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American Morning

Washington Insiders Have Become Hot Commodity in Primetime Television

Aired March 26, 2002 - 07:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: From "The West Wing" to the CIA to the Supreme Court, Washington insiders have become a hot commodity in primetime television. Now there was a time when shows about politics and government were considered ratings suicide. Well now the TV power brokers see a beltway bonanza.

In this week's "TIME" magazine, James Poniewozik writes about this new capital gang, and he joins us now -- thanks for being with us.

JAMES PONIEWOZIK, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thank you.

COOPER: There's a whole slew of these shows. There's "The American Embassy," I think, on FOX; "The Court," "First Monday," "Alias," "The Agency."

PONIEWOZIK: Right.

COOPER: Is this about a surge of patriotism, or is it simply Hollywood trying to mimic the success of "West Wing?"

PONIEWOZIK: Well it's a little bit of each. The fact that a lot of these shows on the air certainly owes a lot to "The West Wing." Television development is glacial, and so, you know, a lot of these programs were really in the works before the war, before 9-11.

COOPER: But has 9-11 had a big impact on the way they were shaped?

PONIEWOZIK: Yeah, definitely. It certainly shows up in terms of their tone. In some cases, it has even changed the whole focus direction. And in the case of "American Embassy," the titles of the shows.

COOPER: Well "American Embassy" was originally going to focus on just one of the female characters.

PONIEWOZIK: Yes, it was originally called "Emma Brody," (ph) and it was this sort of typical young woman coming-of-age story about her life and loves and romances. And it was sort of described as "Ally McBeal" goes to London, focusing on a young woman from America who goes to work in the American Embassy in London. After 9-11, the producers decided that the whole idea of, you know, a young person's self-involvement didn't really wash as well, particularly in that environment.

And so they changed the title; they changed the focus to be more on the work of diplomats overseas. Rolled out all these ads that, you know, essentially made it look like the West Wing II. And now you have what you have today, which is a more sort of serious edged (UNINTELLIGIBLE) government show.

COOPER: And they really draped the show in the American flag.

PONIEWOZIK: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was - you know, there was everything except an eagle flying across the screen in the new ads for it.

COOPER: What's the subtext of these shows? I mean, the characters seem, as you point out in your article, to be outsiders against the system, against the bureaucracy.

PONIEWOZIK: Exactly. The interesting thing about a lot of these shows is that on the one hand, they appeal to people's sense of idealism and wanting good and effectiveness from government. On the other hand, they also have to appeal to people's long-standing prejudices about government, which, you know, is part of the reason that people always thought that government shows would not succeed.

COOPER: Right.

PONIEWOZIK: So, generally they tend to cast an outsider, somebody from outside the beltway. A commonsensical pragmatist who goes up against the forces of the way things have always been done.

COOPER: We're showing a clip from "The Agency." After 9-11, they got a new CIA director in "The Agency," right?

PONIEWOZIK: Right, exactly. They got a new CIA director. They actually added a director of homeland security. They are very mirroring -- and, obviously, they take liberties with the characters, these are fictional people. But they certainly, of all the CIA shows on the air, have taken the most pains to try and take you inside how the agency works and to really, you now, rip news from the headlines today.

COOPER: What are the politics of these shows? I mean, we know with "West Wing," Aaron Sorkin, the executive producer, a very outspoken democrat -- are these shows highly politicized?

PONIEWOZIK: No. And it's a very interesting thing. "The West Wing" has never made any secret of its politics, or, specifically, its characters' politics. It's a democratic show inside a democratic administration. Most of the new shows that we're seeing, the court shows, for example, are very apolitical. There are some politics among their characters, but they very sort of cannily focus on middle of the road justices who have just joined the court and serve sort of as swing boats in "The Court," which is starting on ABC tonight.

COOPER: With Sally Field. PONIEWOZIK: Starring Sally Field. It's -- in the first couple of episodes that I've seen, it's almost kind of the David Souter of government shows, in that it plays its political cards very close to its chest. You don't really know much about her, her votes, her leanings.

COOPER: Right.

PONIEWOZIK: She's a new person to the court. And, in fact, she was a governor, not a judge, beforehand. And this serves two purposes. Number one, it gives everyone of any political strife someone to identify, and it also avoids the danger of political shows, which is alienating half your audience by seeming to swing too far one way.

COOPER: Well, also, I don't think the Supreme Court has as many good-looking clerks as are working on "The Court" and "First Monday." They're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in good-looking people.

PONIEWOZIK: Yeah. I'm sure many more people will be signing up for those jobs, now that we've seen this.

COOPER: All right. The article is in this week's "TIME." James Poniewozik, thanks very much for being with us.

PONIEWOZIK: Thanks a lot, Anderson.

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