President Bartlet's Martin Sheen decision to run for reelection after the disclosure of suffering MS fuels the fire for the first half of the season. Depositions are filed against the staff, minor mistakes take on more significance, and the White House consul Oliver Platt has the run of the table warning of worst-case scenarios. The focus soon turns to the First Lady Stockard Channing as the potential "Lady Macbeth" of the scandal. Channing aces her role and turns her birthday celebration "Dead Irish Writers" into one of the season's highlights. Assistant Donna Janel Moloney, her boss Josh Lyman Bradley Whitford, and press secretary C.J. Alison Janney all have charismatic romances, but the ace supporting player this year is John Spencer as the relentlessly loyal Chief of Staff Leo McGarry. Whether delivering the hard truth, accepting the proverbial bullet for the President, or being our guide to how Bartlet ran in the first place in another wonderful flashback episode, "Bartlet for America", all roads lead to McGarry. Acting Emmys went to Channing, Spencer, and Janney, but the strength of this show is that the entire cast has glorious moments Toby's taking on the President's mode of operation, Sam's belief in government, or the President's peculiarities of Thanksgiving are just a few. Recurring guest stars--the likes of Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, Mary Louise Parker, and Mark Harmon--deliver some of their career-best work. Crack writing, a breathless pace, plus you learn a bit about government. What else do you want from a TV drama? --Doug Thomas