How the 'West' Was Undone

Image credit: The West Wing: Marcia Reed

LOSING ITS SHEEN ''The West Wing'' hasn't given President Bartlet a worthy, interesting opponent this season

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President Josiah Bartlet may have cleaned his opponent's clock in their only election debate last week on ''The West Wing,'' but you can hardly call the Nobel Prize-winning, Latin-speaking history-buff Prez (Martin Sheen) versus silver-haired-smuggie Florida governor Robert Ritchie (embodied by James Brolin) an even match. Just think of the way these two actors resonate in our pop-culture memories: ''Apocalypse Now'' versus ''Pensacola: Wings of Gold.'' That's practically a fixed fight for a pugnacious dramatist like ''Wing'' creator Aaron Sorkin, who says that the key to his drama is ''intention and obstacle...what does a character want, what's stopping him from getting it.'' That tension wasn't present at the debate, and the lopsided win for Bartlet lacked conflict or suspense.

The same could be said for the new season of ''The West Wing,'' and the numbers suggest I'm not alone in feeling this way. Ratings for a series that briefly helped shape our notion of an idealized presidency have dropped more than 20 percent since last season. Among young women that figure is closer to 30 percent, and among viewers ages 18 to 49, ''Wing'' has been beaten frequently by ABC's night-of-wine-and-roses kitsch, ''The Bachelor.''

By many crucial measures, ''The West Wing'' should be in its prime. In September, Sorkin wrested the best-drama Emmy from ''Six Feet Under'' creator Alan Ball's cold, live hands (according to the oddsmakers, the two shows were the clear frontrunners). And ''The West Wing'' -- just four seasons old -- still has a vocal fan base that relishes the walk 'n' talk byplay provided by actors like Sheen, Allison Janney, and John Spencer. Audience erosion this severe doesn't usually occur until later in a program's life.

In talking to EW about their show, however, Sorkin and executive producer John Wells seem optimistic and above it all. Wells insists, ''Our core audience hasn't gone anywhere.'' Still, when asked what that core audience is, Sorkin says, ''I don't know [and] we don't care. The demographic[s] are important only between the advertisers and the network.... 'West Wing' is getting 15 to 16 million viewers [a week], and that is a very satisfying audience. Whether they're 22-year-old women or 52-year-old men, it couldn't make less of a difference to me.''

But for a guy unconcerned about demos, Sorkin sure can rattle 'em off: ''A lot of our audience is made up of people who make $75,000 a year or more, and who have a college education or beyond.'' He pauses, then says, ''And that would be fine, except that they don't know how to program VCRs, and that's why we've run into some of the [ratings] difficulties.''

Sorkin and Wells acknowledge that time-period competitors ''The Bachelor,'' ''The Amazing Race,'' ''Fastlane,'' and ''Birds of Prey'' are capturing some of those 18-49 viewers who used to nest with President Bartlet. But, argues Wells, ''those other shows are all focused on that 18-to-34-year-old audience. That's a real bloodbath.''

There may be some truth to that, but sorry, John, the bigger problems facing ''The West Wing'' can be summed up like this:

The show has too many characters. Why can't Stockard Channing -- First Lady Abbey -- do more than stump around the Oval Office in Hillary Clinton-sensible pumps? If Ron Silver has so little to do in his recurring campaign-strategist role that he recently cohosted CNN's ''Crossfire,'' why not can him? Can't aide Dulé Hill function as more than a strict sponsor for a troubled kid? When was the last time Adam Arkin made it past White House security as presidential therapist Dr. Stanley Keyworth? And where have you gone, Vice President Tim Matheson? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo-woo-woo.

Add Lily Tomlin to this crowded administration as Bartlet's new secretary (her leftist politics are equated with flakiness), or Christian Slater's imminent arrival as a naval officer assigned to the White House, and the Oval Office looks like the stateroom scene in the Marx Brothers' ''A Night at the Opera,'' with everyone trying to squeeze in some face time.