Washington, DC

Tomorrow (September 6, 2008) at 8pm there will be the first showing of a 2 hour program on C-SPAN about the Lincoln Cottage, which opened to the public back in February. The program includes high definition footage and a never before seen panorama view taken from the nearby tower. The program talks about Lincoln’s time spent at the cottage during the Civil War, historically significant moments there, and the trek between the cottage and the White House that he took daily.

The West Wing first aired on NBC in 1999 and ran for seven seasons until its series finale on May 14, 2006. This show was mostly based in the West Wing of the White House, which features the Oval Office and the offices for the senior staffers, who play roles as the main characters besides the president. It won 26 Emmys overall, which makes it tied with only one other show for the most Emmys won by a television drama series. Throughout the series the shows tie together to follow the Barlet administration from the middle of its first year, the race for re-election, and the election for the next President, which is where the series ends. This is probably one of the most successful D.C. based shows ever that was really based in D.C. and although it was criticized as Left Wing it did not face the problems that the female president series faced, so probably why it lasted so long.

I believe this show still has repeats being played on Bravo. DVDs of all seven of the seasons have been released already.

West Wing, president, D.C., tv shows

Commander in Chief first aired on September 27, 2005, on ABC. There were only 18 episodes in the series before it last aired on June 14, 2006. It even won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Drama, but it still got canceled. The show started with Mackenzie Allen becoming the first female president despite the president not wanting her as vice president to succeed him when he was on his deathbed. The show then follows through her administration, her husband trying to figure out the role of First Husband, and the tension with the Speaker of the House, who was the one the president wanted to take his place by having Allen resign instead of taking the oath of office. The show was #1 in its Tuesday time slot until American Idol began its season. It was also the #1 new show for a while until Criminal Minds overtook that spot. Basically I thought it was a good show it was doing very well and why it was canceled makes no sense. Part of its downfall was it being moved to Thursdays nights to compete with ER and Without a Trace and thus getting lower ratings, but the best reason seems that there was a lot of controversy surrounding about how the show was too focused on her gender, was left-wing, etc.

The 1985 Hail to the Chief tv series of similar plot line with a female president also faced cancellation for no apparent reason only lasting a few months.

DVDs have been released of all the episodes, though, so they can be enjoyed by those who missed it when it was on. The season is split into Commander In Chief - The Inaugural Edition, Part 1 (Episodes 1-10) and Commander in Chief - The Inaugural Edition, Part 2 (Episodes 11-18).

Commander in Chief, female president, tv shows, D.C.

Criminal Minds first aired on September 22, 2005. The show revolves around a team of FBI Behavioral Analyst profilers and the cases the work on solving and capturing the criminal by focusing on the criminal more than on the crime. The show is set in many different places, but the FBI Behavioral Analyst Unit is based in the D.C. area in Quantico, Virginia. There are always at least a few scenes with them being at their offices in Quantico, especially with Garcia who usually (if not always) stays behind there and helps with the technology aspects of finding the criminals and their background. I do like watching this show, but I sometimes feel that too much is on the particular episodes plot and the recurring characters themselves are not really develop or continue to develop. Anyways this characteristic also makes it relatively easy to miss an episode and not be lost in the plot line when the next episode comes on. I will also admit each plot is well done and stand alone very well. It is just the connecting them as a series that while it goes smoothly you can miss several particular episodes and still know all the recurring character’s development.

The show will premiere the first episode of its Third Season tonight on CBS, so be sure to tune in for the one of the last episodes with Gideon, who is my favorite character besides Garcia.

If you have missed Season 1 and/or Season 2 or you really love the show, then you can get both Seasons on DVD. Criminal Minds - The First Season is already out and Criminal Minds - The Second Season is coming out next week on October 2.

