The West Wing
The West Wing | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | Aaron Sorkin |
Starring | |
Composer | W. G. Snuffy Walden |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 7 |
No. of episodes | 154[note 1] (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Cinematography | Thomas Del Ruth |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 22, 1999 May 14, 2006 | –
The West Wing is an American
The West Wing was produced by
The West Wing has been ranked among the best television shows of all time in publications such as
A stage version of the season 3 episode "
Cast and characters
The West Wing employed a broad
Main characters
- Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is the president of the United States. An economist by training, he is a former congressman and governor from New Hampshire who unexpectedly won the Democratic Party nomination. He suffers from multiple sclerosis, a fact he initially hides from the electorate. Sheen described him as a conglomeration of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.[10] He is succeeded by Matt Santos (regular: seasons 1–7).
- counselor to the president, and later the Democratic candidate for vice president. He dies before assuming office (regular: seasons 1–7).
- Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) is the deputy chief of staff to Leo McGarry. Josh later leaves the White House to become the "Santos for President" campaign manager. When Santos is elected, Josh becomes White House chief of staff (regular: seasons 1–7).
- Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) is the communications director who writes many of Bartlet's speeches, including both inaugural addresses and many State of the Union addresses. He is fired from the Bartlet administration during a leak investigation, though he is pardoned for his crimes at the series' end. He has twin children with his ex-wife who is a congresswoman from Maryland (regular: seasons 1–7).
- Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) is the deputy communications director to Toby Ziegler. In his time at the White House, Sam is responsible for writing many of Bartlet's speeches. He departs the White House following the reelection of President Bartlet to run for Congress. He is recruited to become Santos's deputy chief of staff at the series end (regular: seasons 1–4, guest star: season 7).
- C. J. Cregg (Allison Janney) is the press secretary. She succeeds Leo McGarry as chief of staff and departs the White House at the end of the Bartlet administration. Post-series, she marries Danny Concannon and has a child (regular: seasons 1–7).
- Georgetown(regular: seasons 1–7).
- Donna Moss (Janel Moloney) is the senior assistant to Josh Lyman. She later departs to be a spokesperson for the Russell campaign and then the Santos campaign. Upon Santos's election, she becomes chief of staff to the first lady (recurring: season 1; regular: seasons 2–7).
- Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing) is the First Lady, Jed's wife, and a physician (recurring: seasons 1–2, regular: seasons 3–7).
- Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly) is Josh Lyman's ex-girlfriend and a media consultant contracted by the Bartlet administration. She departs without explanation following the first season (regular: season 1).
- Will Bailey (Joshua Malina) is initially hired as a speechwriter and moves into the role of deputy communications director. He later becomes chief of staff to the vice president, Russell's campaign manager, and communications director. After the series end he becomes a congressman for Oregon (regular: seasons 4–7).
- Kate Harper (Mary McCormack) is the Deputy National Security Advisor. Before the West Wing she was in the Navy, and CIA. (recurring: season 5; regular: seasons 6–7).
- Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) is a congressman from Texas who is convinced by Josh Lyman to run for president. He eventually wins the nomination and later the election. (regular: seasons 6–7).
- Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) is a senator from California who becomes the Republican nominee for president. After his loss in the general election, he is nominated Secretary of State by President-elect Santos (regular: seasons 6–7).
- Annabeth Schott (Kristin Chenoweth) is deputy press secretary and later works on the Santos campaign. At the series end, she is appointed press secretary to the incoming first lady (recurring: season 6; regular: season 7).
Background
Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 per episode, with the established Sheen receiving a confirmed salary of $300,000.
