the west wing (television)

The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin for NBC, airing since 1999. The show is set in the White House—which serves as the residence of the President and his family—during the fictional Democratic administration of Josiah "Jed" Bartlet. The West Wing of the White House is the location of the President's Oval Office and the offices of most of his senior staff. The show is produced and co-written by John Wells.

The West Wing universe

The West Wing parallels the real world in many ways, yet also has several key differences. Sorkin, the show's creator, has noted in a DVD commentary track for the second season episode "18th and Potomac" that he has tried to avoid tying the show to a specific period of time. Despite this, real years are occasionally mentioned (usually in the context of elections, see below) and the show's events take place during President Bartlet's two-term 1999–2007 administration. Some real-world leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II and Fidel Castro exist in the show's universe, but most foreign countries are given fictional rulers, as well as fictional names—"Qumar," a terrorist-sponsoring Middle Eastern state based in part on both Taliban Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, is repeatedly a source of trouble for the Bartlet administration. According to maps shown on the show, Qumar appears to consist of a small part of southern Iran, including the important Strait of Hormuz. Another hotspot is "Equatorial Kundu," an African nation blighted by AIDS and civil war, resembling that of Sudan and Somalia. The events of 9/11 did not unfold in the same way in which they did in the real world, but the country has entered into a variation of the War on Terrorism, which began with the end of Season 4 when Zoey Patricia Bartlet, the president's youngest daughter, was kidnapped by Muslim extremists. Like 9/11, this act sparked an invasion and bombing campaign of a terror-supporting Muslim country. Osama bin Laden exists on the show as of Season 2 and he is apparently still at large; it is unclear if he has prominence in terrorism. Some recent concerns have also been reflected in the show; in the West Wing universe, for example, North Korea has nuclear ambitions similar to those it has in the real world. Iran also allegedly pursues nuclear weapons.

Main characters

Josiah "Jed" Bartlet, President of the United States — Martin Sheen
Abbey Bartlet, First Lady — Stockard Channing
Leo McGarry, White House Chief of Staff (Seasons 1–6) — John Spencer
Josh Lyman, Deputy White House Chief of Staff (Seasons 1–6); Campaign Manager of Santos for President (Season 6—) — Bradley Whitford
Toby Ziegler, White House Director of Communications — Richard Schiff
Sam Seaborn, Deputy Communications Director (Seasons 1–4) — Rob Lowe
Will Bailey, Deputy Communications Director (Seasons 4–5); Chief of Staff to the Vice President (Season 5—) — Joshua Malina
C.J. Cregg, White House Press Secretary (Season 1–6); White House Chief of Staff (Season 6—) — Allison Janney
Donna Moss, Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff (Season 1–6); Campaign Aide, Bob Russell for America (Season 6—) — Janel Moloney
Charlie Young, Personal Aide to the President (Season 1–6); Special Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff (Season 6—) — Dul Hill
Mandy Hampton, White House Media Consultant (Season 1) – Moira Kelly
Kate Harper, Deputy National Security Advisor (Season 5—) — Mary McCormack
Matt Santos, United States Congressman (D-TX) and candidate for the 2006 Democratic presidential nomination (Season 6—) — Jimmy Smits
Arnold Vinick, United States Senator (R-CA) and Republican candidate for the 2006 presidential election (Season 6—) — Alan Alda

All these actors have, at one point or another, appeared in the cast list during the main titles. See also: Recurring characters on The West Wing

Episodes

See List of The West Wing episodes

Show's evolution

The series had its roots in the 1995 theatrical film The American President, for which Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay. Sorkin took unused plot elements from that film and created entirely new characters around them. From all of this The West Wing was created. Initially, the character of the President was intended to be a secondary role, but it was expanded as the series progressed. The early shows were centered on young speech-writer Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe. Positive critical and public reaction to Sheen's sometimes Clintonesque performance raised his character's profile, sidelining Lowe's Seaborn. This shift is one of the reasons for Lowe's departure from the show during its fourth season http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2150891.stm. The West Wing often features extensive discussion on current or recent political issues, and with the real-world election of Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, many wondered whether the show could retain its relevance and topicality. Following 9/11, the third season premiere was postponed a week. A script for a special episode was quickly written and filming began on September 21. "Isaac and Ishmael" finished shooting in about a week, an incredibly quick turn around time for a TV drama. The episode aired on October 3 and addressed the sobering reality of terrorism in America and the wider world, albeit with no specific reference to September 11. While Isaac and Ishmael didn't get universal critical acclaim, to say the least, it nonetheless illustrated the show's flexibility in addressing current events.

