It was fun while it lasted

Commander in Chief has been axed. This was to be expected, given its sagging ratings in the US (and also here, where it is now below a million viewers a week) and its deeply formulaic nature, but nonetheless I've enjoyed it while it lasted.

Many will leap to point out that CIC is not half the show that The West Wing is, and they are probably right. Never having watched TWW, I have to rely on the reviews and opinions from people I know who suggest it is a genuinely clever, quality drama series.

CIC was not. It was fluff. But it was my fluff. For some reason, I found the adventures of Mackenzie Allan, the independent Vice President thrust into being the first woman President by the death of her Republican running mate, compulsive viewing.

There were many, many flaws: the ridiculous premise, the fact that the views and actions of President Allan were far to the left of the Democrats but yet she had run with Republicans and her strategy for re-election was to win as a moderate, and, most of all, the fact that she bloody wins every week. However, CIC felt like a drop of Hollywood optimism (albeit misguided) in a storm of depressing reality.It was pretty easy to feel a bit of love for a President who angsted over women being stoned to death for adultery in Nigeria. OK, and her son being seriously HOT didn't hurt.

There are three more episodes airing in the US and then maybe a telemovie. This means it will still air for most of the rest of the year in Oz (unless its ratings *really* sag), but there's still not a lot of chance of ever seeing 'Mack' fight a Presidential election, the one thing that would really have been worth waiting to see.

Farewell CIC, we hardly knew ye.

PS. This site, which reads as though its a political blog about a real political leader, is craptacular. Hilariously, the yes vote is winning the poll of whether Mackenzie should step down by a significant margin.
PPS. Australian TV might not have aired the episodes (I'm of course getting my CIC fix on itunes) where Mark-Paul Gosselaar (aka. Zack from Saved By the Bell) joins the cast, but he's a definite bonus.