would come under attack. 

* Greenland never seemed to mind.

** No.  Not really.

3. “The State Dinner” Episode 1-07

Even the president and all his men are helpless sometimes.  Believe it or not there's no magic lever for the present to autonomously control the economy, or anything else for that matter.

The staff face crises of the hostage, diplomatic, labor and nautical varieties. In the end, after steering a small ship directly into the path of a hurricane, the president and his staff sit in evening wear around a phone listening to the lowliest sailor on the lowliest ship in the fleet, staying with him until they inevitably drown. Bartlet is so frustrated and angry that he even brings it up during his Latin laced tirade with God a season and a half later (“They say we haven't had a storm this bad since you took out that Tender ship of mine in the North Atlantic last year. Sixty-eight crew. You know what a Tender ship? Fixes the other ships. It doesn't even carry guns, it just goes around, fixes the other ships and delivers the mail. That's all it can do.”)

4. "In Excelsis Deo" Episode 1-10

One of few episodes that eschews politics as the main plot. Until now, Toby’s been the “prickly mumbly Communications Director” but goes out of his way to properly honor and bury a homeless veteran who he never knew but came across by happenstance. A larger issue is at hand regarding veterans’ treatment, and this before we made a whole bunch of new veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The storyline speaks more about human decency than the politics of it, which is really how it should be viewed in the first place. 

A part often overlooked is Mrs. Landingham talking about her sons being killed in Vietnam, which no doubt contributes to why she is so dedicated to her job and duty.

The episode also features a great ‘behind the scenes’ look when Bartlet goes Christmas shopping at the bookstore…behind the scenes being another crux of the series…and possibly the first moment Josh and Donna take off when he gives her a book with a note inscribed.

5. "Take this Sabbath Day" Episode 1-14

Thoughtful and didactic without being preachy, West Wing could elevate mundane policy and everyday social studies vocabulary (the census, a filibuster, the Lend Lease Act) to be compelling television. So when it tackled the emotionally charged issue of capital punishment, it really ran with it.  The episode is rare because there is only one storyline and all the characters participate.  Each character has their own view of capital punishment born out of their background. The episode also takes pains to show Jed’s internal conflict with religion and executing the law, and the larger theme of the president being both a man and an office.

Numbers 6-10 coming soon...

Raw Data: In Care Of - Part 2

This is part 2 of the observations for the Season Six finale of Mad Men, "In Care Of".

Part 1

If you have not seen this brilliant "he was dead the whole time" video essay from Forrest Wickman and Chris Wade on Slate, do check it out.  I had originally planned to write up a general post about the season as a whole, but I do not think there is much I can add now after focusing on Don in Part 1 and watching that essay on Vietnam.

