So the 2005/2006 television season is well underway, and while many I am sure flocked to the new SF offerings, I walk a different path. First up is the new political drama to grace the airwaves, Commander-in-Chief.

The premise: Mackenzie Allen, a school chancellor, registered liberal, was picked by a Republican presidential candidate as his running mate to help capture the women's vote. This ticket won and ascended to power, making Allen the first female Vice-President. Two years into their term, the President suffers a fatal stroke, opening the way for the first female President of the United States. But, on his deathbed, the ailing President enjoins her to resign, as does his Chief of Staff, another key cabinet member, and the Speaker of the House. In the end, of course or there were would be no series, she has herself sworn in.

Geena Davis stars in this effort, playing the beleaguered Mackenzie Allen well, and showing us what it might be like to balance the demands of the highest office in the land with the demands of the highest profession in life (that of being a mother). She handles being beset on all sides with grace, and Allen is determined to succeed in what little time as President she may have. Davis has come a long way since her last abortive television series, a sitcom, showing that drama is a better forte for her than was comedy, unless that comedy is incidental. I rather like President Allen, from the moment she decides to serve as President and on forward, and this is testament to Davis' low key style of acting. She always comes across as thoughtful, and yes, careful and wary, but without ever losing the stuff that made her desirable as a candidate.

Kyle Secor, last known by me on television for a brief stint on Crossing Jordan, plays her husband, the First Gentleman (it's nice to know there IS terminology if and when this really happens). And like most people close to a gifted person, here perhaps is the real genius in this union (no pun intended), handling his wife with wonderful grace and wisdom, supporting her and adapting to his new role from his former one (he was her Chief of Staff when she was Vice President). I've always liked Secor, and it's good to see him in action again, and nicer still to see him in something less gritty than either Crossing Jordan or Homicide: Life on the Streets. He comes across as the perfect First Gentleman, and indeed perhaps a little too perfect. But I believe Secor will find ways, given the right scripts, to reveal any darker histories in his character, but still remain totally sympathetic.

Last of note, the Speaker of the House is played with robust gusto by Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is the perfect choice when needing someone who can be smarmy and sleazy in all the right sorts of oozing ways. With snow white hair and a viper's smile, he strikes me as the sort with whom you would not want to converses without several witnesses present, and he portrays that well. You never actually come to hate him, mostly because you can see that he truly believes that undermining the new president and questioning her at every turn is the right thing to do for the country.

Don't go to this series looking for the kind of sharp back-and-forth banter that has hallmarked West Wing. This series is slower paced, and much more thoughtful. More than a cat and mouse, as West Wing can often be, here is a game of chess, point and counterpoint, as the Speaker works to oust Allen, and she merely wants to, for now, serve out her term and do some real work in governing the country. With those ideals in mind, and largely because we were due something different, the slower pace and works well for this series. What they will have to work to avoid are any real, true soap opera elements. As an antithesis to its predecessor, this series focuses less on the actual governing and more on the personalities and machinations involved behind the scenes, and how those can be made to affect governing. It is thought provoking in different ways, and that makes it interesting to watch. But there are sometimes too many personal elements involved as we delve into how being The First Family affects her children and husband. There is quite the challenge ahead for the series in avoiding that trap.

Overall, i give this show three and half beakers. It's well acted, and the characters, whether good or bad, are likeable. You can both cheer for them and in the next instant be repulsed by what they do. If anything, this is probably the darker side of government and the Presidency, and as long as they avoid melodrama, should last through President Allen's two-year term.

In an intro speech somewhat similar to the opening of Law and Order we are introduced to the most important wing of the Pentagon, the E-Ring. From here, sensitive military operations are planned and executed all around the globe. We get to watch the stories of how these happen.

It's fitting perhaps that we get the similar-in-tone speech at the opening of the show, since this series stars Benjamin Bratt, a Law and Order alumnus. Here he plays Major Jim Tisnewski, a soldier brought home from field duty to serve in the Pentagon, possibly the one place more political than Capitol Hill. His job is to confirm and define sensitive military operations, and get them executed. It's a simple plot.

What makes this show work is watching Tisnewski either rein in his combat charged, gung-ho attitude, or use that attitude to get the job done. He is naive in the ways of these politics and driven solely by a desire to do the right thing. Ben Bratt has a nice, easy going charm that fits him well, and serves well in this series. It's neither forced, to leave you think he's trying too hard, or so low-key you miss it. What impresses most is how he projects the drive and desire of Tisnewski, and the frustration at being a man of action hamstrung in a highly political world.

He is ably assisted by Marine Sgt. Jocelyn Pierce, played with stiff lipped stoicness by Aunjanue Ellis. Here is a marine who helps define marine, and whose job is to keep Tisnewski and his superior officer out of prison. This is the protocol officer, the one on whom these free-wheeling men depend to keep all the i's dotted and all the t's crossed. I like this portrayal a lot, as it's very no-nonsense, but at the same time, not the conscience-foil for Tisnewski's attitude.

Speaking of superior officers, Dennis Hopper has signed on as Tisnewski's commanding officer. It's refreshing to see a big name actor do a turn on the small screen, and the scenes with Hopper generally pop with his energy and talent. Rounding out the commanding officer level is the great Joe Morton, one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, who has made good screen presences on television (Equal Justice, Law and Order) and the big screen (Terminator 2). No one does expressive acting better.

I really like this show because it moves easily from the frantic pace of putting a mission together (they are always time critical), to more thoughtful moments of realizing the ramifications of the missions. And it is interesting to view the inner workings, dramatized or not, of the Pentagon. I do wonder, though, that if the E ring is the most important ring, A) why is it the outer most ring, and B) what do the other wings do?

Ultimately, though, I can only give the show 3 beakers because it's a one trick pony. As noted, each week we are treated to a scenario that requires the assembling of a sensitive military operation. Such operations must be signed off by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So far each week we've been treated to attempts to convince the chiefs and/or their advisors of the importance and need for the carious missions. Of course, we always succeed, both at the convincing and the mission. While I can appreciate the need to not present a failure early in the game, it does take the guess work out of how the missions will end by the time the hour is up. Still, The A-Team made a fortune off formula television, and they certainly did not have Bratt's considerable charm, or the acting chops of Hopper and Morton. With those credentials, this show will hopefully last a while.