The West Wing is set to got live in November between Jimmy Smits (Matthew Stantos) and Alan Alda (Arnold Vinick) as they near down for who will come the next President.

Saw the ep. It was ok, but that's it. The writing was set up to make Santos more sympathetic than Vinick, and Alan Alda carried that off, but I didn't see any "Wow" moments during the ep.

One of TWW's strengths has always been the ensemble cast and the interactions of the characters; this ep focused on only two characters who (so far, anyway) have no on-screen chemistry. There were a few moments during the debate where they showed signs of life in this regard, but it wasn't sustained.

Oh, and while I like Ellen Degeneres, whatthehell was she doing as 'the host'? Wouldn't Martin Sheen have been a better choice?

I know what you mean. Martin should of been the host. When I watched Ellen when Jimmy was on. She said that she was hosting it and I like "oh my god. you got to be kidding." How did Ellen get dragged into the west wing? It doesn't make any sense her doing it and not Martin.