The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin, running since 1999 and as of 2004 approaching its sixth season. The show is set in the White House run by a fictional Democratic administration. The West Wing of the White House is the modern day location of the President's Oval Office and the offices of most of his staff. The original White House, to which the West Wing is connected at basement level, is used for head of state functions as the residence of the President, with governmental functions based in the West Wing and in other ancillary buildings in the White House compound.
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Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The West Wing is set in a present-day world that 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. Presidents since Richard Nixon do not seem to exist in the West Wing world. Prior to President Bartlet's election, the White House was occupied by a two-term conservative Republican president (based on Ronald Reagan), and before him, the presidency was held by a one-term liberal Democrat (loosely based on Jimmy Carter).
Some real world leaders, such as Yasser Arafat and Queen Elizabeth II exist in the show's universe, but most foreign countries are given fictional rulers. Fictional countries also exist in the West Wing universe — "Qumar", a terrorist-sponsoring Middle Eastern state based in part on Taliban Afghanistan, and in part on 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 Kuhndu", an African nation blighted by AIDS and civil war.
Josiah Edward 'Jed' Bartlet (Martin Sheen), President of the United States. Although the show has an ensemble cast, the main character in the series has become the fictional U.S. President Bartlet. Bartlet represents, in many ways, a liberal Democrat's fantasy of the ideal president: a fierce intellect, with great (though not infallible) personal integrity, toughness, but tempered with essential compassion for the less fortunate and a sense of humor.
President Bartlet is an accomplished economist, with a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics and a Nobel Prize in Economics. He is a fictitious descendant of the real-life Josiah Bartlett, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Like his ancestor, Bartlet was a governor of New Hampshire. He was elected President on the Democratic ticket, and as the series continued, was elected to a second term. He is a devout Catholic, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who once considered becoming a priest. He is married to Abigail Bartlet, equally intelligent, and a physician. The President suffers from multiple sclerosis, which at one time put the future of his presidency in doubt.
Bartlet was shot in the first season cliffhanger finale. The President's wounds were not serious and the assassination attempt was actually intended at his personal assistant, Charlie Young, not Bartlet.
In the Season Two finale Two Cathedrals, Bartlet announced to the country that he suffers from multiple sclerosis, and had been keeping it a secret, although this had been previously revealed to the viewers in the Season One episode He Shall, From Time to Time...
President Bartlet's daughter, Zoey, was kidnapped the day of her graduation from Georgetown University, possibly due to the Bartlet-ordered assassination of the Qumari defense minister. While Zoey was missing, President Bartlet invoked Section 3 of the 25th Amendment, giving up the power of the presidency. Due to the resignation a few days earlier of Vice President John Hoynes, the Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken, a Republican, became Acting President. Zoey was recovered with only minor injuries several days later and President Bartlet reassumed his office a few hours later.
Leo Thomas McGarry (John Spencer), White House Chief of Staff, originally suggested that Bartlet run for president. As President Bartlet's top advisor, Leo has an office adjacent to the Oval Office and sits in with the President in the Situation Room. Leo is very involved in the formation of policy and the day-to-day operations of the White House and its staff. Leo is a former United States Secretary of Labor, an Air Force veteran in the Vietnam War, and is also a recovering alcoholic and valium addict. His problems with alcohol, as well as his workaholic attitude towards his job as Chief of Staff, led to his divorce from Jenny.
Leo and Jenny have a daughter, Mallory, who is a recurring character and was a potential love interest for Sam Seaborn. They spent most of their time arguing; Mallory usually picks the fights just to have Sam argue with her.
Samuel Norman 'Sam' Seaborn (Rob Lowe), Deputy Communications Director. Sam left a job at a prominent New York law firm to write speeches for Bartlet during his campaign for the presidency. Sam's greatest strength and sometimes flaw is his unflinching idealism. His enduring faith in and love for the American political process are important aspects of his character. In a third season episode, President Bartlet told Sam that he would run for president later on in his career.