In an interview on the first season DVD, Bradley Whitford said that he was originally cast as Sam, even though Aaron Sorkin had created the Josh character specifically for him. In the same interview, Janel Moloney stated she had originally auditioned for the role of C.J. and that Donna, the role for which she was eventually cast, was not meant to be a recurring character. Other actors were seriously considered for other roles, including Alan Alda and Sidney Poitier for the President, Judd Hirsch for Leo, Eugene Levy for Toby, and CCH Pounder for C.J.[15]
Crew
The series was created by
The first season proper saw the return of all of the pilot production team along with the addition of Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno as consulting producers and Rick Cleveland as a second co-producer with Robert W. Glass as an associate producer. Glass left the production team after only five episodes. Julie Herlocker joined as Associate Producer beginning with episode six. Osborn and Reno departed after nine episodes. Paul Redford served as a story editor throughout the first season. Lawrence O'Donnell worked as executive story editor for the second half of the season.
With the second season, Kevin Falls became a co-executive producer. Cleveland left the production team and Redford and O'Donnell were promoted to co-producer. Peter Parnell and Patrick Caddell became co-producers and Julie Herlocker and Mindy Kanaskie became associate producers. O'Donnell was promoted again to producer five episodes into the season and Hissrich joined him twelve episodes into the season.
The third season saw the departure of Parnell, Caddell, and Herlocker and the temporary absence of O'Donnell. Director Christopher Misiano became a supervising producer, Patrick Ward joined the series as an associate producer, and Eli Attie joined the writing staff as a staff writer. Redford was promoted to producer. With the thirteenth episode of the third season director Alex Graves became an additional supervising producer and Attie became a story editor.
The fourth season marked the temporary departure of Hissrich. Misiano and Graves became co-executive producers alongside Falls. Attie was promoted to executive story editor and Debora Cahn became a staff writer. The fourteenth episode of the season saw Redford promoted to supervising producer and Kanaskie, Ward and Attie promoted to co-producers.
The fifth season saw the departure of both Sorkin and Schlamme as executive producers. Schlamme remained attached to the series as an executive consultant. John Wells remained the sole executive producer and showrunner. Co-executive producer Kevin Falls also left the show. O'Donnell rejoined the production team as a consulting producer. Wells also added Carol Flint, Alexa Junge, Peter Noah, and John Sacret Young as consulting producers. Andrew Stearn came aboard as a producer and Attie was promoted to producer. Cahn became story editor and Josh Singer replaced her as staff writer. With the tenth episode Flint, Junge, Noah and Sacret Young became supervising producers.
With the sixth season Misiano and Graves were promoted to executive producers. Redford and Junge left the production team and Dylan K. Massin became a co-producer. Cahn was promoted to executive story editor and Singer replaced her as story editor.
The seventh season saw Noah and O'Donnell promoted again, this time becoming additional executive producers. Attie became a supervising producer. Hissrich returned to his role as producer for the final season.
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 22 | September 22, 1999 | May 17, 2000 | |
2 | 22 | October 4, 2000 | May 16, 2001 | |
3 | 21 | October 10, 2001 | May 22, 2002 | |
4 | 23 | September 25, 2002 | May 14, 2003 | |
5 | 22 | September 24, 2003 | May 19, 2004 | |
6 | 22 | October 20, 2004 | April 6, 2005 | |
7 | 22 | September 25, 2005 | May 14, 2006 |
As with many serial dramas, multiple story arcs on The West Wing span several episodes and entire seasons. In addition to these long-running narratives, each episode contains smaller storylines that usually begin and end within a single episode.
Most episodes follow President Bartlet and his staff through particular legislative or political issues. Plots can range from behind-closed-doors negotiating with Congress to personal problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, from which Josh suffers during the second season. The typical episode loosely follows the President and his staff through their day, generally following several plots connected by some idea or theme. A large, fully connected set of the White House allowed the producers to create shots with very few cuts and long, continuous master shots of staff members conversing as they walk through the hallways. These "walk and talks" became a trademark of the show. The final two seasons presented a narrative change, with the focus of the show divided between plots in the West Wing with President Bartlet and his remaining senior staffers and plots revolving around the rest of the main cast on the campaign trail for the 2006 election.
- In the first season, the Bartlet administration is in its second year and is still having trouble settling in and making progress on legislative issues.
- The second season covers the aftermath of a shooting at Rosslyn, the 2000 midterm elections, and dealings with a new Congress and sees scandal when the White House is rocked by allegations of criminal conduct and the President must decide whether he will run for a second term.
- The third and fourth seasons take an in-depth look at the campaign trail and the specter of both foreign and domestic terrorism.
- In the fifth season, the President begins to encounter more issues on the foreign front, while at home he faces off with the newly elected Speaker of the House, battles controversy over Supreme Court appointments and oversees a daring plan to save Social Security.
- The sixth season chronicles the quest to replace President Bartlet in the next election, following the primary campaigns of several candidates from both parties, while the President himself attempts to build his legacy but finds his ability to govern compromised by his illness.
- In the seventh season, the President must face a leak of confidential information about a secret Department of Defense program from inside the White House, while the Democratic and Republican candidates battle to succeed him in the general election.
Development
The series developed following the success of the 1995 theatrical film The American President, for which Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and in which Martin Sheen played the White House Chief of Staff. Unused plot elements from the film and a suggestion from Akiva Goldsman inspired Sorkin to create The West Wing.[17]
According to the DVD commentary, Sorkin intended to center the show on Sam Seaborn and the other senior staff with the President in an unseen or a secondary role. However, Bartlet's screen time gradually increased, and his role expanded as the series progressed. Positive critical and public reaction to Sheen's performance raised his character's profile, decreasing Lowe's perceived significance. In addition, the storylines began to focus less on Sam and more on Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff. This shift was one of the reasons for Lowe's eventual departure from the show in the fourth season.[18]
For the first four seasons, drawing on research materials, scene drafts, and occasionally entire draft scripts from his writing staff, Sorkin wrote almost every episode of the series, occasionally reusing plot elements, episode titles, character names, and actors from his previous work,
The West Wing aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET from its debut until the end of its sixth season. NBC elected to move the series to Sundays at 8:00 pm for its seventh season, a move universally regarded as the beginning of the series' end (since NBC and the NFL had reached a deal for Sunday Night Football to return to the network in the fall of 2006), and the series finale aired on May 14, 2006. The West Wing took a large ratings hit with the move, which put it up against ABC's Top 20 hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and CBS' Top 30 hit Cold Case in its timeslot.[22][23]
Legacy and influence
The show's legitimacy, political slant, and idealist representations of Washington, as well as its notable writing and film merits, have generated considerable discussion.
In 2011, The New York Times reported the then-fledgling government of Myanmar used DVDs of The West Wing episodes to study democracy.[24] This was corroborated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the following year.[25][26]
Realism
While The West Wing is not completely accurate in its portrayal of the actual West Wing,
Former Senate aide Lawrence O'Donnell and former White House aide and presidential campaign speechwriter Eli Attie were both longtime writers on the show (O'Donnell for seasons 1–2 and 5–7, Attie for seasons 3–7). Former White House Press Secretaries Dee Dee Myers and Marlin Fitzwater and pollsters Patrick Caddell and Frank Luntz also served as consultants, advising the writing staff for part of the show's run. Other former White House staffers, such as Peggy Noonan and Gene Sperling, served as consultants for brief periods.