Criminal Minds, Quantico, D.C., tv shows

JAG is mostly based in the D.C. area with their headquarters at Quantico, although there are several episodes based elsewhere. The series first aired on September 23, 1995, on NBC. It had low ratings and NBC canceled the show in May 1996, but the show was picked up by CBS and began airing on CBS on January 3, 1997. That is were it proved itself as a successful show and went on to have new episodes until it was last aired on April 29, 2005. The show is based on the what goes on at the Judge Advocates General headquarters and also follows the personal lives of the main characters. The show focuses mostly on the courtroom aspect of Navy military cases, but there is also episodes of adventures of the characters away from the court room or stationed on ships. The current show NCIS introduced its characters in a two-part episode of JAG in 2003.

Repeats of JAG still regularly can be seen on USA Network. JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Complete First Season, JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Complete Second Season, JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Third Season, and JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Fourth Season have already been released on DVD.

tv shows, JAG, D.C.

NCIS is one of the many crime solving shows on television these days. This one is based in the D.C. area with the unique crime aspect to this show being that it is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, so the crimes all somehow relate to people in the Navy or Marine Corps. In a way this show is a spin-off of JAG as the characters were first introduced in a JAG episode and it is produced by the same person, Donald Bellisario. The show first aired on September 23, 2003, and this year will be its fifth season. Personally this is one of my favorite shows on television. I do like other similar types of shows, but I feel this one stands out among the others not because of the crimes they solve or the way they solve them, but more because of the characters. The cast is full of distinct characters that are well developed, but also continue to develop as the show continues. There is also such wide variety in the characters that almost everyone can find a character they easily identify with. From Tony who had commitment issues that seem to be coming to an end to the goth like Abby in the lab.

By the way Season Five actually premieres tonight, so you can tune into your local CBS station to see this D.C. set television show tonight.

The show has Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3 already released on DVD. The Fourth Season also already has a date set for release, which is currently October 23, 2007.

NCIS, tv, television, tv shows, D.C.

The E-Ring was a show set in the Pentagon mostly. It first aired on September 21, 2005, on NBC. I thought this was a great show with a unique choice of setting. It really had some interesting plots showing the people behind the actions and the political climate that the main character JT has to learn to deal with in order to solve problems without the world ever knowing they even existed. This show pretty much suddenly disappeared part way through the season and I do not think the rest of the 22 episodes were ever aired in the United States, although I learned from online that they have for sure been aired outside the United States. At the time this show was on I really thought it was one of the best shows on television, but apparently it did not do well enough to even finish its season as scheduled. Nowadays there is the similar show of The Unit, but it is just not quite as good plot wise as this show was.

Pentagon, E-Ring, tv, D.C.

Cory in the House is a great show aimed at kids on the Disney Channel. It has been on the air since January 12, 2007 and is still airing new episodes on a pretty regular basis. This show is a spin-off from That’s So Raven in that Raven’s brother, Cory, and their dad move into the White House. Cory’s dad is the White House cook for the president. The show mostly focuses on Cory and his crazy plans that go wrong most of the time, but he also often fixes the problem with another one of his plans. A lot of his business planning/get rich schemes continue in this series as was seen often in the That’s So Raven series. A lot of the scenes are based in the White House in the resident area, especially the kitchen. There are also many scenes based at his prep school. There are a total of 21 episodes in the 1st season and the show has been renewed for a 2nd. Cory in the House repeats can be seen most days of the week on the Disney Channel and is supposed to end up on the Saturday schedule on ABC this Fall. Overall this show is a great comedy show for kids of all ages (and that means adults too may enjoy this like I do).

This show already even has some DVD releases. One is Cory in the House (All Star Edition), which features four episodes. There is also Wish Gone Amiss that features the episodes from Cory in the House, Hannah Montana, and Suite Life of Zach and Cody from the Wish Gone Amiss specials. Also, there is also a paperback book based on the first episode that is great for kids to read. The book is titled New Kid in Town (Cory in the House).

tv, television, episodes, Cory in the House, Disney, D.C.