• Don wants another fresh start, to go to California.  Back in Season One he begged Rachel Menken to run off to Paris with him.  He had his walkabout in Season Two, touching base with Anna.  In Season Four, it was the fresh start he needed to begin a new marriage with Megan, and this season Hawaii was the high point for him and Megan.  Go West, young man, and try again...
• The episode takes place sometime between Election Day (Nov. 5) and Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) in 1968
• Did not detect an exact date on the prominently featured correspondence
• The episode may, at least literally, refer to the c/o addressee on the mail and telegram received by Don and Pete
• Figuratively, unsure
• Don pours booze into a coffee cup in what is possibly the first time anyone has bothered to hide or be ashamed of their own alcoholism
• His hand to his face during the meeting is the same reaction he had in the elevator trying to chase down Sally in "Favors".
• Almost like a private moment
• SC & Partners is located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, but we knew that already
• The Depression era scenes always make me want to give Carnivale another try
• That show was super weird and I did not understand it at all, but maybe I am wiser now
• Don taking his kids to see his old house makes me think of Tony Soprano taking Meadow and AJ, at different times, to the old stone church which takes us back to this this and this
• The church was built by Tony's grandfather who was a stone mason from Avalino
• Tony uses the church to illustrate the value of hard work and to show them the old neighborhood
• It also touches on an early theme of the show which is being in on something from the ground up, while Tony laments he's at the end of the good times.
• I also just really really like talking about the Sopranos
• Both old neighborhoods are now black ghettos
• Sally all but threatens her father mentioning she should tell "what she saw"
• Harry Crane appears long enough to make his "I'm totally straight!" comment of the week
• I remember thinking, "meh, that didn't really warrant a comment" except to note how out of character it was for Peggy in the work place
• I don't want to think about what weird comments Harry would make about Megan's sleeping attire
• And once I started thinking about this, I though more about the dark and light colors they were wearing
• A contrast which was also noticeable when Ted plead with Don to let him go to California
• Peggy sits in Don's office and her last shot is the female version of it all
• Pete and his brother Bud are understandably angry, but it quickly morphs and it's interesting to see them, uncomfortably, rationalize that they shouldn't spend time or money to bring their mother's alleged murderer to justice.  Neither one of them were too happy with her when she was alive.  In fact, she was so miserable, she made Pete seem sympathetic
• Polar opposite outcome of the end of Season Two, following the sale of SC to PPO
• Don used to be indispensible.  However, he's become more and more disponsible this season, backing away from work and letting other fill that void, in addition to being an outright liability
•  Don removed himself from the process, saying he would only continue to review work because it is his job.  Meanwhile, colleagues more and more went to Ted with their problems.  Not being busy is a good way to get yourself axed
•  At the end of Season Two, Don, who is even allowed to work without a contract, is crucial to the company.  When he threatens to walk away the entire restructuring, with Duck as president, is re-done.  Like with anything, the bigger SC & Partners gets, the less important he, or any one individual, is
• Burt Cooper, the man without an office, willing to take his name off the firm for the sake of sanity, sits in the lobby still reading his newspaper, and wields enormous power.  
• Real power is knowing when you can give some up, at least superficially 
• Cooper still sits with his finger on the button to destroy Don at whatever moment is most convenient to him
• Loved  "Both Sides Now" at the end.  If only because it was on my dad's Folk Favorite's of the 60's and 70s'.   The point is, Don is trying now.
• We had the tapes, not these fancy CDs, and wore them all the way down
• Try to find a better mix of songs, you won't.
• I wish we didn't have to watch promos over the credits, and these songs could just play out, like on HBO.  

Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

Raw Data: In Care Of - Part 1

These are initial observations for Mad Men episode 6-13 "In Care Of."  This is the Season Six finale and is written by  and Matthew Weiner and Carly Wray who on IMDB is billed as "assistant to writers" for the previous twelve episodes this season.

The episode directed by.....Matthew Weiner! who has directed the season finale for each Mad Men season.

I'm going to do this one backwards, a write up first, and then some bullets and observations about the episode.  

All Don's terrible and selfish behavior catches up with him, effectively alienating everyone and everything (sound familiar?).  His wife is walking out the door.  His partners are pushing him out the door.  His daughter wants nothing to do with him.  Even his underlings at work have had it up to their eyeballs with him.

When he's asked to take a few month's leave, and not given a return date, we recall alcoholic Freddy Rusmen in "Six Months Leave" when  he steps into the cab and says "Goodbye Don" knowing his time off means time's up at the old Sterling Cooper.

With all the death imagery in the season premiere, and revisited again, I'm wondering if it refers to Don's career suicide, or at least the end of the life he's led as Don Draper.

The partners ambush Don, earlier than he is even though he's early (for once).  Last time Don wasn't "in the meeting before the meeting" Pete was going to Duck about Freddy Rumsen's alcoholism, and pushing him out.   Here, well, they push another creative type out the door.

Pete, whose indebted to Don for paying his share when the company was going under, and Ted, who is indebted to Don for allowing him the California opportunity, are not in the meeting, either not wanting to face Don or already on their way to the new office in Cali.  Roger, surprisingly, stands with the other partners.  Considering Joan's mere five percent share (at least, that's what Lane suggested she ask for), one would think if Roger had taken a stand against Cutler and Cooper it may have not been possible to push out Don.

Roger clearly didn't fight for Don.  He may have told Don the same thing he told Bert Peterson when he fired him..."No one fought for you."  We saw the converse when Bob Benson was highlighted and about to be deleted when Joan spoke up for him.  All of Don's savvy and con artistry couldn't allow him to continue to treat everyone and the business so poorly.  Bob Benson is the new con artist in the agency.