During the fourth season, Sam decides to run for Congress in his home district in Orange County, California in a special election after the Democratic candidate who died of a heart attack won the election posthumously. It was never revealed whether Sam won or lost the election: he was losing when he last appeared on the show but presumably would've come back to the White House if he wasn't elected. Since his departure, Sam has been mentioned a few times in passing.
Joshua 'Josh' Lyman (Bradley Whitford), Deputy White House Chief of Staff. Josh originally worked for Senator John Hoynes, Bartlet's opponent for the Democratic nomination in 1998. However, at the request of Josh's father's old friend Leo McGarry, Josh went to New Hampshire to see Jed Bartlet speak, and immediately left Hoynes's campaign to work for Bartlet. Shortly after Josh joined the Bartlet campaign, he hired a college dropout named Donnatella Moss as his assistant despite her total lack of qualification. Donna has been Josh's assistant, close friend, and possible object of his affections ever since. On the night that Bartlet won the Illinois Primary, the key to winning the Democratic nomination, Josh's father died. Josh rushed to the airport to fly home as soon as possible, and in a touching scene, Bartlet delayed giving his victory speech in order to follow Josh to the airport and make sure he was okay. Josh was also seriously wounded in the season finale of the first season by white supremacists trying to assassinate Charlie for his relationship with Zoey, the President's daughter. Josh spent a substantial amount of time in the hospital, and was later diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shooting.
Tobias Zachary 'Toby' Ziegler (Richard Schiff), White House Director of Communications. Toby is the only member of the West Wing staff other than Leo to have been with Bartlet since the beginning of his first campaign for the presidency. On the night that Josh came to see Bartlet speak in New Hampshire, Leo fired everyone on Bartlet's staff except for Toby. Toby is cynical and sarcastic, but passionate about his job and a brilliant speechwriter. Toby's ex-wife, Andrea Wyatt, is a member of Congress. During the fourth season, it was revealed that Toby and his ex-wife had conceived twins together. His ex-wife is later sued by a group on grounds that her nondisclosure of her pregnancy during her campaign for re-election constituted election fraud.
Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg (Allison Janney), White House Press Secretary. C.J. worked for a California public relations company before coming to work for Bartlet. Ironically, she was fired from that job on the same day that Toby came to California to ask her to join the Bartlet campaign. As Press Secretary, C.J. is sharp, incredibly well-spoken and witty. During the third season, C.J. received a series of serious death threats, which led to her being placed under the protection of Secret Service agent Simon Donovan, who became romantically involved with C.J. Shortly after going off-duty, Donovan was shot and killed after becoming caught up in the armed robbery of a grocery store in the episode "Posse Comitatus". C.J. has also had a long on-again, off-again flirtation with reporter Danny Concannon, although the two decided they could not date because it would be a conflict of interest.
Madeline 'Mandy' Hampton (Moira Kelly), White House media consultant and former girlfriend of Josh Lyman. The character left the show without story explanation after the first season. Although no reference to her departure was made in the plot, writer Aaron Sorkin mentions in an official West Wing book that her character "wasn't working" and that her departure was amicable. Mandy was originally intended to be the main romantic foil for Josh Lyman, but after a few episodes it became clear that Donna worked better in that role and Mandy never fit in well with the rest of the ensemble cast. It can be assumed that the character of Mandy left the White House sometime in the period of roughly six months between the first season's finale and the end of the second season's third episode.
Donnatella 'Donna' Moss (Janel Moloney), Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning. Donna is Josh's assistant and has a complex relationship with her boss. She found out in the third season that she is a no longer a United States citizen, after the Minnesota town in which she was born ends up in Canada after border changes.
Donna was a recurring character during the first season, although she appeared in every episode, and has been a regular since the second. She was seriously injured as a result of a terrorist attack on the American convoy carrying her and others in Gaza. At the end of the fifth season it was revealed that Donna has a pulmonary embolism and must undergo life-threatening surgery to survive.
Charlie Young (Dulé Hill), the President's personal aide who has developed a father/son relationship with the President. Charlie is in charge of determining and maintaining the President's daily schedule. He originally came to the White House to get a part-time job as a bike messenger, but he was picked by Ms. DeLaGuardia (later to be known as Debbie Fiderer, the President's secretary) as someone to replace the President's former body man.
