The 7th season of The West Wing is scheduled to start this Sunday at 8pm.  If you’re not a regular viewer of the show, this would be the season to start.  It’s a multi-Emmy-winning drama about the Office of the President from Aaron Arkin (think “Sports Night”, but in the White House).  The show’s leads are played by previously-unknown actors, including John “Turn Your Key” Spencer and Janel “Sounds like bologna” Moloney.  The cast is anchored by Martin Sheen, who plays democratic president Josiah Bartlet.  The season one finale was easily the best cliffhanger ever made, and throughout the first five seasons, the show has consistently remained one of the best shows on TV (which isn’t saying much, but it’s a good show).

If you ARE a regular of the show, then you know how bad season six sucked.  Crippling your lead character with MS?  At least take him out in an Air Force One crash!  I mean, I like the guy, but even the best writers can’t keep a president onboard for more than 8 years.  And what’s with filming the ENTIRE SEASON on the campaign trail?  THREE democratic candidates?  Leo having a heart attack was at least interesting, but there was otherwise no compulsion to the season; nothing that happened last year made you care.

The only beacon of hope for the once high-flying show is that season 7 will completely reset the cast.  Season 6 made it glaringly obvious that the current ensemble can’t carry the show without Sheen.  New administrations always bring in their own staffers, so it would be only natural to bring on a new crew.

At this point it goes without saying that the season 7 cliffhanger will be the announcement of the new president.  Expect one party to win by a landslide, except … wait!  What’s this??  A POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH THE ELECTION?  MAYBE THE RESULTS AREN’T WHAT WE THOUGHT!  BECAUSE THERE WAS A POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH THE ELECTION!  THAT MEANS THE RESULTS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT!  OMGOMGOMG!

My bets?  I’m rooting for Arnold Vinick, a republican senator played by Alan Alda.  Political statements aside, he’s the only character that’s the least bit interesting.  The democratic hopeful is senator Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits (of NYPD Blue fame).  Smits’ character on West Wing is more or less the exact opposite of his NYPD character:  awkward, poorly-spoken, and not the least bit political.

In fact, the only good scene in season 7 was when Vinick was defending Bartlet at a press conference:

Cut to Senator Vinick giving a speech in a park in Santa Monica. We’re at the end of the speech where the crowd’s clapping & he’s thanking them. Then the press close in. Reporter #3 asks if he thinks he’s conservative enough to get the Republican nomination. He thinks he’s Republican enough. Reporter #4 asks if he thinks Bartlet should find out if an American flag was burned in the WH. He says no. A note says the reporters weren’t ready for a politician to give simple & direct answers. Reporter #4 asks if his committee will look into the flag-burning incident. He says no. He accepts Bartlet’s statement that it was a private party & he doesn’t think they need to know anything more about it.

Cut to Donna entering Josh’s office to see if he’s watching this on TV. She sees him watching, “riveted to Vinick, amazed at his public defense of Bartlet”. Donna stays & watches. Reporter #5 asks if the people have a right to know about the incident. Vinick says the people have the right to know about the President’s position on issues & what he thinks he thinks about the govt, but they don’t have the right to know what happened at his daughter’s birthday party. Reporter #5’s about to argue that if the flag was burned in the WH…Vinick interrupts, saying he wasn’t there. From what he’s heard, though, it’s the perfect demonstration of what Bartlet’s flying halfway round the world to teach the Chinese govt — “the meaning of freedom”. He says it’s a good thing P&T didn’t do that in Tiananmen Square w/ a Chinese flag wrapped around the Chinese Bill of Rights, because they don’t have a Bill of Rights. Reporters start shouting Vinick’s name. We cut to Donna, who says to Josh, “Okay, you’ve got a year to try to talk me out of voting for him”.

(P&T = Penn & Teller, who earlier in the season “burned” an American flag wrapped in a copy of the Bill of Rights while entertaining at Bartlet’s daughter’s birthday party)

It might be a decent season after all.