First seen by some people as merely an attempt to familiarize the American people with the notion of a female president, Hillary Clinton in particular, this show featured a woman commander in chief with ties to neither party. There were plenty of crises for President Allen (Geena Davis) to deal with, not least the constant backstabbing from the Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland) who himself harbored presidential ambitions. The stars were the whole show here, basically. They were enjoyable even when the writers let them down. Marred by the ambition to turn it into the 7th Heaven of political dramas, the show was well-produced enough but never really caught fire.

2005-2006:U.S. Made for TV. 18 episodes. Color. Created by Rod Lurie. Cast: Geena Davis (Mackenzie Allen), Donald Sutherland (Nathan Templeton), Harry Lennix (Jim Gardner), Kyle Secor, Ever Carradine, Matt Lanter, Caitlin Wachs, Jasmine Anthony, Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

Trivia: Allegedly, Lurie’s original intention was for this show to be a sequel to The Contender (2000), with Joan Allen reprising her role.

Golden Globe: Best Actress (Davis).

Average

Published 2006-07-21 05:34