Charlie's mother was a police officer in D.C. who was killed in the line of duty (revealed in the episode "A Proportional Response"). He takes care of his sister, Deena (known later as Deanna), as his father is long gone. Though he had high scores and grades, Charlie decided not to go to college until Deena finished school. However, during Season 2, he decided to take courses at Georgetown University while still keeping up with the demands of his job.
Charlie began dating Zoey Bartlet, the President's younger daughter, in Season 1. He was the target of an assassination attempt at the end of Season 1. He and Zoey later broke up, though he often professed his love for her, much to her chagrin (and secret delight). As Season 5 progressed, we saw that Charlie briefly had a new love interest, although there is no indication on whether Charlie and Zoey will reunite.
Charlie is also a mentor to Anthony, a troubled young man whose "Big Brother", Simon Donovan (a Secret Service Agent assigned to protect C.J. Cregg), was killed (at the end of Season 3).
Abigail 'Abbey' Bartlet (Stockard Channing), First Lady, a world-class physician, and wife of more than thirty years to President Bartlet.
To protect her husband's secret, Abbey gave the President doses of betaseron, which helped keep him MS in check. It was only after he collapsed and was confronted by Leo that she revealed their secret. Her decision to medicate her husband - in violation of several AMA rules - caused her to decide to give up her medical license for the duration of her stay in the White House. However, she has begun to do some work at a local clinic.
Abbey was a recurring character during the first two seasons and has been a regular since the third, despite the fact that she does not appear in several episodes.
William 'Will' Bailey (Joshua Malina), Deputy Communications Director following Sam's departure, later Chief of Staff to Vice President Russell. After Sam left for California, Bailey came to the White House with a note from Sam to Toby that read: "Toby — He's one of us." Toby, after meeting him, first characterized him as deeply schooled in Eastern philosophy.
He was gracefully added to the staff over the course of a few episodes. There was a requisite amount of hazing when he was first hired and moved into Sam's old office for a temporary three-week contract to help with the president's second inaugural address. He soon had a chance to win everyone over slowly and the president eventually swore him in as deputy.
His father is the former Supreme Commander of NATO forces, whose ideological footsteps he seems to follow in while making a name for himself with quiet resolve. Will left Bartlet's staff soon after the appointment of Congressman Bob Russell as Vice President of the United States to take an offer from Russell to be his Chief of Staff. A main reason for his move to Russell's office was to prepare the Vice President for a possible presidential run in 2006.
Bartlet role was expanded as the series progressed. The early shows were centered on a young speech-writer, Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe. Sheen's sometimes Clintonesque performance of Bartlet, raised that character's profile, sidelining Lowe's Sam Seaborn. The shift is the reason for Lowe's departure from the show during its fourth season [1] (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 the Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, many wondered whether the show could retain its relevance and topicality.
Following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the third season premiere was pushed back 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, albeit with no specific reference to September 11. While Isaac and Ishmael didn't get universal critical acclaim, it nonetheless illustrated the show's flexibility in addressing current events.
When Aaron Sorkin left the show after the fourth season, many expected the show to take on 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, acclaimed standard of ensemble acting, plus an unprecedented accuracy in showing how the presidency operates, have earned The West Wing respect, even among those who do not share its unambiguously expressed views.
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, some of whom feel so passionately about the switch that they are actively campaigning for the show to be cancelled, citing Sorkin's departure as the sole cause of the show's "decline". However, most fans continue to enjoy the show, acknowledging that despite Sorkin's departure it is still far superior to other shows of its ilk.
There is a continuing, unrequited love story between Josh Lyman and Donna Moss. The pair has not only a close working relationship, but a close personal friendship as well. Since the first episode of the show and continuing through its entire run to date, the pair constantly flirts and banters with each other:
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:
W.G. "Snuffy" Walden received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music, 2000.
Each of the main cast members (with the exception of Joshua Malina) has been nominated for Emmys. Strangely, Martin Sheen, the central character and probably 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.
A programme of home video releases is underway; as of August 2004, the following seasons of The West Wing were available: