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I read in Variety that a revival of the long running show, The West Wing, is in the works. Everyone remembers the old series, which started in the 1990s during the administration of a former southern governor named Bill Clinton and ended during the administration of another former southern governor named George Bush. The series is best remembered, not only about the depiction of scandal and sex during the earlier seasons, but of the “War on Terror” story arc that started during the special two hour premier of the 2001-2002 season.

The premise of the new The West Wing seems to concern the election of the first African American President. That’s not entirely original as it was already depicted in 24. But the twist seems to be that the character is going to go by the name of Barack Obama, will be the product of a brief mixed race marriage between a white female college student and a Kenyan ne’er do well in the 1960s, be a short term Illinois Senator with somewhat dubious associations, and will have pretty far left views.

The revival will take place in January with a two hour episode depicting the campaign in which this Senator Obama will beat out a war hero candidate named John McCain. There will be several characters returning from the old series, I’m told, and Denzel Washington is up for the main role.

One question. Give the premise, has the revival of The West Wing jumped the shark from the very start?
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