Monday, May 15, 2006

GRACE NOTE

What better way to honor the memory of Leo McGarry during the finale of 'The West Wing' than with a framed prop which he created during one of the series' most inspirational moments?

The series practically ended with President Bartlet unwrapping the framed sheet of legal paper upon which Leo had scrawled "LET BARTLET BE BARTLET" as they approached the mid-term elections of the Administration's first term in office.

I'm hoping it was the original copy and not some well-made forgery of John Spencer's signature, but that would be more in the nature of Television than that of Toobworld.

For in Toobworld, it was real. All of the show was real while at the same time an ideal for what could be. And I think we were lucky to have it on the air for the past seven seasons.

Someday that framed piece of paper should find a home at the Smithsonian, not only to represent the TV show but also to represent that ideal of what our country could be.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

2 comments:

Brent McKee said...

Actually it wasn't the "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" paper, it was the cocktail napkin with the words "Bartlet for America" on it. This was what Leo used to persuade Jed to run for President that first appeared in the episode "Bartlet for America" in season 3.

Toby O'B said...

LOL - I just watched that scene again and just now logged on to revise that. Thanks for the catch, Brent. It was bothering me that everybody in all the reviews kept referring to a "cocktail napkin" when I was remembering the legal pad paper of "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" (which resonated more for me.)

Like I always say, I need an editor and/or fact-checker!

This Swiss cheese memory.....!

Toby