The creatives are scattered about, with Ted in California, Peggy holding down the fort in NYC and Don going who knows where.  No doubt the account men are relieved to search for one less mood lightener/topic changer every time Don brings up the Vietnam War/whorehouses/whatever with some huge client.  The fact they do as well as they do is a weekly source of amazement.  Had I sat there in Ken's seat, I'd be forced to break into "The Aristocrats" after every one of Don's weird dark lectures, or someone makes fun of 9/11. 
'
Don's stolen an identity.  He's stolen ideas ("The cure for the common breakfast") and he's stolen opportunities (California, from Stan).  Now, he's being honest.  For all of Don's lying and scheming and manipulation to get a foot in the door at the bottom to eventually build a top 30 advertising firm mainly on the back of his creative genius, it is ultimately his conscious about the war and his single most honest moment, in perhaps both his personal and professional life, that pushes him over the red line and out the door.  Don wants the product, at least this product, to remain pure and innocent, without advertising to obscure and manipulate it before it reaches the public.  It feels a bit like Holden Caulfield wanting to preserve the innocence of childhood.  And it's this honest moment that Roger directly questions "Was any of that even true?"

Much of the problems between Don and Megan were left unsaid this season.  But they talk about the chance to get back where they were with the move to California.  Before it falls through, Don has a civil phone conversation with Betty on the phone, with Megan right there, when he affectionately calls her "Birdie".  Betty tells him there that the good can't beat the bad.  (Did Megan have a similar line?  Re-checking this.  Maybe it was Megan who said it)  Maybe it's then that Don realizes, as much as he tries to run and get a fresh start to try to chase that ideal life he can't have, Don plus in the key and enacts the failsafe, putting those final events in motion to walk into the ocean, as foretold in his ad in "The Doorway".

After Don gives the spot to Ted, Megan drops "You want to be alone with your liquor, your ex-wife and your screwed-up kids" on him, though I'm not sure how much Don wants to be around his kids.  Don blase-ly talks about them being bi-coastal and seeing each other occasionally.  It's almost as if Don knew he could try to re-start the marriage in California, but then realized he didn't want to, and gave the opportunity to Ted as both a gesture of good will but as a way to completely sabotage the marriage because he wants to be better and it is easier to completely tear it down than try to rebuild. 

Upcoming Nonsense

Hey - Mad Men and Game of Thrones are both done until next year.  What the deuce are you going to write about?

I'm glad you asked.  On July 14, Newsroom returns to HBO for its second season, and Raw Data posts will begin in a non-"hate watching" fashion, as I sincerely enjoy the show.

Leading up to the premiere is as good a time as any to publish some posts I've been working on for a while regarding Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing and Newsroom, as well as part two of this post.

 Enjoy!

Showrunning

There's currently a debate in television blogs about showrunners, importance of.

An article from The New Republic, written as a reaction to this book and this book, as well as magazine pieces on showrunners, takes the position that showrunners are not to be (solely) credited with the current state of television, and producing responses such as this one and this one.

Showrunners are a curious concept if you think about it.  Here you have someone entrusted with huge budgets and productions, who is essentially an elevated writer.

Craig Fehrman takes issue with how far we've elevated showrunners when discussing shows, or even promoting them and implies that critics and fans do not acknowledge the collaborative effort it takes to produce quality television, as opposed to the sheer will of one man, or more recently, one woman.

Several points raised in the article:

• Using an example from Justfied to extrapolate on the group effort needed to create a memorable scene
• Pointing to higher ratings for Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels compared to Mad Men as proof showrunner turnover produces television just as well as deities like Matthew Weiner

June Thomas of Slate addresses the first point well, citing expediency as a driving factor

And, with some notable exceptions, critics do tend to underemphasize the director’s and cinematographer’s role in producing quality television. But Fehrman’s prescription—that critics consistently acknowledge the complicated interaction of actors, directors, writers, and editors behind every creative decision—is impractical. It’s like saying that reporters covering Google would get a more accurate picture of the way the company creates new products by talking to the engineers, designers, product managers, and marketers who work on them than they do by simply interviewing Sergey Brin or Larry Page. That’s undoubtedly so, but it isn’t obvious to me that it would be a better or more interesting story.

