How Long to Watch “Commander in Chief”?

Rumor has it that this weekly, hour-long ABC series about America's first woman president was conceived in anticipation of Hillary Rodham Clinton's likely 2008 presidential bid. Whatever the case, Geena Davis starred as Mackenzie Allen, the politically unaffiliated vice president of popular conservative chief executive Teddy Bridges (Will Lyman). When Bridges fell mortally ill, his party did everything it could to persuade Mackenzie to step down and allow powerful Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland) to assume the Presidency. But our heroine was not about to place the country in the hands of a vengeful, duplicitous sexist like Templeton, and thus upon Bridges' death she dutifully took charge of the Oval Office -- even though she had never had any burning political ambitions at any time of her life. Working hand in glove with her chief of staff (and also her husband!), Rod Allen (Kyle Secor), Allen's second in command, Jim Gardner (Harry Lennix), and Press Secretary Kelly Ludlow (Ever Carradine), the plucky Mackenzie managed to navigate the treacherous waters of the Potomac -- and along the way, she continually surprised both sides of the political spectrum by relying upon her own judgment, rather than pay homage to party pressure, polls, or political correctness. Also in the cast were Jasmine Anthony as Mackenzie's six-year-old daughter, Amy, and Matt Lanter and Caitlin Wachs as her teenaged twin offspring, Horace and Rebecca. Created by Rod Lurie of The Contender fame, Commander in Chief took the oath of office on September 27, 2005.