Commander in Chief ongoing thread (1 Viewer)

Not sure what I expected, but it was a little predictable in getting Mac into the presidency after some attempts to talk her into resigning her V.Presidency to maintain the Presidency's mandate.

Mac's speech at the end was pretty good, albeit highly idealistic, but I expect it to get messy for Mac given the obstacles she will face on a daily basis w/r/t other world leaders and world cultures and political climate.

There seemed to be an insane number of commercials, or is that typical for such fare?

I agree and most especially for a pilot. In the second half-hour alone, I counted 3(!) local breaks. Overall, the show was okay. I will give it another couple of weeks to see how they stir the broth. The First "Lady" stuff was semi-humorous, if only as a one-shot. I thought the performances by Davis and Sutherland were good and it is obvious that a fair amount of budget has been devoted to this project.

Didn't do much for me.

This is a series that, fairly or not, will be compared to The West Wing and I don't think it holds up well even next to the post-Sorkin years.

Davis's character just doesn't have the presence that Martin Sheen brought to Bartlett and her relationship with Kyle Secor just doesn't have anything like the spark that exists between Sheen has with Stockard Channing.

As much as I like Geena Davis going back to her Buffalo Bill days in 1983-84, and the appealing concept of a woman who becomes President of the U.S. Commander in Chief was WEAK. The writing was sloppy, the acting and direction uninspired, and the the film editing was choppy. Too many events covered in a short span of time gives this series little credibility.

Geena doesn't seem to be aging that well either, but I can't hold that against her.

Bottom line_____This is no West Wing. ABC picked a loser for certain.

Zap2it overnights suggest otherwise. Commander In Chief scored a 10.9/16 and captured the night's biggest audience. ABC also won the night. The next couple of weeks will tell the tale. If there is a huge drop-off next Tuesday then we'll know that lots of people sampled, but didn't like what they saw. I fear that may be the case...

Geena doesn't look too bad for a 49 year old woman has given birth to three children over the last four years including twins.






Crawdaddy

I sure wouldn't throw her out of bed for eating crackers.

I have to agree with Jeff. I was expecting more, but it WILL be compared to West Wing. The writing isn't there. The legal part in regard to how long it took her to get sworn is is also pretty bad. From what I understand if the president is going under or incapacitated the VP automatically takes control and is sworn in. It took WAYYYY to long to get there. Basically the US was without leadership for the many hours.

I sampled and I thought it had potenitial. There were sparks for me when Donald Sutherland was chiding Geena Davis to get her to resign as VP. That was pretty ugly of Sutherland's character.

Kind of distracting that this show, as do some, take footage from films. This show had all the exterior Air Force One shots from the Harrison Ford film, Air Force One.

I also saw it as a potential barometer for the current political climate. But I never saw West Wing, so maybe they already do that.

With the President incapacitated, the VP would assume the powers of the presidency as Acting President under the 25th Amendment, but I don't think she would actually be sworn in as president until the President actually died or was removed from office.

I don't recall if John Goodman was ever actually sworn in on The West Wing when he took over, but my reading of the 25th amendment suggests that the ceremony wouldn't be necessary. The only requirement is that the speaker and President pro tempore of the Senate be informed that the President is unable to discharge his duties. Once that happens, the VP is Acting President.

Edit and Correction: I guess Article II does require anyone acting as President to be sworn in.

But are they "acting as President" or are they the Acting President? For example, I doubt Cheney was sworn in for the two hours that he was Acting President. He was still the Vice President -- section 3 of the 25th Amendment makes that pretty clear.

Back to the show, the country was not without leadership. Allen clearly had no problem moving around naval assets, and the Joint Chiefs complied without question. (The Chairman almost seemed happy.)

Didn't that part happen after Allen had become President?

No she moved the fleet around while the President was under the knife and she was the acting President.

As for the delay, it was realistic. Once the President was out of recovery and in the hospital he wasn't automatically out of office just because he was impaired.

His speech about not resigning until she resigned was a bit over the top. She could have easily moved to have him removed but that is a messy process.

Overall I liked the show and will be giving it another viewing.

I was really looking forward to this show. I'm a big fan of Geena Davis (nice to see her working again ) and I really liked The Contender. The pilot was good. It was promising, I thought. It had a lot to set up as the first hour of the series; we had to understand Allen's vice-presidency, as well as her new position. It really needed to be a two-hour pilot, as it was it seemed hurried and cluttered, but I'll definately watch it again. I really liked Geena Davis, she has a real presence, and anyone who thinks she's aging badly is mad (mad, I tell you!). Donald Sutherland was good, too; the scene with the two of them was the best in the show (easily the worst is the stuff with the kids...). Sutherland's not mentioned in the opening credits, but in the end credits it says "starring Donald Sutherland." Is he a regular, a semi-regular, is it a "special guest star Heather Locklear" kind of thing where he's going to be there every episode with special credit? I hope he's there a lot. I like the way those two characters interact.

Considering Sutherland's character is the Speaker, I would assume he's going to be a nice big thorn in Mac's side throughout his term(s).

I liked it more than I thought I would. I've never seen 'West Wing', so that might help. I'm not a real Geena Davis fan either, but so far, it looks like she will be able to hold her own, and make this work.

The First Lady thing cracked me up multiple times. I can't wait for him to correct her and say - it's First Gentleman now, got it?

And whoever that Secretary of Labor guy was that quit has got to be nuts. Who is going to hire him now? I sure wouldn't. However, thinking about this several months ago, I could see several military officers resigning their commissions for personal reasons.

I was hoping that she'd get the news, and announce it, about the 'rescue' of the ho in Africa.

I'm hoping this makes it. Screw 'West Wing'!

Glenn

Actually enjoyed the first ep. cheese an all

Why not? As long as you're not allergic to people talking (and repeating) a lot, often while walking; fairly dim lighting; or to overtly liberal-ish policy positions, the first few seasons are excellent.

It is simple, Ken, it was just on at the wrong time.

Glenn