I think you're definitely right that it lost its idealism, but it also lost the wit. I wanted to believe that people in the WH were as clever as the ones on TV, so I get that feeling. But I still loved it through S4. It's after that that the wheels really fell off the wagon.

Anyway--we can keep this conversation up in the morning, because if I try to keep going now, you're likely to get articulate comments like, "Whag ufuyw93?" ;)