Just what I expected

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Commander in Chief is not too bad of a TV political drama, starring Geena Davis as President Mackenzie Allen, the first female to assume America's highest office. Geena played that role with grace and charm as she tackled the country's problems like a dignified statesman.Unlike the U.S. Presidency in reality, President Allen is an Independent and tries to work with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, but is met with the scorn and resistance of Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland). Not surprisingly, unfortunately, Republicans were portrayed as the villains in the show, while the Democrats were merely sequestered to the sidelines.There is not a whole lot of action or suspense going on in the show - just a lot of political theater and talk. Much of the characters weren't too memorable, but I did like Secret Service Agent Greer, who provided some exciting and hectic scenes in trying to protect the President's typical-teenage daughter, Rebecca. The President's husband Rod Calloway (Kyle Secor) was probably the most annoying character in the show as all he really did was whine endlessly how he doesn't like to assume the role of "First Gentleman" and , as a result, should take on a more important role in the President's Administration (pretty big ego trip).Overall, an average show - Geena Davis was the series' main saving grace.Grade C+

Boy, am I late to this party! It looks like the last reviews were written in late 2006 or early 2007.I just finished watching all 18 episodes on Netflix. I love this show!! The plot lines were riveting and well acted. An impressive creation by Rod Lurie.I am so disappointed that it was canceled after the first season. The end of season one beautifully prepared us for the impending Presidential campaign between Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) and Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland). I'm sure it would have been great TV drama.I don't know whether ABC pulled the series for lack of ratings or political pressure, but it was a great loss for the audience.

Okay, I wasn't much of a fan as I should have been. I think it's because dramas on television today have become more actor/actress driven than the writing etc. Anyway, this show should have been an easy slam dunk for the network who was known to making interesting decisions. First, Oscar Winner Geena Davis as a likable Vice President who becomes President was a great casting call. She was believable in the role. Second, the other cast members were equally perfect like Kyle Secor as the First Husband and Donald Sutherland as the President's friend and foe. I don't understand why the West Wing was such a hit but not this show. People were tuning in to see this show regularly. I guess the network didn't want the controversy of a female president. Think Hilary Rodham Clinton! Maybe they felt that women should just be resigned to playing mothers and wives like at Desperate Housewives or lovesick surgeons on Grey's Anatomy. This cancellation is appalling and the network executives should be ashamed of themselves for letting one of the good shows go.

The problem with Commander in Chief is that, whatever you may think of "The West Wing", it did set a certain standard. We have to blame the script for that, especially in the Sorkin years. Whatever the ups and downs of individual story lines, you did get a real impression of the West Wing's White House, also thanks to a brilliant production design and a very good cast indeed. We may have smiled (or yawned) with all those tracking 'walkabout' shots through endless corridors and rooms, but this was a White House stuffed to the gills with people. When Leo (or Sam or Josh or CJ) boasts of "nearly 1,100 people working for us" you're inclined to believe them. This was a beehive, an overcrowding mass of people "doing things". And it surely set the tone of a believable White House. But what has the Commander in Chief to show for her people? An Oval Office, a Cabinet Room, a small and dark office for the chief of staff (one of the most powerful politicians in Washington? Go figure), and a couple of corridors which certainly looked more at home in "Good Housekeeping" than showing corridors of power. What about the Hill? It is almost exclusively represented by the Speaker and his chief of staff. You don't get any feeling of two powers - White House and Capitol - clashing with each other, but only about two people - a decent president (decently played by Geena Davis) and a totally over-the-top malevolent Speaker (hammed up by Donald Sutherland). While West Wing's Josh and Toby and Leo and C.J. were wheeling and dealing with a host of characters, this White House used the telephone (and lots of extra's working as messengers). The Speaker was almost entitled to a bedroom in the White House; he seemed to be shown more in the Oval Room than doing his job on the Hill. And the rest of the Senate and the House? Well, they must have elected to reside in Santa Barbara, for we don't see them at all. In fact, the whole tone was already set and stamped with the first episode. We, gullible couch potatoes, are quite willing to set aside our unbelief and enjoy a good time. But even a dimwitted viewer would have asked himself if a vice-president in a foreign country doesn't have at least a core staff with her? That the White House - reputed to have the most sophisticated communication system in the world - needs to send people all the way to France to tell the VP that the president has had a stroke? That a president and a Speaker even consider to ask the VP to resign? You may use all the fantasy you can muster to conjure up a lot of improbable situations (and West Wing did exactly that), but there are lines you simply can't step over without falling into a science fiction scenario. There is a Constitution and a slew of Amendments, and when you play with those you're losing a lot of viewers. So, what about a VP - still not confirmed as the de facto president! - who commands carriers around as if they were shopping carts? Or showing the ambassador of a hostile nation the innards of the Temple of Secrets, the Situation Room? And finally, we really have to believe that a Republican president has gone for an independent VP? How gullible must we be?I honestly think that "Commander-in-Chief" never recovered from that first episode. The new president was a fine lady, and Davis is a fine actress, but she simply couldn't fill the shoes of any president. Her press conferences and many of her talks with "important" people were devoid of any personal impact. Remember the first episode of West Wing, where Bartlet only had the last five minutes? But oh, what a minutes they were! You may or may not agree about that particular religious subject, but when he ripped apart the bigotry of the people involved you knew there was a president in the room. President Allen's chief of staff Gardner also was too nice to believe in. You knew from the first episode onwards that, in spite of all those times he conferred with Evil Emperor Ming on the Hill, he would give his life and limbs for his president! And Donald Sutherland himself - a great and accomplished actor - killed the whole series almost singlehandedly by playing it up to the rafters. Yes, politics will always have its share of pettiness, but not on kindergarten level. Remember that episode that he was president for just a few hours? Gods, it was embarrassing - not only because they stole that plot line from the West Wing, but also because Sutherland looked every inch an emperor without any clothes. Remember that other Speaker, John Goodman, in the West Wing? Now THAT was threatening. Nuf said.The reason why I'm climbing in my pen is that The West Wing, 24, Buffy, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Wired and handful of other shows did let us, Europeans, believe that in the middle of so much mediocrity and downright awfulness there was still room for genuine original or professional TV-making. Ron Lurie had made an intriguing little movie about power play in the Capitol & White House - The Contender - so we did expect at least an intelligent approach to yet another White House drama. Unfortunately, this White House stood in Santa Barbara. And even the incumbent inhabitant of the real White House deserved a better series.