Commander in Chief

Commander in Chief

Obsession Level: I Actually Don't Mind Politics 

When I first heard about Commander in Chief it had been out and cancelled for about 8 years.  Yep, I'm way behind on television.  Anyway, it came on at a time in my life when I never, ever had time to watch.  

So, I found mention of the show while doing a search to see what I had missed by one of my already mentioned obsessions, Geena Davis.  I wasn't too enthusiastic about the idea of the show at first.  Not that I have anything against the plot of the show, but I just don't really care much for "political" shows.  I tend to lose interest quickly.  Still, it was Geena Davis, and she was president, so I got the first (and unfortunately only) season for Christmas.

When I first started watching the show I have to admit that it took me a little time to get into it.  I think that's mostly owing to the fact that, like I said before, I just don't really care too much for political shows.  Still, the show was a little catchy and I had a lot of time to kill (I was on vacation and had no intention of doing anything productive) so I went on one of my marathon television viewing experiences and watched all the episodes in probably three or so days.  

By the time that I finished the season, I was hooked.  I absolutely LOVED the show!  I loved everything about it.  I loved the characters, I thought the plot was captivating, and I was totally involved with it.  I was actually not minding politics at the time and was even considering going in search of some other similar television show (which I never did, but it's possible that I will in the future.  The West Wing, maybe?)

So let's talk about the show and the characters.  Mackenzie Allen is a great president.  In fact, I've recently been rewatching the show with a friend of mine who is not a Geena Davis fan in the slightest (so that you know I'm not just biased by my blind obsession), and she turned to me several episodes in and said "You know...I think I'm actually starting to like Geena Davis as president."  What followed was a joking conversation about writing Mackenzie Allen in as president in the upcoming election.  We're both convinced she'd be a great candidate.  

Then there's her husband, Rod.  He is very disagreeable.  He doesn't seem to get along with anyone and their relationship seems strained the entire time they're married.  He's not exactly my favorite.  

Nathan Templeton is a sneaky, sinister character.  Things you'll notice right off about him (other than his abnormally unruly eyebrows) are that he seems to be eating eggs at least once in every episode (while wearing a bib...?) and he apparently spends all day, everyday, watching television and plotting.

Jim, although a character that I like, is humorous because he ALWAYS looks likes he's concentrating really hard.  Kelli seems a little dingy, but she holds everything together.  The kids are fine, except the teenage daughter.  She's a drama queen and I'd have probably slapped her on a daily basis if I had to live with her.

All jokes aside, the cast is pretty good.

The worst thing about this show is that it only ran for one season.  I know that there was some kind of scheduling problem with the second season that put it at some really random time frame (11:00 p.m., I think) that caused viewers not to watch it (because they had to work the next day, probably) and so the show was cancelled before the second season got going.  That's disappointing since it really was a good show and it was certainly something I could have enjoyed for a few more seasons.  The only other annoying thing about the show (and this is nit-picky) is that each episode opens with "previously viewed scenes" that take far too much time, and then the opening theme doesn't actually appear until 9-12 minutes into the show.  I just feel like that's a really random place to put the opening theme since you've already been watching for a significant amount of time before they even tell you what you're watching!

All in all it's a good show and I recommend it to anyone looking for a one season show (18 episodes...so about 16 hours worth of viewing pleasure).  I'd also recommend it to anyone who likes political sitcoms, and of course to anyone who loves Geena!