See
List Of Characters From Commander In Chief
'' is a
Television drama focusing on the presidential administration and family of
Mackenzie Allen (portrayed by
Geena Davis ), the first female
President Of The United States , who ascends to the role after the previous chief executive,
Teddy Bridges (played by
Will Lyman ), dies in office from a sudden ruptured
Cerebral Aneurysm . The series began broadcasting on
ABC on Tuesday,
September 27 ,
2005 at 9 p.m.
Eastern Time . It garnered the highest ratings for a series debut on a Tuesday night. It debuted on
Abc1 in the
UK on
April 4 2006 .
The show was #1 on Tuesday until FOX's '''' which airs after its ''American Idol'' lead-in thus the decline in ratings.
The series was created by American director
Rod Lurie , director of thrillers like ''
The Contender '' and ''
Deterrence '', and may have been inspired by ''
The West Wing '', a popular political drama on rival
NBC . Lurie directed the first three episodes of ''Commander in Chief''. In
October 2005, just days after the series debut, the network announced that Lurie was being replaced with
Steven Bochco as
Show Runner . The main reason was that Lurie was delivering scripts late, costing
ABC money. However, Lurie remained a
Executive Producer but is primarily focusing on creating new projects for Touchstone.
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On March 3, Steven Bochco left his post as showrunner after disputes with ABC and his upcoming project for Touchstone. Executive producer Dee Johnson is the current showrunner for the series.
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ABC has pulled the struggling program from their schedule for the remainder of May sweeps, essentially guaranteeing the show will not be renewed for season 2.
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The universe of shares a great deal of recent history with our own: in the first episode,
Vice Presidents Al Gore and
Dick Cheney are mentioned, suggesting that the show's universe diverges from our own at least sometime after
2001 . As the first episode states that Teddy Bridges served four years as Vice President and the show begins two years into his first Presidential term, some viewers assume that, in the universe of the series, either President
George W. Bush served only one term (2001-2005) or that Teddy Bridges was his Vice President for the second term (2005-2009). This would place Bridges' election to the presidency in 2008 and the show around the year
2011 . It is also possible that the show takes place more than a
Decade from now. However, in the episode ''First Dance'', Russia is described as having been a democracy for only 15 years, placing the first season around
2006 , assuming a parallel unfolding of history.
The placement of the series within the federal election cycle is also in question. Although early episodes refer to Bridges' death occurring prior to the midterm elections, later episodes i.e. ''The Mom Who Came To Dinner'' refer to two years remaining in the presidential term. This is inconsistent with ''First Strike,'' which places Bridges' death months after midterm congressional elections. As the series' episodes have paralleled their actual air dates, including events such as the Atlantic hurricane season, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, it would make sense that Bridges' death occur during his third year in office which would mean a presidential election due shortly. It is possible that like ''
The West Wing ''
's Timeline Skew , the universe of ''Commander in Chief'' is also shifted by two years in comparison to the "real world".
According to the rules of presidential succession, if Allen began serving out Bridges' term less than two full years after he was sworn in, she can only run as a candidate in one presidential election. However, if Bridges' time in office was more than two full years (even by a matter of a week or two) Allen would be allowed to run in two presidential elections, and thus could potentially be president for almost ten years (See
Twenty-fifth Amendment To The United States Constitution ).
As on the political drama ''
The West Wing '', the world of ''Commander in Chief'' includes both real countries (such as
Nigeria ,
North Korea and
Iraq ), as well as fictitious ones (such as the South American country of
San Pasquale ).
Though specific dates are not given, many events are assigned relative to the present (i.e. 10 years ago) with considerable detail due to the show's use of
Flashbacks . The following is a list of notable events and their relative time.
;
1965
:Nathan Templeton is a
Democratic candidate for office. It is unclear whether or not Templeton is publicly a
Segregationalist however he is taped privately during this time making very extreme segregationist statements.
;Approximately 22 years before the first season
:Teddy Bridges is elected governor of his home state, he is re-elected at every election until his election to the vice presidency 16 years later.
;10 years before "First... Do No Harm"
:Mackenzie Allen, a Republican, is approached by a group of moderate Republicans in her district to run as an
Independent for Congress as a
Far Right Republican is expected to easily win the
Primary .
;8 years before "First Disaster"
:First-term Congresswoman Mackenzie Allen defies the will of Speaker Nathan Templeton when she is left with the deciding vote for a piece of legislation. Templeton reminds her of her Republican heritage and the wide Republican support for the bill, however she refuses to support it as she views it as
Spending Far Too Much Money .
