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Reviewed by Anonymous, a former staff member of the Clinton Administration.

If there is one thing glaringly absent in NBC's premiere of West Wing, it's work. True, the youth-filled, cluttered corridors of this prime time White House buzz with adrenaline and chaos -- and that's authentic. But the buzz is less about the real political issues that confront White House staffers and more about their characters and personal problems.

So we know what we're in for in the West Wing episodes to come: The real political crises du jour -- in the debut episode, the plight of Cuban refugees -- will take the sidecar and the characters' personal lives will drive the plot. Fine. And in its own way, of course, this isn't far from reality. Just as long as viewers realize that watching West Wing gives insight into the White House about as much as Ally McBeal teaches us the law. (Speaking of short skirts, three cheers to NBC for no young, scantily clad interns running around. Still, we should wait to see what sweeps week might bring.)

It's no surprise that the show is, in many ways, blatantly inconsistent with the real thing. Other than the Oval Office, the set was ridiculous. It looked much more like a network news bureau than the true west wing, which has a far more classic, quaint feel to it. There were "extras" sprinkled throughout the show that don't exist -- extra marble foyers, glass windows in the Roosevelt Room, flags in the Oval Office, lots of extra staff people, a stately diplomatic reception room, and extra office space for everyone. (Betty Currie's office was probably 10 times larger than it is in real life.) Other things that nagged at reality: senior staffers never have to wear their security badges, thanks to the photographic memory of Secret Service agents, and the President's radio address is every Saturday, not Sunday.

One of the biggest omissions: the lack of competition among the staff. The staffers were intrigued by the possible firing of one aide in the first episode. But no one seemed to be plotting to overtake his office. That's a missed opportunity. It not only makes for good drama, it's what happens. Perhaps we'll see some of this in the future. One thing I've already had enough of, however, is the senate staffer who rode around in a snazzy BMW convertible. It makes the program look like LA Law. Fact is, the nation's capital is a land of a Honda drivers. Last but not least was the show's laughable use of the President's real nickname, P.O.T.U.S. (as in President of the United States). Staffers uttered it with a reverence reserved for religious figures. And it was repeated much more frequently than in reality. Here's the skinny: White House staffers resort to P.O.T.U.S. as a standard abbreviation when P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T doesn't fit in a beeper message.

For all the inaccuracies, the show does a fairly good job of portraying the White House staff. Yes, the inner circle is predominantly male. Yes, everyone seems to be a communications director. Yes, most of the assistants are very young. And yes, staffers crowd around the Chief of Staff's office in fear of missing out on something if they stray from the room.

West Wing's cast gets a big A+. Rob Lowe thrives in a George Stephanopoulos role, and the snappy advisor who makes a big blunder on a Sunday talk show is remarkably similar to Rahm Emanuel, right down to his concern over which shirt the female staffers like best. The female press secretary adds a nice touch, and perhaps thanks to Dee Dee Meyer's consultation on the show, she is accurately left out of the loop and must fend for herself in front of the realistically aggressive press corps. (This time the subject of inquiry is relatively benign: the President has had a bike accident in Wyoming.)

Martin Sheen as the President was a good pick, but his character is nauseatingly off-base. He's a little too corny, a little too self-aggrandizing, and a little too Papa Walton for the White House. In the final scene of episode one, Sheen snaps to a religious right group, "Get your fat asses out of my White House." This confirms that series writer Aaron Sorkin is falling back on Hollywood's blustery, "Bullworth" view of the President. Let's get something clear here: No way would the President lose his cool in such an offensive, disrespectful manner. That's what staffers are for.

As a former Clinton aide, I'll say it was a nice surprise to see that the West Wing takes a liberal stance, striking out against the Christian right and displaying compassion for Cuban refugees. Mr. Sheen's President is a Democrat. So is NBC targeting left-wingers for the 9 p.m. time slot? Fine with me. Of course, that would leave conservative viewers with Dawson's Creek or some such WB program -- frank discussions of drug use, lots of sex and all that. If Pat Robertson visits the White House to complain about WB's corruption of Our Nation's Youth, this much I can tell you: he won't be told to get his "fat ass" out.

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