  the first four seasons, Sorkin wrote nearly every episode of the series. The stress of meeting deadlines no doubt contributed to his increasing personal problems, including a very public arrest for possession of illegal drugs followed by a couple of unsuccessful attempts at rehab. Although he eventually appeared to get his life back on track, he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, leading many to expect that the show would develop a more bipartisan footing. Plot themes centering on foreign policy (perhaps mindful of overseas syndication), for example, have grown more common, arguably making the show more approachable. Though it is still occasionally derided as The Left Wing, the show's award-winning writing, high production values, and acclaimed standard of ensemble acting, plus an unprecedented accuracy in showing how the presidency operates (demonstrated in a special documentary episode interviewing actual past West Wing staffers which aired during Season 3), have earned The West Wing respect. Even those who do not share its unambiguously expressed views admit to the educational value of the series.

The perceived switch of emphasis from Sorkin's dialogue-centric style of writing to John Wells' focus on plot-driven drama has angered some of the show's fan base, a few of whom feel so passionately about the switch that they are http://dontsaveourshow.org/ actively campaigning for the show to be cancelled, citing Sorkin's departure as the sole cause of the show's "decline". However, most viewers continue to enjoy the show, acknowledging that despite Sorkin's departure it is still far superior to other shows, and in its theme unique among drama series. Season 6's plotlines, including the replacement of Leo McGarry as White House Chief of Staff by former Press Secretary C.J. Cregg, have lent themselves to more of the witty rapid-fire dialogue for which Sorkin's scripts were noted. This trend appears to be accelerating with the sometimes inadvertently-comic Toby Ziegler taking on new duties as acting press secretary, the transfer of Bartlet's bodyman Charlie Young to C.J. Cregg's staff, and departures from the West Wing of Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and his senior assistant Donna Moss to the campaigns of opposing Democratic presidential candidates. The addition of Kristin Chenoweth as Cregg's potential replacement has also been a breath of fresh air for the series. Generally, the series has rebounded a bit after a low point including most of the fifth season and the first two episodes of the sixth season. The recent episode "Faith Based Initiative", written by series regular Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman), reminded some of the rapid-fire, politically intricate and yet dryly witty scripts from the first few seasons which made the Sorkin-created and penned drama such a big hit. Ironically, the episode chronicled Lyman's departure from the White House to run the presidential campaign of Congressman Matt Santos. The passage of time on the show relative to that of the "real world" has always been somewhat ambiguous. When "The West Wing" premiered in late 1999, the Bartlet Administration was said to have been in office for a little less than a year, implying that Bartlet was initially elected in 1998. (In real life, U.S. presidential elections were held in 1996, 2000, and 2004.) In the second season episode "17 People", Toby Ziegler questions whether Vice President Hoynes will be dropped from the 2002 ticket, specifically mentioning the year. That election was held in the fall of 2002 in real world time, but it appears the show sometime between then and Season 6 moved a year ahead of time; the filing deadline for the New Hampshire primary (which in show time should be January 2006) was in the episode "Faith Based Initiative", aired in January 2005.

