I never watched this show in its first run. That is an honest disclosure. My review, based on watching it on Netflix without commercials and in serial succession, will probably reflect a different experience from the weekly viewers'. Fair is fair.
The cast and its ensemble rapport are stunning and addictive. The roles are beautifully crafted by the actors and writers. The hopping pace, Mamet-like, is riveting and intelligent. That's the good stuff.
The problem I have with the show is its relentlessly pro-religious and superficially Liberal bias. It scans like propaganda much of the time. The political correctness of almost every episode is not only unrealistic. It borders on lock-step conformist bullying, wrapped in a subtle package of quips, winks and nods.
It does not surprise me that the Republicans rose to power throughout this show's popularity. Perhaps this is the subconscious balance of the popular mind when faced with dictated complacency in the face of a Centrist Liberal propaganda. Then there's the other thing: Martin Sheen is so much more George Bush than Al Gore in style and appearance. Who knows what effect that also had on the 2000 and 2004 elections?
The cast and its ensemble rapport are stunning and addictive. The roles are beautifully crafted by the actors and writers. The hopping pace, Mamet-like, is riveting and intelligent. That's the good stuff.
The problem I have with the show is its relentlessly pro-religious and superficially Liberal bias. It scans like propaganda much of the time. The political correctness of almost every episode is not only unrealistic. It borders on lock-step conformist bullying, wrapped in a subtle package of quips, winks and nods.
It does not surprise me that the Republicans rose to power throughout this show's popularity. Perhaps this is the subconscious balance of the popular mind when faced with dictated complacency in the face of a Centrist Liberal propaganda. Then there's the other thing: Martin Sheen is so much more George Bush than Al Gore in style and appearance. Who knows what effect that also had on the 2000 and 2004 elections?