Plead the 25th

What was with the 25th Amendment all of a sudden during the just-completed TV season? Not only was President Palmer temporarily overthrown on "24" with the use of the little-known section of the U.S. Constitution, but President Bartlet gave up power on "The West Wing" under the same auspices.

It worked better on the former than on the latter.

Actually, neither show is the first to use the 25th Amendment as a television plot point. Back in 1994, HBO remade "Seven Days in May" as the TV movie "The Enemy Within" — and the plot to overthrow the president involved the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the vice president, the Cabinet and the amendment.

The 25th Amendment allows for the removal of the president if the majority of the Cabinet votes to declare him somehow incapable of fulfilling his duties. Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) was supplanted by his vice president when he didn't want to immediately bomb three Middle Eastern nations after a nuclear device was exploded on American soil. Turns out he was right — evidence implicating those nations was indeed manufactured — and when the truth came out he was restored to power. (Of course, if the assassination attempt that happened shortly thereafter leaves Palmer incapacitated — not dead — his vice president will once again assume the presidency under the 25th Amendment.)

Would the Cabinet actually vote out a president? Maybe not, but it's theoretically possible. And it made for some great TV.

On the other hand, the events on "The West Wing" seem considerably harder to swallow — maybe because "24" is designed as a thrill ride while "West Wing" is supposedly grounded in an alternate reality. In the wake of his daughter's kidnapping and complications from his multiple sclerosis, Bartlet (Martin Sheen) invoked a different section of the 25th Amendment and voluntarily gave up power. Temporarily, of course.

But he had no vice president to hand the reins to. His veep (Tim Matheson) had recently resigned after being caught in a sex scandal. So Bartlet stepped aside in favor of the speaker of the House (John Goodman).

Yes, it's only a TV show, but it's hard to believe that any president would hand the country over to a member of the other party. (Bartlet is a Democrat; the speaker a Republican.) Add to that the implausibility of Goodman — best known as Roseanne's hubby — running things, and it seemed rather silly.

Which is why I'm less and less concerned that "West Wing" creator/executive producer Aaron Sorkin has exited the show. They definitely need some new ideas, and quickly.