Presidential elections

The last real president that is known to have existed in the show's universe is Richard Nixon. The show has never discussed how the election cycle was knocked off the real schedule by 2 years; it would have had to have been the result of a constitutional amendment. Presidents in between Nixon and Bartlet include Democrat D. Wire Newman (James Cromwell) and Republican Owen Lassiter (now deceased). It has not been clearly stated that Newman and Lassiter served directly before President Bartlet, although it is implied that they did. It is clear, however, that Newman (vaguely based on Jimmy Carter) lost an election to Lassiter (based on Ronald Reagan) who then proceded to serve for two full terms. In an episode centering around Lassiter's funeral, Newman and former Acting President Glen Allen Walken, were shown to be the only two surviving former Presidents. Ronald Reagan is, however, referenced in the show through the 'Ronald Reagan' medical center which is clearly featured in the opening 2 episodes of season 2. The story of the 1998 general election in which Bartlet won his first term has not been elaborated on significantly. However, Bartlet's battle for the Democratic nomination in 1998, primarily against Senator John Hoynes of Texas but also including Senator William Wiley of Washington, was the subject of the opening two-part episode of the second season, "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen". The third season episode "Bartlet For America" filled in some more details of the 1998 election, such as how Leo McGarry convinced then-New Hampshire Governor Bartlet to run, how Bartlet came to pick Senator Hoynes as his running mate, and how Bartlet collapsed from a MS attack and Leo had an alcoholic relapse on the night of the final debate. Both of these episodes made extensive use of flashbacks to show these events. Bartlet's opposition in the 1998 general election has never been named and little has been said about that election. What has been said is that Bartlet won with only 48%, implying a three-way race. The electoral college vote was close, with Bartlet winning 303 electoral votes. This implies that his opponent won 238 electoral votes. It is explicitly stated that Bartlet won in the state of Oregon by a few thousand votes, and it is suggested that he won the states of New Hampshire and California. The 2002 election pitted Bartlet, running for a second term, against Republican Governor Rob Ritchie of Florida (James Brolin). Bartlet was not challenged for the Democratic nomination, while Governor Ritchie emerged from a large Republican field. The race was very tight until Bartlet's spectacular performance in the one and only presidential debate. Bartlet ended up winning in a landslide in both the electoral college and popular vote. Democratic Senator Howard Stackhouse flirted with a third-party run as a liberal alternative to Bartlet, but withdrew from the race well in advance of the election and endorsed President Bartlet. Bartlet's staff briefly considered dropping incumbent Vice President John Hoynes from the ticket in favor of Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but Bartlet vetoed the idea, believing that Hoynes was best qualified to serve as president if Bartlet were to die or become incapacitated. The 2006 election, which will probably occur in during the seventh season, in November 2005, due to the speeding up of the show's timeline. The election, still in the nominating stages, will probably be coming out of the primary stage by the end of season 6. The major candidates for the Democratic and Republican nominations include:

Vice President Bob Russell (Gary Cole): Russell is currently the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and has been since the decision of Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker (Ed O'Neill) not to run. As the sitting Vice President, he started off with a large advantage in organization and fundraising. Russell is a moderate who as a Congressman was tied to Western Colorado mining interests. Ironically, Congressional Republicans originally agreed to "Bingo Bob" Russell as a compromise appointment to the VP slot mostly because they felt he would not be a viable candidate for President in 2006, as he had served in the House of Representatives without great distinction and was considered extremely boring. Russell's committed delegate lead is currently not known.
Texas Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits): A former mayor of Houston, Santos entered the campaign at the urging of then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman. Lyman had previously been offered control of both the Russell and Hoynes campaigns but was dissatisfied with both candidates. At the suggestion of Leo McGarry, Josh decided to find his own candidate. Mirroring McGarry's convincing eight years earlier of an obscure, yet accomplished, liberal to run a hopeless campaign, Lyman found retiring Congressman Santos, who decided to make a very late entry into the field. Santos polled in the low single digits in Iowa, but Santos emerged from the pack of also-rans and vaulted into a strong third place finish in the New Hampshire primary with 19 percent of the vote, after delivering an honest and direct last-ditch appeal to the voters. After winning the Arizona and New Mexico primaries, Santos was still in third place behind Russell and Hoynes in most states heading into Super Tuesday, but the disclosure of a Hoynes sexual harassment incident and some savvy political gambits allowed Santos to squeak out a hard-fought victory over Russell in the important California primary, just days after it seemed as if he would finish third. With the apparent demise of Hoynes, Matt Santos has emerged as Vice President Russell's main rival for the Democratic nomination.
Former Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson): The former presumptive Democratic nominee in 2006 chose to resign the vice presidency due to a sex scandal involving improper disclosure of classified information just months into his second term. After a media campaign and book to clear his name, Hoynes entered the race as an alternative candidate to Russell. Hoynes has at times been portrayed as a traditional moderate DLC Democrat, but attempted to run to Russell's left to secure the 2006 nomination. After the disclosure to a tabloid newspaper of an incident involving then-Senator Hoynes allegedly sexually harassing a college student shortly before Super Tuesday, the Hoynes campaign went into a free fall, although Hoynes has not withdrawn from the race.
Senator Ricky Rafferty (Mel Harris): A spoiler candidate in the Democratic Party race, Senator Rafferty entered the race late, at the urging of Toby Ziegler, who secretly helped her campaign. Rafferty is the most liberal candidate in the Democratic field, and is not considered a contender for anything beyond the Vice Presidency.
California Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda): Although when he was last featured in an episode his campaign was floundering, Vinick has surged while almost entirely off-screen into becoming the likely Republican presidential nominee. Vinick is a maverick moderate who seems to be roughly based on real-life Senator John McCain, although Vinick's pro-choice abortion record stands in stark contrast to McCain's pro-life record. Leo McGarry and Josh Lyman, discussing the state of the race right after Vinick declared, believed that Senator Vinick would crush Vice President Russell in a general election because he would have broad appeal to moderates and likely carry his home state of California. It is possible that Congressman Santos would fare better against Vinick, since he would be likely to carry his own home state of Texas. Senator Vinick's agnostacism after the death of his wife six years previous are proving to be troubling for the moderate Republican.
Former Acting President and Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken (John Goodman): It has been mentioned in passing that Walken is or was in the race for the Republican nomination, but recently Senator Vinick is said to have been dominant in the Republican primaries. The character has not appeared on the show during the election arc.
Reverend Don Butler (Don S. Davis): Reverend Butler is a socially conservative Christian preacher, and was the last signficant Republican opponent to Senator Vinick. He says that he was born in a trailer park in Appalachia, and that while he was tempted to be Vinick's Vice President, he could not in good conscience support Vinick's stance on abortion, which is pro-choice and anti partial-birth abortion.