A documentary special in the third season compared the show's depiction of the West Wing to the real thing. Many former West Wing denizens applauded the show's depiction of the West Wing, including advisor David Gergen, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.[32]
While critics often praised The West Wing for its writing, others faulted the show as unrealistically optimistic[33] and sentimental.[34] A large part of this criticism came from the perceived naiveté of the characters. Television critic Heather Havrilesky asked, "What rock did these morally pure creatures crawl out from under and, more important, how do you go from innocent millipede to White House staffer without becoming soiled or disillusioned by the dirty realities of politics along the way?"[35]
Social influence
Despite acclaim for the veracity of the series, Sorkin said, "our responsibility is to captivate you for however long we've asked for your attention."[36] Former White House aide Matthew Miller noted that Sorkin "captivates viewers by making the human side of politics more real than life—or at least more real than the picture we get from the news." Miller also noted that by portraying politicians with empathy, the show created a "subversive competitor" to the cynical views of politics in media.[30] In the essay "The West Wing and the West Wing", author Myron Levine agreed, stating that the series "presents an essentially positive view of public service and a healthy corrective to anti-Washington stereotypes and public cynicism."[29]
Dr. Staci L. Beavers, associate professor of
While it aired, The West Wing offered viewers an idealist liberal administration that provided a sort of catharsis to those on the left who felt that their political beliefs were largely forgotten or ignored in the era of the Bush administration. Writer Hédi Kaddour remarked that The West Wing "show[ed] what [liberals] would have liked to have seen and had: a different American administration, closer to our desires as people more or less on the left."[38]
One of the stranger effects of the show occurred on January 31, 2006, when The West Wing was said to have played a hand in defeating a proposal backed by
A number of episodes referred to a practice of the administration having one day each year on which they accepted meetings with people or groups who would not normally receive an audience with high-level White House staffers, referring to the event as "Big Block of Cheese Day". The name came from the fact that President
"The Left Wing"
Despite its commercial and critical success, The West Wing has also received criticism from the
However, criticism of the show has been made from the left as well. The hosts of socialist podcast Chapo Trap House are frequent critics of Sorkin and have called The West Wing an "expression of the patronizing self-entitlement of liberals."[51]
On the other hand, some Republicans have admired the show since its inception, even before the departure of Sorkin and the show's resulting shift toward the center.
Journalist Matthew Miller wrote, "Although the show indeed has a liberal bias on issues, it presents a truer, more human picture of the people behind the headlines than most of today's Washington journalists."[30]
Filming techniques and reactions
In its first season, The West Wing attracted critical attention in the television community with a record nine
The West Wing is noted for developing the "walk-and-talk"—long Steadicam tracking shots showing characters walking down hallways while involved in long conversations. In a typical "walk-and-talk" shot, the camera leads two characters down a hallway as they speak to each other. One of these characters generally breaks off and the remaining character is then joined by another character, who initiates another conversation as they continue walking. These "walk-and-talks" create a dynamic feel for what would otherwise be long expository dialogue, and have become a staple for dialogue-intensive television show scenes.[56]
Awards
In its first season, The West Wing garnered nine Emmys, a record for most won by a series in its first season.[57] In addition, the series received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, tying Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Mad Men and Game of Thrones for most won in this category. Each of its seven seasons earned a nomination for the award. With its 26 total awards, The West Wing tied with Hill Street Blues as the drama with the most Emmy wins[58] until Game of Thrones broke the record for most wins in 2016, with 38 total awards.[59]
The series shares the
In addition to its Emmys, the show won two
The following table summarizes award wins by cast members:
Actor | Awards won |
---|---|
Alan Alda | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2006) |
Stockard Channing | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2002) |
Allison Janney | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2000, 2001) |
Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (2002, 2004) | |
Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (2000, 2001) | |
Richard Schiff | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2000) |
Martin Sheen | Golden Globe Award, Best Actor in a TV-Series – Drama (2001) |
Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2000, 2001) | |
John Spencer | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002) |
Bradley Whitford | Emmy Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001) |
Many cast members were Emmy-nominated for their work on The West Wing but did not win, including Martin Sheen—who was nominated for six of the seven seasons of the series without receiving the award—as well as Janel Moloney, who was nominated twice, and Dulé Hill, Rob Lowe, and Mary-Louise Parker, who were all nominated once. Matthew Perry, Oliver Platt, Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, and Mark Harmon also received Emmy nominations for guest starring on the show.
Thomas Schlamme won two Emmys for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (in 2000 and 2001), and Christopher Misiano won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2003. The West Wing's only Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series was in its first season, when Rick Cleveland and Aaron Sorkin shared the award for "In Excelsis Deo".
