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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
10
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
Oct 22, 2020
Season 1 Review:
It plays immaculately. Some of the appreciation for this special can be chalked up to nostalgia – for the show and its idealism about public service; for a simpler, comparatively chaos-free time in American politics – but this “West Wing” special also delivers a patriotic balm with entertaining calls to vote, delivered with clever word play, that substitute for commercials.
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Oct 15, 2020
Season 1 Review:
These act-break moments could have played cheesy (as one segment with Rob Lowe and Allison Janney teeters toward), but the special always stays on the right side of being a Very Special Episode. That’s in large part because Sorkin and Schlamme allow the meat of special—“Hartsfield Landing”—to remain sacrosanct. ... While some of [the actors] may have more gray hair and age lines, they all effortlessly step back into their roles as if it were 18 years ago.
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RogerEbert.comOct 19, 2020
Season 1 Review:
What these hypothetical viewers will see is a group of skilled performers telling a reasonably engaging story, and a group of committed citizens speaking to them frankly and with warmth and humor about the reality of this election. But the people who are most likely to watch ... “Hartsfield Landing” is undeniably theatrical, more “Our Town” than “E.R.” It’s not an attempt to make a typical episode of television, and in abandoning such a fruitless pursuit, they create something truly beautiful.
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Oct 16, 2020
Season 1 Review:
Between those high production values and Whitford’s sober introduction, The West Wing special immediately defused a lot of my cynicism. There’s no doubting how passionate this cast is about performing together. ... It is competence porn. This is what The West Wing has to offer in the moment of Trump: the idea of our big, scary world stewarded by an old man you can trust. It’s not about politics; it’s about having someone to tuck you in at night.
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Oct 16, 2020
Season 1 Review:
Sorkin and his crew and cast took seriously the task of making something beautiful in between the PSAs, which were themselves entertaining, in an often cheeky way. ... The theatricality of this special staging, the suggestive spareness of the decor — door frames give the actors something to “walk and talk” through — along with the ornate empty theater and the pinpoint lighting give the performance a ceremonial feeling that supports such a direct approach and a ritual energy suitable to the subject.
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The Daily BeastOct 15, 2020
Season 1 Review:
An elegantly staged reading of the standout episode “Hartsfield’s Landing.” ... Part nostalgic reunion, part COVID-production triumph, and part rudimentary celebrity PSA, the special boasted more gravitas than usual, as far as these things go. It also suffered the same exasperated whiff of “what’s the point” that all similar efforts battle in today’s whirlpool news cycle. ... But for an hour, at least, it was nice to cozy up with.
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Oct 15, 2020
Season 1 Review:
[Director Thomas] Schlamme did his best impression of original "Hartfield's Landing" director Vincent Misiano doing an impression of Thomas Schlamme, using editing and immaculate stagecraft to simulate the episode with the dual impediments/restrictions of COVID-19 precautions and the stage at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. ... All the actors slid back into their roles naturally, as if no time had passed.
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Oct 15, 2020
Season 1 Review:
So many words, words upon words, the effluence of the dialogue being the show’s draw, as well as one of its drawbacks. What sounded so glidingly lyrical back then verges on the ridiculous and grating now, unless, of course, you have too much invested in “The West Wing’s” idealized Washington. ... The best parts are the interstitial breaks, taking up an additional 20 minutes, which feature Sorkinesque banter between cast members in the form of get-out-the-vote messages.
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