Commander in Chief struggles to find audience

I confess I prefer to watch The West Wing over Commander in Chief. TWW has had consistently better writing, finer actors, and better direction. That said, ABC would be foolish to cancel CiC after this season. TWW is, despite the recent resurgence of the show, going away in just a few episodes. Those hungry for political drama mixed with the personal will seek out CiC and give it one more chance. So CiC had better be ready.

My recipe, less Everwood more wit and political drama. The subterfuge storylines, where the audience is left out of the loop for some of the key story elements until the very end, work well on both CiC and TWW (see this weeks epy). Donald Sutherland’s character is at his best when you understand his motivations and can place them with in the current political landscape. Geena Davis commands the screen and every scene she is in plays so well. Also, the camera hasn’t visited the High School campus in a few episodes and that is just fine with me (I don’t think CiC is ever going to win in the 18-24 year old category, so stop trying).

CiC has developed a fan base. Nurture that and send some writers to those forums to participate (a la LOST). This served TWW well in its first few seasons.

Hopefully CiC will be around for at least a few more years and the country will get to see what having a strong woman leader could be like. How about Meg Whitman for President.