Remember what I wrote yesterday, about the “NO ER” signs for John Wells?

Not joking. I may make some myself and mail them.

Not to knock ER. I went through periods of semi-regular viewing. It had its moments of compelling drama. But it was never appointment television for me. It was always a little too melodramatic, a little too soap-ish.

As I was watching the season premiere of The West Wing last night, I found myself thinking, “Well, that’s a little over-the-top.” “That’s kind of heavy-handed.” “That’s sort of manipulative.”

Not that Sorkin wasn’t occasionally heavy-handed and manipulative, but I never *thought* it while I was watching. He had a way of doing it, even when he was preaching on his commie pinko soapbox, that made you want to laugh and cry and stand up and sing “God Bless America.”

Josh and Donna ‘shippers were appeased with a few moments of sincere emotion, played beautifully by Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney. But other than that? I can’t help but feel that the show’s heart is gone. The humor has been sucked dry. The optimism, the idealism that I loved so much about it, is gone. The complexities, the nuances of the writing, are gone.

The only thing that keeps me watching at all is the fact that this cast could stand in room and read the dictionary and I’d still want to watch. But I’m not entirely convinced that NBC shouldn’t have just packed it in when Sorkin left and let us have had 4 very, very good years. But this show used to have heart, and that’s what made it so good.

I’m going to go watch my Season 1 DVDs and weep softly to myself.