"The West Wing Documentary Special" won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2002, with the award shared by Aaron Sorkin, Tommy Schlamme, documentarian Bill Couturie, show writers Eli Attie and Felicia Willson, and others.
Readers of TV Guide voted the cast of The West Wing their Best Drama cast of all time, receiving 37% of the votes, beating Lost, which received 23%.[63]
A Wall Street Journal poll in 2016 named Martin Sheen's Josiah Bartlet as the second greatest fictional president, behind Harrison Ford's President James Marshall in Air Force One.[64]
Critical reception
On the review aggregator websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, the first season scored respectively 96% and 79/100.[65][66] Rotten Tomatoes scores the second 88%,[67] the third 73%,[68] the fourth 92%,[69] the fifth 65%,[70] the sixth 64%,[71] and the seventh 95%.[72]
Nielsen ratings
Season | Episodes | Timeslot | Season premiere | Season finale | TV season | Ranking | Viewers (in millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 | Wednesday 9:00 pm | September 22, 1999 | May 17, 2000 | 1999–2000 | #27 | 13.0[73] |
2 | 22 | October 4, 2000 | May 16, 2001 | 2000–01 | #13 | 17.0[74] | |
3 | 21 | October 3, 2001 | May 22, 2002 | 2001–02 | #10 | 17.2[75] | |
4 | 23 | September 25, 2002 | May 14, 2003 | 2002–03 | #22 | 13.5[76] | |
5 | 22 | September 24, 2003 | May 19, 2004 | 2003–04 | #29 | 11.8[77] | |
6 | 22 | October 20, 2004 | April 6, 2005 | 2004–05 | #35 | 11.1[78] | |
7 | 22 | Sunday 8:00 pm | September 25, 2005 | May 14, 2006 | 2005–06 | #65 | 8.1[79] |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Season | Episode number | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ||
1 | 16.91 | 13.71 | 14.41 | 12.32 | 12.41 | 13.37 | 13.66 | 12.92 | 12.37 | 14.23 | 13.65 | 13.96 | 14.92 | 14.18 | 13.48 | 12.41 | 15.76 | 14.24 | 13.97 | 12.89 | 14.33 | 13.30 | – | |
2 | 25.05 | 25.05 | 16.80 | 17.11 | 18.47 | 18.48 | 18.47 | 17.48 | 18.99 | 12.23 | 17.65 | 18.02 | 18.19 | 18.39 | 16.43 | 18.08 | 17.16 | 16.56 | 16.77 | 16.61 | 17.01 | 20.72 | – | |
3 | 23.65 | 20.79 | 21.47 | 17.78 | 19.48 | 19.89 | 16.73 | 20.86 | 18.40 | 18.38 | 19.05 | 19.12 | 18.14 | 16.36 | 19.49 | 16.95 | 17.26 | 17.40 | 17.26 | 15.54 | 16.64 | – | ||
4 | 18.16 | 18.16 | 16.70 | 15.99 | 15.90 | 15.73 | 16.22 | 15.78 | 15.03 | 14.28 | 15.39 | 13.96 | 14.45 | 13.03 | 13.59 | 12.23 | 14.01 | 11.70 | 12.72 | 13.65 | 13.18 | 13.37 | 13.79 | |
5 | 18.32 | 16.32 | 13.43 | 12.06 | 13.12 | 12.48 | 12.42 | 13.49 | 12.77 | 13.28 | 11.86 | 10.84 | 11.64 | 11.43 | 11.21 | 11.42 | 10.76 | 10.95 | 11.10 | 11.94 | 10.76 | 11.03 | – | |
6 | 12.27 | 12.07 | 13.82 | 15.26 | 12.41 | 11.76 | 13.28 | 12.33 | 12.53 | 11.74 | 11.88 | 10.92 | 10.69 | 9.62 | 10.17 | 9.93 | 10.66 | 10.10 | 9.75 | 8.96 | 9.88 | 11.62 | – | |
7 | 8.90 | 7.66 | 7.95 | 8.15 | 7.85 | 8.51 | 9.58 | 7.26 | 8.13 | 11.74 | 6.36 | 7.71 | 7.02 | 8.07 | 7.90 | 7.27 | 8.39 | 8.29 | 8.42 | 8.34 | 7.99 | 10.11 | – |
Exploration of real-world issues
The West Wing often featured extensive discussion of current or recent political issues. After the real-world election of Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, many wondered whether the liberal show could retain its relevance and topicality. However, by exploring many of the same issues facing the Bush administration from a Democratic point of view, the show continued to appeal to a broad audience of both Democrats and Republicans.[80]
In the second-season episode "
The Bartlet administration experiences a scandal during the second and third seasons that has been compared to the
For the first time on national television or even in film, the public encountered a lead character with both an MS diagnosis and the hope for a continued productive life. Because [The] West Wing is a fictional drama and not a medical documentary, writers could have greatly distorted MS facts to further their storyline [but did not].
