This show hit too close to home for the Clintons so it was pulled off the air. The former president was obviously based on Bill Clinton and the Sec State was obviously based on Hillary Clinton except that Signorney Weaver's character was much better than what we got in real life.

Completely taken by surprise with this show. I honestly loved it.Well written, good strong characters and lots of things going on, so no chance of it becoming a bore.The series is definitely helped by the fact they have Sigourney Weaver playing the lead character. A perfect choice if I say so myself. I reckon if they had anybody else it may not have actually worked, so excellent casting.I love the gritty aspect to the series if I am honest. The behind the doors language gives a far more sense of reality to the real world.Loving the plots which shall remain a mystery to those who are thinking on whether to watch the show or not, but I would say, definitely watch it.I hope the series does not get cancelled, I am left stunned by the US cable channels pulling the plug on many series and yet, the trash remains. Very puzzling.Great casting, great show. If you liked West Wing you should like this.

Political Animals which is a slightly worn valentine to the Clintons and their lives and times in the White House. It's almost a plea for Hillary Clinton to get back into electoral politics in 2016. No doubt that times were better then and despite the apoplectic fulminations of the religious right we enjoyed Clinton and his escapades in the White House. It would have been better even had we given a Democratic Congress to work in all eight years.Sigourney Weaver plays Elaine Barish formerly Hammond, former first lady and now Secretary of State to President Adrian Pasdar who beat her out in her try to be the first female president. Cannot get closer than that. Her lying, cheating, former president husband is Ciaran Hands who in his performance lets you know why Bill Clinton was called 'Slick Willie' in his youth. They have two sons, steady and reliable James Wolk who is his mother's right hand while keeping on decent relations with his father, not easy, he might have the diplomatic skills to be the Secretary of State. Then there's Sebastian Stan who is the best one in the series. In fact I believe he's one of the best young players around, something I've believed since I saw him guest star in a Law And Order episode several years earlier. He plays the gay second son and the pressure of being the first openly gay child in the White House was too much for him. He's a drug addict and a screw-up and causing one major distraction while Weaver and Hands as the presidential envoy are trying to deal with another hostage crisis in Iran.The whole series is narrated and seen through the eyes of Carla Gugino who is a news reporter who got some forced insights into the Hammond family covering up a story about Stan's suicide which got out anyway.This mini-series is interesting and no doubt topical. You'll want to see the next episodes as much as I do.

POLITICAL ANIMALS is being advertised as a limited series so it is doubtful it will be around for more than a few episodes. Maybe that is why it tries to cram so many subplots and shaky character definitions into the space of 1 1/2 hours. The series lists four writers - Greg Berlanti, Geoffrey Nauffts, Molly Newman, and Speed Weed - and perhaps this committee approach is part of the rough result of a script that simply doesn't hang together enough to even whet our interest.Much has been written about this series being a parody of the Clintons: not only is that an unfair evaluation but it is also an insult to the Clintons. But whatever the reason for building this series, the story SEEMS to be the following: Bud Hammond (Ciaran Hinds in a deplorable and false Southern accent) is an ex-president, a man whose affairs and sexual liaisons have been fodder for the press more than coverage of important data. His ex-wife Elaine Barrish (Sigourney Weaver) is the current Secretary of State to Pop art president Paul Garcetti (Adrian Pasdar). Elaine and Bud have two adult boy children - Thomas (Sebastian Stan) a drug addicted gay loser and Doug (James Wolk) who is about to be married to a Japanese girl with bulimia. Elaine is being followed by a journalist (Carla Guigino) who is more interested in gossip than fact. In the midst of all the parties to meet the bride-to-be's parents, Thomas' attempt to get financing to create a new night club, and Bud's constant parade of busty women, and Elaine's mother (Ellen Burstyn, the best thing about this series) making caustic comments about Bud's girlfriends and the status quo of the nation, along comes an Iran crisis where three American journalists have been captured, tried and are threatened with execution unless someone acts. The President and his numbskull vice president (Dylan Baker) do nothing so of course Elaine as Secretary of State must act with her journalist tagging along, now a bit more understanding because her boyfriend/editor is cheating on her da da da da da. And all of this is delivered with as much profanity as can be stuffed into a show.Sigourney Weaver looks great but doesn't seem convinced about the character she is portraying. Ciaran Hinds doesn't have a chance with the absurd dialogue he barfs out, and the rest of the cast - with the sole exception of Ellen Burstyn who is brilliant and has (who knows why/) all of the dialogue that is intelligently written. Perhaps with the next installments there will be some improvement in dialogue and subplot ideas and less on screen emesis and coke snorting. If not the series will remain as titled - a brief series. Oh, David Petrarca 'directs'. Grady Harp, July 12