I don’t get crushes on celebrities very often. I don’t even find them particularly useful for eye candy purposes. How attractive I find a person has more to do with personality and interests, so just flipping through Entertainment Weekly and ogling Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling does zero to nothing for me. I think Louis CK and Jon Stewart are way hotter than either of those two.
But this. This man here. John Gallagher Jr. from Newsroom.
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
It definitely has a lot to do with his character’s personality— smart, sharp, engaged, but adorably awkward and funny. But it’s also just him. I’m done. Hooked. He’s so fucking sexy. Just look at that smile, the boyish face, the tousled hair. Unf. I thought I’d get into Newsroom because I’m into politics and news and civic culture and because Aaron Sorkin writes that stuff so well. But if this John Gallagher fellow was on Dora the fuckin Explorer I’d watch it.
This show was the cause of so much childhood drama. I LOVED IT. I watched it religiously. Until the 5th grade, when my mother started working full-time and I went to an after school daycare program from the time school let out til around 6 p.m., when she would pick me up. Well, the other fuckwad kids there were too afraid to watch it and would throw fucking tantrums if I tried turning it on, so the babysitters wouldn’t let me. We fought for months over it. Eventually I convinced them to let me watch it alone in their private offices, which ended up being even better because I could pull down the shades and turn off the lights.
The West Wing Season 3, Episode 20: We Killed Yamamoto
Leo McGarry: Toby, an encouraging word from you to Sam wouldn't be totally out-of-line.
Toby Ziegler: Sam doesn't need to be patronized. He'll shake it off.
Leo McGarry: It'll make him feel better.
Toby Ziegler: I don't want him feeling better. I want him right where he is. I want him mad. Is there anyone you'd rather have as a blood enemy less than Sam? This is how I want him.
Leo McGarry: Yeah. You know, it was a screw-up. But I gotta say, I love the way he did it full-speed, bam. Like there's a Sam Seaborn-shaped hole in the wall.
What I loved about Sam was that he was socially awkward, nerdy, idealistic and sentimental. He walked around the show with a perpetual smile, someone that got the greatest joy from the smallest of things. But he had this dark, smart side that came out in spades if you crossed him. If you fucked with something important to him, he ruined you and hung you out to dry like last week's trash. Some of my FAVORITE West Wing episodes are ones where Sam goes off and lays someone out. I think Aaron Sorkin saved some of the best soliloquies for him. Better than Bartlet's in a few instances. Then again, his character WAS a speechwriter, so it fit. Speaking of, anyone with HBO: "NEWSROOM" IN T-MINUS 6 DAYS.
The West Wing, "Shibboleth"
CJ Cregg: They sent me two turkeys. The more photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
President Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
This episode focuses around CJ learning that the President just made a deal to sell guns, tanks, and other military-grade weapons to Qumar, a fictional religiously fanatic country representative of Saudi Arabia. In exchange, Qumar continues to allow the United States to operate a military base within their borders.
This is the real reason I love The West Wing. It isn’t because it’s funny, though it is. It isn’t because it’s smart, though it is. It isn’t because it’s inspiring, though it is. It isn’t because the writing is brilliant, though it is.
It’s because episodes like this help me to find myself, when I’m lost. Episodes like this remind me why I’m here.
“Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers, the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back… with wonder.”
God I miss this show.