— Gail Kerr, National MS Society
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the start of the third season was postponed for a week, as were most American television premieres that year.[84] A script for a special episode was quickly written and began filming on September 21. The episode "Isaac and Ishmael" aired on October 3 and addresses the sobering reality of terrorism in America and the wider world, albeit with no specific reference to September 11. While "Isaac and Ishmael" received mixed critical reviews,[85] it illustrated the show's flexibility in addressing current events. The cast of the show state during the opening of the episode that it is not part of The West Wing continuity.
While the September 11 attacks are not referred to in The West Wing continuity, the country enters into a variation of the
In the middle of the fourth season, Bartlet's White House is confronted with genocide in the fictional African country of Equatorial Kundu, which was compared to the
In the sixth and seventh seasons, The West Wing explores a leak of top-secret information by a senior staffer at the White House. This leak has been compared to events surrounding the
Other issues explored in The West Wing include:
- North Korean and Iranian nuclear ambitions
- Strained relations and a state of brinkmanship between India and Pakistan
- Legislation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement
- The formation of the Minuteman Project
- Peacemaking and terrorism in Israel and Palestine
- The Darfur, Sudan
- AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
- The Northern Ireland peace process
- The conflict in Colombia
- Controversy over Intelligent design in schools
- Taiwan's political status
- A federal government shutdown
- The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
- Anthrax attacks against the Bush administration
- Federal funding for the arts
- Peak oil and the consequences of a decline in global oil production
- Federal subsidies for ethanol fuel given to corn growers
- Student loan forgiveness for teachers
- Invoking the 25th Amendment for an Acting President while the President is preoccupied with personal problems
The West Wing universe
Domestic
All contemporary domestic government officials in The West Wing universe are fictional. President Bartlet has made three appointments to the fictional Supreme Court and maintains a full cabinet, although not all names and terms of the members are revealed. Some cabinet members, such as the Secretary of Defense, appear more often than others. Many other government officials, such as mayors, governors, judges, representatives, and senators, are mentioned and seen as well.[88]
Fictional locations inside the United States are created to loosely represent certain places:
San Andreo
San Andreo is a fictional California city. It is located near San Diego, has a population of 42,000 and is the location of the San Andreo Nuclear Generating Station. The fictional station was based on the real-life San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County.
A near
Hartsfield's Landing
Kennison State University
Kennison State is a fictional university in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, used as the setting of a bombing in the beginning of the fourth season.
Foreign
While several real-world leaders exist in the show's universe, most foreign countries depicted or referred to on the show have fictional rulers. Real people mentioned on The West Wing include
Entire countries are invented as composite pictures that epitomize many of the problems that plague real nations in certain areas of the world:
- Qumar is a fictional, oil-rich, powerful, Middle Eastern state. A former British protectorate now ruled by a Hormozgan Province of Iran.
- Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African nation blighted by The Newsroom.[90]
Fictional timeline
The West Wing universe diverges from history after
Leo McGarry is mentioned as being
The passage of time on the show relative to that of the real world is somewhat ambiguous when marked by events of shorter duration (such as votes and campaigns). Sorkin noted in a DVD
The show's presidential elections are held in 2002 and 2006, which are the years of the
In an interview, John Wells stated that the series began one and a half years into Bartlet's first term and that the election to replace Bartlet was being held at the correct time.[91] However, the season 1 episode "He Shall from Time to Time" shows the preparations for Bartlet's first regular State of the Union address, which would occur one year into his presidency. In the Season 1 episode "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", Josh Lyman asks Toby Ziegler, "Our second year isn't going much better than our first year, is it?"
In the season 5 episode "
1998 presidential election
Bartlet's first campaign for president is never significantly explored in the series. Bartlet is stated to have won the election with 48% of the popular vote, 48 million votes, and a 303–235 margin in the
The campaign for the Democratic nomination is extensively addressed. In the episodes "
2002 presidential election
The West Wing's 2002 presidential election pits Bartlet and Vice President John Hoynes against Florida Governor
Bartlet's staff contemplates replacing Vice President John Hoynes on the ticket with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos), among others. After it is clear that Ritchie will be the Republican nominee, Bartlet dismisses the idea, declaring that he wants Hoynes in the number two spot because of "four words," which he writes down and hands to Hoynes and McGarry to read: "Because I could die."
Throughout the season, it is anticipated that the race will be close, but a stellar performance by Bartlet in the sole debate between the candidates helps give him a landslide victory in both the popular vote and the electoral vote.
2006 presidential election
A speed-up in The West Wing's timeline, in part due to the expiration of many cast members' contracts and a desire to continue the program with lower production costs, resulted in the omission of the 2004 midterm elections and an election during the seventh season. The sixth season extensively details the Democratic and Republican primaries. The seventh season covers the lead-up to the general election, the election, and the transition to a new administration. The timeline slows down to concentrate on the general election race. The election, normally held in November, takes place across two episodes originally broadcast on April 2 and 9, 2006.
Congressman
Senator
On the evening of the election, Leo McGarry suffers a massive
According to executive producer
Similarities to 2008 U.S. presidential election
Similarities between the fictional 2006 election and the real-life
- The Democratic candidate is a young ethnic minority representing a populous state: Matthew Santos of Texas on the show, Barack Obama of Illinois in real life.
- He has a grueling but successful primary campaign against a more experienced candidate: Bob Russell on the show, Hillary Clinton in real life.
- A third candidate from a Southern state has been damaged by claims of infidelity: John Hoynes of Texas on the show, John Edwards of North Carolina in real life.
- The Democratic nominee chooses an experienced Washington insider as his running mate: Leo McGarry on the show, Joe Biden in real life.
- The Republican contest is determined early in the primary season with an aging "maverick" senator of a western state being the nominee: Arnold Vinick of California on the show, John McCain of Arizona in real life.
- The nominee defeats a staunchly anti-abortion opponent with pastoral experience, among others: Reverend Don Butler on the show, Mike Huckabeein real life.
- He then chooses a younger, socially conservative running mate in the midst of their first term as governor of a sparsely populated, resource-rich state: Ray Sullivan of West Virginia on the show, Sarah Palin of Alaska in real life.[94][95]
According to David Remnick's biography of Obama, The Bridge, when writer and former White House aide Eli Attie was tasked with fleshing out the first major Santos storylines, he looked to then-U.S. Senator Obama as a model. Attie called David Axelrod, with whom he had worked in politics, "and grilled him about Obama."[96] While Attie says that he "drew inspiration from [Obama] in drawing [the Santos] character,"[97] actor Jimmy Smits also says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon" for his portrayal of the character.[98] Writer and producer Lawrence O'Donnell says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain.[99] Obama's former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is said to be the basis of the Josh Lyman character, who becomes Santos's Chief of Staff.[100][101] However, O'Donnell denied this claim.[102]
Santos transition
As the series sunsets with Bartlet's final year in office, little is revealed about Matt Santos's presidency, with the last few episodes mainly focusing on the Santos team's transition into the White House. Santos chooses
President Bartlet's final act as President of the United States is pardoning Toby Ziegler, who had violated federal law by leaking classified information about a military space shuttle. The series ends with Bartlet returning to New Hampshire. Having said his goodbyes to his closest staff, former President Bartlet tells President Santos, "Make me proud, Mr. President," to which Santos responds, "I'll do my best, Mr. President."
