asap gift guide: We like this stuff, and think you will, too. Today: A box DVD set.
(AP Illustration/Jacky Myint)
Watch enough episodes of "The West Wing" back-to-back, and you start to think you actually live in official Washington. You think C.J. is your friend. Your phone rings, and you think Donna is going to answer it.
Yes, this is sad. But oh so enjoyable.
Full-series DVDs have changed how we consume entertainment. People think nothing of trying to watch 24 hours of "24" in a day. Talk about a "Lost" weekend.
The political drama "The West Wing" is particularly suited to this sort of obsessive viewing. The plots blend seamlessly. The fluid banter becomes a soothing hum. Writer Aaron Sorkin's pedantic tendencies get watered down when the big teaching moment gets buried in the middle of a four-hour block of otherwise sublime plotting and dialogue. (In Sorkin's universe, the good guys are a little too holy for words -- everyone in China is an oppressed Christian yearning to breathe free, and public servants think nothing of working until 3 a.m. But, these are minor quibbles.)
Now, all seven seasons are being sold in a handsome box set designed to look like a file case that a White House staffer might carry, with each season in its own tabbed folder.
A great gift? Surely. But only for the truly committed.
Price: $299.98 retail, but $189.97 on Amazon and spotted for $169 recently at Costco.
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Previously in the gift guide
DVD fireplace warms the soul: http://asap.ap.org/stories/1074205.s
A jacket for all seasons: http://asap.ap.org/stories/1071859.s
The regift, a holiday right: http://asap.ap.org/stories/1071889.s
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Stay tuned to asap for more gift suggestions throughout the holiday season.
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