Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
A few weeks ago, I did something embarrassing. Instead of binge-watching all of House of Cards season four in one weekend — like a good, cool, “with it,” pop culture pundit and entertainment journalist should do — I blissfully burned through a bunch of episodes from season one of The West Wing. Why did I choose Jeb Bartlet and his staff of dreamers over the increasingly seedy dealings of Frank Underwood? Because, quite frankly, I think The West Wing makes for a better binge-watch than Netflix’s flagship political drama.
I realize this statement makes no sense. Netflix is the home of binge-watching. The streaming service may not have created the concept, but they certainly offered the means to proliferate its rise. Its entire library of original content is carefully designed to be binged. And yet, when it comes down to it, it is 100% easier and more fun to binge-watch a classic late ’90s/early ’00s show like The West Wing than it is to watch House of Cards.
Because it belonged to an earlier, simpler, network-run time, The West Wing has a style that seems warm and fuzzy and comforting in comparison to contemporary television. I know! It seems ridiculous that an Aaron Sorkin show could be considered cozy, but when you compare the golden glow of The West Wing‘s sets to the stark and shadow-covered Washington D.C. of House of Cards, the difference is clear. Narratively speaking, each episode of The West Wing presents an open/shut story in 45 minutes or less. Yes, there are season-long narrative arcs, but the show was designed to appeal to people who might tune in at random on a weekday night. You might think this would detract from binge-watching, but it actually feels so neat and tidy that it’s alluring. Here’s the kicker: The West Wing is a very intelligent show about politics, but it’s also a soap about people who work together and like each other. You get pulled into their lives, drawn into their friendships, and get pumped for every “will they, won’t they” flirtation. The show is fun. The show is sweet. The show gives one actual hope about our American democratic process. All this means that it is very easy to waste four hours on five hours of The West Wing.
Now, this isn’t to say that House of Cards doesn’t have The West Wing beat in certain other areas. Netflix produces much shorter seasons than the networks do. So, what’s easier to justify binge-watching? 13 new episodes of House of Cards or 156 episodes of The West Wing? And what’s the pay off of watching The West Wing anyway? When you keep up with House of Cards, you have the means to stay atop trendy cocktail hour conversations. You’re up on the drama, aware of the plot twists, and can offer salient opinions on all things Underwood. And it is a good show! It’s just not the first thing I think most of us want to dive into after an exhausting week of dealing with the real world.
The choice way come down to taste, but it also comes down to zeitgeist. The differences between the two shows — and the viewing experiences they offer — only serve to highlight how binge-watching has transformed in recent years. It used to be a borderline shameful pursuit. You didn’t want the world to know that you had spent all weekend on your couch marathoning a show. Now, getting through an entire new season of a Netflix show before your friends do gives you bragging rights. Devouring content has evolved from a private past-time to a trend-setting statement. The West Wing is a relic of that older culture. It goes down easier because it comes from a time when television wasn’t seen as high art. It was popular entertainment and therefore it feels like such. The West Wing was designed to provoke thought, but in the guise of entertainment. House of Cards provides pulpy entertainment with a highbrow gloss.
Even so, thanks to Netflix, you can binge-watch all of The West Wing in 2016. And because streaming has created a culture obsessed with breaking down television shows, The West Wing might be on the verge of a Renaissance. It was just announced that Joshua Malina (who appeared on the last four seasons of the Sorkin show) is launching a weekly podcast to break down each and every episode of the series. So maybe binge-watching The West Wing for the sheer enjoyment of it isn’t such a fool’s errand after all.
[Watch The West Wing on Netflix]
[Watch House of Cards on Netflix]
[Photos: Everett Collection, Netflix]