Home media
The series is available on DVD, with a complete series set released in 2006. Season 1 is in the original 4:3 format while Season 2 onward are presented as anamorphic widescreen.
In 2010 the series was released in
Other media
Books
Several books have been published about The West Wing. One of the first, in 2001, was Paul C. Challe's Inside the West Wing: An Unauthorized Look at Television's Smartest Show.
Twitter accounts
In 2010, Twitter accounts for many of the primary characters on The West Wing began to appear, including accounts for President Bartlet, Josh Lyman, Leo McGarry, Matt Santos and Mrs. Landingham. Tweets from the fictional characters have been featured on The Rachel Maddow Show,[114] CNN[115] and questions from the fictional accounts have been answered by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during a White House Press Conference[116] and from Vice President Joe Biden during a Twitter Town Hall.[117] The success of The West Wing accounts has resulted in several copycats, including accounts from several minor or obscure West Wing characters, including Gail, the fish in C.J.'s office.[118]
Podcasts
In March 2016, The West Wing Weekly podcast hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway and Joshua Malina began. Each episode of the podcast discusses an episode of The West Wing and has featured various cast and crew members from the series.[119]
On March 25, 2019, screenwriters Josh Olson (Oscar-nominated for A History of Violence) and Dave Anthony launched The West Wing Thing, on which the hosts "watch and then discuss" an episode of the series, analyzing and critiquing the show itself as well as its relationship to real-life American politics, both at the time it originally aired and in the present day.[120]
Fan conventions
A major fan convention, "West Wing Weekend" took place in September 28–30, 2018, at the Marriott Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. The convention featured guest appearances from some members of the series' cast, as well as a number of panels, fan-based programming, and special events. A Kickstarter campaign for the convention was started on January 4, 2018, to raise $10,000, and it was fully funded within two days.[121]
Parodies
Many venues, including Funny or Die, Mad TV, 30 Rock, and the Late Night with Seth Meyers have parodied the walk-and-talk cliche of the show, including the "ping-pong" dialogue, in which one character would speak barely a word before the other said another, and then repeated back and forth.[122][123][124]
Toward the end of a 2016 episode of Mom entitled "Pure Evil and a Free Piece of Cheesecake", main character Bonnie Plunkett, played by former West Wing cast member Allison Janney, fantasizes about becoming president of the United States, doing a walk-and-talk scene with former West Wing cast member Richard Schiff.[125]
Campaign video
During the 2012 campaign season, most of the cast—including Mary McCormack as Kate Harper—appeared in a video paid for by the campaign to elect McCormack's sister Bridget Mary McCormack to a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. Gently parodying the television series, the characters earnestly discuss the fact that voters often fail to vote in the non-partisan section of their ballots, which in this case would include court candidates such as Bridget McCormack, whose qualifications they praise. Although she is referred to as the sister of actress Mary McCormack, the characters do not recognize the name, except for Harper who finds it vaguely familiar.[126][127] Bridget McCormack was subsequently elected.
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
In August 2020, it was announced that cast members
Explanatory notes
- ^ This includes the special episodes "Documentary Special" and "Isaac and Ishmael", but not the 2020 special "A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote" (primarily a restaging of "Hartsfield's Landing").
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External links
- The West Wing at AllMovie
- The West Wing at IMDb
- The West Wing at Rotten Tomatoes
- The West Wing at epguides.com