>>>BTW, I got seasons 6 and 7 of West Wing and am almost done with season 7.... I'm really going to miss watching this show when we're done.... It is really done well...
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>>Same here. I just finished season 6. Parts of it I was not so crazy about. There are so many new characters it's hard to keep them all straight. And some of the side stories (meteor approaching earth, rancher's war with Canada played for comedy, for example) are the kind of thing that long running series tend to run into. OTOH the Presidential race is compelling. For some reason I expected Santos and Vinick to be good guy / bad guy. In fact they are both very admirable. You said Toby was your favorite character so you must have enjoyed the episodes that featured him.
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>>I don't know what's next for me. There are whole seasons of "Breaking Bad" and "Dexter" (neither of which I think you would enjoy) on the DVR. Or maybe I will go back to watching a whole lot less television. Watching so much TV this spring and summer (Euro 2012 and the Olympics in addition to "The West Wing" has been highly unusual for me.
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>My daughter has me convinced to watch the seasons of "Breaking Bad". I may watch "The Sopranos" also as I have never seen any of that.

"The Sopranos," well, you're talking best show ever territory there. I even happen to have it all on DVD ;-)

If you decide to watch, give it a few episodes before making up your mind. It is an extremely layered piece of work. I was not as late to that party as I was to "The West Wing." I started watching (DVD) when this show about New Jersey gangsters with the emotionally conflicted boss was in its third year and was ringing up Emmys by the dozen. It was sort of a breakthrough for a cable show to clean up at the expense of the networks.

There was a fan chat site on HBO that was hopping during and after every new episode. The scroll rate was so fast you really couldn't keep up with it. Among the regulars were some guys you knew were actual wise guys, lots of psychiatrists on the topic of Dr. Melfi, a NJ judge who posted as Johnny the Gavel, and many aspiring or produced screenwriters. It wasn't hard to follow but there were lots of nuances.

Your daughter knows you better than I do so give "Breaking Bad" a try. I still don't think you will like it. And be forewarned that it gets darker with every season.