Info:
Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 (Touchstone Television)
Network: ABC
Time: Tuesdys at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT / 8:00 p.m. CT
Cast: Geena Davis, Donald Sutherland, Harry Lennix,
Ever Carradine, Kyle Secor, Julie Ann Emery, Matt
Lanter, Caitlin Wachs, Jasmine Anthony, and Natasha
Henstridge
Introduction:
Mackenzie Allen has a lot on her plate… She has twin
teenagers and a six-year-old at home, an ambitious
husband at the office, and she is about to become the
first female President of the United States.
Before that happens, Mackenzie, who serves as Vice
President, has to decide whether or not to go against
the dying wishes of the current President, who has
asked her to step down and let someone "more
appropriate" fill his shoes in the Oval Office. Not
only does the President want her to resign, so does
the entire party that elected Mackenzie in the first
place.
But when the moment of truth arrives, Mackenzie isn't
willing to be a mere footnote in history. Instead of
allowing her detractors to keep her down, she decides
to trust her instincts and accept the most powerful
job in the world.
From Rod Lurie, acclaimed Writer/Director of the
Oscar-nominated film The Contender and creator of the
critically acclaimed ABC series Line of Fire, comes a
political dramedy centering on the first female
president, played by Academy Award®-winner Geena
Davis.
Cast Details:
"Commander-in-Chief" stars Geena Davis as President
Mackenzie Allen, Donald Sutherland as Nathan
Templeton, Harry Lennix as Jim Gardner, Ever Carradine
as Kelly Ludlow, Kyle Secor as Rod Allen, Julie Ann
Emery as Joan Greer, Matt Lanter as Horance Allen,
Caitlin Wachs as Rebecca Allen, Jasmine Anthony as Amy
Allen, and Natasha Henstridge as Jayne Murray.
Pilot Plot:
Mackenzie Allen, who serves as Vice President of the
United States, has a tough decision to make, whether
or not to go against the wishes of the dying current
President, Teddy Roosevelt Bridges. Bridges asked her
to step down and let someone a little more appropriate
take his place in the Oval Office right before his
passing. However, it's not only the President that is
calling for her resignation; it's her entire party
which elected her as the Vice President to start with.
As a subplot, (Vice) President Allen coordinates the
extraction of a woman who was scheduled to be executed
for having a child out of wedlock in Nigeria.
Writer: Rod Lurie
Director: Rod Lurie
Guest stars: Will Lyman (President Bridges), Dean
Shelton (Sam), Ato Essandoh (Manute Obama), Sherman T.
Edwards Junior (Wealthy Frenchman), Anthony Azizi
(Vince Taylor), Schuster Vance (Secret Service Agent),
Joseph T. Lee (Secret Service Agent), Stan Kelly
(Roman Wolfe), John Thompson Hopkins (Congressman),
Todd A. Langenfeld (Air Force One Honor Guard),
Priscilla Hopkins (Congresswoman)
Analysis:
There are some problems in the pilot - some scenes
drag out too long, while others seem to cut away
before their logical terminus…In some places, the
writing seems weak, while in other places it’s
amazing. The show needs work. It’s that simple.
One memorable touch of humor worked into the show was
the working in of Hilary Clinton jokes in every First
Gentleman-related scene. I really, really, didn’t
care for some of the family-related scenes
particularly the ones relating to the oldest daughter,
Rebecca (Caitlin Wachs). I know one sub-point of the
show is to show her life away from the Presidency, but
I’d much MUCH rather have a political drama focus
on…say…the White House…of course, this is coming from
someone who is a fan of shows like The West Wing, 24,
etc…so a more traditional drama in which the central
character “just happens” to be President doesn’t quite
fly as well with me. Hopefully once they get the
establishment out of the way in the first few shows,
they can move on to real, quality, content. One
thing that should provide for fascinating television
is the HUGE conflict between Speaker of the House
Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland) and President
Allen. In the pilot, the Speaker actually had
Allen’s Teleprompter disabled during her speech to
Congress luckily she’d memorized the speech.
Conclusion:
What else can I say that I didn’t say before? The
show has problems in choosing to run certain scenes
long, while cutting others at points they shouldn’t be
cut at. It also seems to suffer from an identity
crisis, in that it’s unsure whether it wants to be a
West-Wing style political drama, or whether it wants
to be a drama centered on the life of the President
Allen character…The result of this identity crisis
will ultimately determine whether I watch the show
long-term, or whether I find something else to watch
at time with how promising My Name is Earl looks
based on the pilot, if Commander-in-Chief doesn’t pick
up the pace, I’ll probably flip over to it…ultimately,
I’d recommend that everyone watch the first few shows
to see which path the series takes…after that, it’s
really up to personal tastes.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3.5/5
Appealing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher on 09/26/2005.
Related Links:
ABC.com Official Site
TV.com
epguides.com
Internet Movie Database