Regarding the second point, Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels have had five showrunners between them in the five combined seasons.  While Walking Dead is the highest rated drama on cable, Mad Men attracts the wealthiest audience in television, which helps drive up the cost of ads without increasing ratings.  And if ratings directly translate to quality, that is news to me. 

Also, Walking Dead suffered it's poorest quality season following Frank Darabont's abrupt departure.  While Glen Mazzara's capable hands took over the show, it did not feel like a smooth transition and took a while (until Season Three) for the show to regain its footing (and get off that farm).  It kind of goes to show that the position itself, whoever is in charge, is that important.

On the flip side, just as a creative and innovative showrunner can lead a successful show, a righteous and condescending showrunner can detract.  The misleading and condescending attitude of Veena Sud cannot be separated from the disappointing grief porno that is The Killing.*

* And that will be the last time we speak of that show

I admittedly follow the showrunners when I pick my shows and I read all the pieces out there interviewing them. My favorite weekly reading (when in season) is the Entertrainment Weekly post-mortem with creator/showrunner Graham Yost, and what I immediately thought of when Fehrman referenced the salt shaker scene. 

Yost, like David Milch and David Chase and David Simon, doesn't put his name on every script, but his fingerprints are always all over them.  Yost credits his crew to the fullest extent he can remember, because there are sometimes when they sincerely cannot remember who came up with an idea.

And isn't that part of being a showrunner?  Fehrman uses the collaborative effort, highlighting other well known well done "lesser" jobs like the cinematographer on Breaking Bad, to show that it doesn't all come from one person...but he undercuts himself because he's highlighted the capable people on staff who are hired by the showrunner and given the appropriate conditions to succeed.  Hiring smart people and listening to them is usually the mark of a good leader.

I often view showrunners like NFL head coaches, but with more control about a final outcome*.  A good head coach is going to higher capable assistants.  If he comes from a defensive background, he may rely more on his offensive coordinator.  If he is a players' coach he may need a position coach to be the disciplinarian.

* NFL coaches can't force their running back to not fumble at a critical time.  Showrunners can choose the exact timing and manner of a major plot point. 

Not unlike the hot assistant candidates for the new vacancies every year, showrunners often hold staff positions on successful shows before getting their own vehicle.  NFL coaching trees are always interesting, and the success of a particular unit often gets that coordinator attention for vacancies.  IN the 1950s, Jim Lee Howell hired Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry to be his offensive and defensive coordinators and played in three NFL championships. 

Glen Mazzara, mentioned earlier, was a writing on The Shield, whose creator had the foresight to hire both Mazzara and Kurt Sutter, who would go on to create Sons of Anarchy.

David Chase, hired both Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter* who run Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire.  More attention needs to be paid to a young writer he fired after being nominated for an Emmy with him, Todd Kessler.  After his firing, Todd and his brother Glenn created Damages.

* Martin Scorsese is a producer on Boardwalk.  Winter wrote the script for Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street which features another good match of Leonardo Dicaprio playing a Rich Guy to the tune of Kanye West music  These are all awesome things.

 Did you like Friday Night Lights?  You may like Jason Katims other show, Parenthood.

Enjoy Spielberg's Band of Brothers?  Writer Graham Yost created Justifed.  Enjoy Justified?  Try Graham Yost's new show (though less involved with) The Americans.

Basically, having information about showrunners and their pedigree is the best way to find shows you'll enjoy.

Homage

In talking about Game of Thrones' "Rains of Castemere", I mentioned the brutal violence and how shocking it was.  The only thing I could compare it to or late was a Justified scene with Constable Bob.

Graham Yost, in my favorite show re-cap article, explained the Constable Bob scene was inspired by a Quentin Tarantino movie, True Romance. 

Here's the brutal, brutal scene. 

I hope folks are digging out their dvds or logging onto HBO Go and re-watching Sopranos.

James Gandolfini will be missed.