It would appear that the candidates in the general election will be Santos and Vinick, since it has been announced that John Wells Productions has both Smits and Alda under contract for season 7 of the series.(In episodes before the Democratic Convention, Santos,Russell and Hoynes are all still in the running.) The shakeups in the cast increase the series' odds of lasting longer than seven seasons, if ratings indicate, since the traditional seven-year-contract-limit issue won't cause the production company as many financial headaches.

Supreme Court appointments

Several episodes of "The West Wing" have focused on the President's power to fill vacancies on the United States Supreme Court by nominating justices, who take office if the United States Senate confirms them. To date, President Bartlet's appointments have been:

Associate Justice Roberto Mendoza (Edward James Olmos) — (nominated in "The Short List," Jan. 1999; confirmed in "Six Meetings Before Lunch," April 2000).
Chief Justice of the United States Evelyn Baker Lang (Glenn Close) — ("The Supremes," March 2004)
Associate Justice Christopher Mulready (William Fichtner) — ("The Supremes," March 2004)

Presidential Order of Succession

President — Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen)
Vice President — Bob Russell (Gary Cole)
Speaker of the House — Jeff Haffley (Steven Culp)
President Pro Tempore — Joseph Furman
Secretary of State — Lewis Berryhill (William Devane)
Secretary of the Treasury — Teresa Browning (Marcie Lynn Ross)
Secretary of Defense — Miles Hutchinson (Steve Ryan)
Attorney General — Alan Fisk (Dylan Baker)
Secretary of the Interior — Bill Horton (Edmund L. Shaff)
Secretary of Agriculture — Roger Tribbey (Harry Groener)
Secretary of Commerce — Mitch Bryce (Alan Dale)
Secretary of Labor — Carl Reid
Secretary of Health and Human Services — unknown
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — Bill Fisher (Jim Jansen)
Secretary of Transportation — unknown
Secretary of Energy — Bill Trotter
Secretary of Education — unknown
Secretary of Veterans Affairs — unknown

Secretaries who have names but no actors listed as having played them have only been mentioned on the show. These listings are as of Season Six. There have been several Cabinet members replaced in the intervening years; it is possible that others have been replaced as well, but not mentioned on the show.

Awards

The West Wing has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, along with 19 individual Emmys awarded for the writers, actors and crew. It holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season. The actors who have won Emmys include:

Allison Janney — Best Supporting Actress (2000, 2001), Best Actress (2002, 2004)
Richard Schiff — Best Supporting Actor (2000)
Bradley Whitford — Best Supporting Actor (2001)
John Spencer — Best Supporting Actor (2002)
Stockard Channing — Best Supporting Actress (2002)

W.G. "Snuffy" Walden (thirtysomething) received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music, 2000. Martin Sheen, the central character and the most acclaimed actor on the show, has yet to win an Emmy, though he did win a Golden Globe for Best Actor. The show has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.