Commander in Chief

Geena Davis has a sweet gig. On ABC’s rookie hit Commander in Chief she plays Mackenzie Allen. “Mac,” as she’s known to her friends, is bold and strong, yet honest, caring and loyal. She disregards personal preferences to do what’s best for others. She puts her family first, making time for her children even during the most stressful of situations.

Oh yes ... and she’s the first woman president.

Here She Comes to Save the Day
Against staunch and powerful opposition—a conniving speaker of the house, a backstabbing cabinet, a plot to force her resignation—Mac remains the fearless commander in chief. For her, it’s not about politics; it’s all about defending people. And for Commander, it’s all about depicting the “feminine side” of the most influential and demanding position in the world, showing us how Mac struggles to keep her day job from affecting her role as wife and mother.

And on the whole, her family members' loyalty to her and each other remains a positive on this West Wing twist. Mac fiercely defends her children’s privacy, telling snooping reporters, “This is not Mac the president talking, this is Mac the mother: Don’t mess with my kids.” Her husband encourages her through every trial, and at times the siblings even stick up for each other.

Changing of the Guard
So far Commander has only occasionally swerved into seedy territory (Mac’s teen daughter is caught making out with a boyfriend on her bed, for instance), and mild profanity and suggestive dialogue have been minimal. That may change, however, since ABC has decided to replace creator/director/writer Rod Lurie with notorious envelope-pushing producer Steven Bochco (of NYPD Blue fame).

Unlike Mac, who surprised everyone by offering to keep the previous president’s staff, Bochco immediately axed five of Lurie’s writers. But of bigger concern is whether the series’ new commander will heed his fictitious chief’s words: “I’m going to do one thing, and one thing only, and that’s what’s right for the American people.”

Right, Left & Center
So what’s “right” for the 16 million viewers who tune in each week? In Lurie’s opinion, it was being softened up to the idea of the U.S. eventually embracing a female president—an issue that’s stirred most of the buzz surrounding Commander.

If the premise brings to mind one Hillary Clinton and her looming electoral bid, it may have something to do with the fact that producer Steven Cohen was Mrs. Clinton's deputy communications director. And that series consultants Sandy Berger and Capricia Marshall were former President Bill Clinton’s national security adviser and social secretary, respectively.

Lurie and others adamantly deny any Hillary push, though. And Commander's staff isn’t completely Clintonian: Writer Stuart Stevens was a Republican media operative behind President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, and writer Crystal Nix Hines served as a clerk under Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. “This is not a You-Go-Hillary show, this is a You-Go-Girl show,” Lurie stated early on. “If there’s any social agenda to the show, it’s to be enthusiastic about the idea of a woman president.”

For the moment, I’ll buy that. I’m more fascinated by what effect the concept itself might have on viewers. Cohen candidly stated, “For the viewing public to hear the phrase ‘Madam President’ certainly does a great deal in getting people comfortable with the idea.”

Whether or not you want to get used to the notion of a female chief executive, then, your neighbors may well be on their way. We’re all aware of the tremendous power TV has in shaping our culture. And there's nothing about Commander that will make it an exception to the rule.

Does that necessarily mean it will have the same influence that, say, Seinfeld had on everyday vernacular or Will & Grace has on people’s perception of homosexuality? Time and ratings will tell. What is certain is Commander in Chief’s status as yet another TV offering blurring the boundaries between entertainment and politics, fiction and the presidency.