;Approximately 6 years before the first season
:Teddy Bridges is elected Vice President of the United States on a Republican ticket.
;2 and a half years before "Pilot"
:Vice President Teddy Bridges approaches Mackenzie Allen, a former two-term
Independent Congresswoman, to be his
Running Mate .
;8 months before "First Strike"
:While campaigning for the
Midterm Elections , President Teddy Bridges asks Nathan Templeton to agree to become his Vice President, Bridges suggested he could create a vacancy in the office by appointing Vice President Mackenzie Allen to the
Supreme Court Of The United States . Templeton declines saying the vice presidency would be demotion from his current office as Speaker.
The Traditional Values Coalition, FrontPage Magazine and right-wing commentators have gone on record complaining that the show is really a thinly-veiled attempt to lay groundwork for a possible 2008 Presidential run by prominent Democrat
Hillary Clinton . This charge has been flatly denied by Lurie, Davis, and ABC. However, after Lurie's departure, Nathan Templeton's character was notably softened, and his raw villainy smoothed out. The Speaker and the President even became allies when it suited them.
General criticisms are that the series is so centered on Allen's gender, that this becomes the focus of the show instead of the character's capability. However, a counter-argument is that the series is trying to depict realistically what the general public's reaction to the first female president would be, and such an occurrence would probably also focus public scrutiny on a female president's gender rather than her policies.
However in interviews on the shows website the cast have said that as time goes on there will be less focus on her gender and more focus on the fact that she is an Independent, especially when she runs for election.
The April 27 episode generated further controversy and negative press in it's fictional depiction of the bordering suburb of
Hyattsville ,
Maryland as having the highest murder rate in the
United States . It also indirectly depicted the town as being an
Urban Ghetto dominated by poor minorities. The city and
Prince George's County were very upset at
ABC and somewhat surprised as well at this depiction; in reality the city is racially mixed, middle-upper middle income and mostly suburban in density and character. On May 1, 2006
ABC formally apologized to both the city and county.
The series went on hiatus after its January 24, 2006 episode; in its place, ABC promoted a new '' hit ''
Without A Trace '' and longtime
NBC standby ''
ER ''. Some media experts believe the show has already been unofficially cancelled and has been moved to this time slot to burn off the remaining episodes since it is one of the toughest primetime slots for ABC to compete in. However, other experts think that ABC is hoping the show can be saved by gaining viewers who are watching the surprise reality hit
American Inventor right before this show.
However, that show has recently seen its ratings plummet to nearly half of what it once was, which may prove to be a weak lead in to ''Commander in Chief''. [http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=televisionNews&storyid=2006-04-15T004344Z_01_N14363981_RTRIDST_0_TELEVISION-RATINGS-DC.XML
The show's return April 13 was met by low ratings in its new 10pm time slot, perhaps lessening its chances for a second season. Preliminary ratings available April 14 indicated that only 8.2 million viewers (2.4 rating/7 share in the18-49 demographic) tuned in for the show's return. CBS's ''Without a Trace'' dominated the hour with 18.6 million viewers. Further competition may come from NBC's ''ER''. The show aired a repeat the night ''Commander in Chief'' returned, yet it still narrowly beat ''Commander in Chief'' in the 18-49 demographic (2.6/7 versus 2.4/7), though it had about two million viewers less overall.
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See Also: List of Commander in Chief episodes
- The characters of the President and Vice President were named after the two actors who played those roles in Rod Lurie 's previous political thriller, '' The Contender ''. Teddy Bridges, named for Jeff Bridges who played President Jackson Evans, and Mackenzie Allen, named for Joan Allen who played Laine Hanson, his vice presidential Nominee .
- This is Donald Sutherland 's first regular role on a television series.
- Donald Sutherland 's co-star Leslie Hope played the wife of Sutherland's son, Kiefer , during the first season of '' 24 ''.
- The first six episode titles from the first season after the pilot all begin with the word "first" (e.g. ''First Choice'', ''First Disaster'').
- Starting with the episode ''Rubie Dubidoux and the Brown Bound Express'', Steven Bochco replaces Rod Lurie as head executive producer and showrunner. Bochco's changes include a staff of new writers and a new title design similar to the style of NBC 's The West Wing .
- Part of the Greater Richmond Children's Choir (GRCC) of Richmond, Virginia was the French Choir in the Pilot episode.
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Drama Series- Geena Davis (2006)
- Best TV Series-Drama
- Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Series- Donald Sutherland (2006)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Geena Davis (2006)
- Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama Geena Davis (2006)
On April 28th Buena Vista Home Video formally announced the release of Commander In Chief The Complete First Season
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