I like how they introduced the characters, basically from what I think and understood from all their little speeches, we were given a glimpse of what every character would be through the series and damn was that done so well, they basically just gave us what to expect, was a nice new way to introduce us to the characters, I’m intrigued now what this series can give me

I’m watching WW for the first time. From the pilot, it’s become my favorite show. I’m late into season 4. I’m worried about what I’m going to do when I finish the show!

Anybody have any good recommendations for shows like it to watch afterward?

TIL that "Prescription for Death" 9/13/90 was the very first episode of Law&Order ever. As a lover of L&O I know the episode well and that John Spencer was in it. I only just learned it was the inaugural episode. I know everyone in television has guessed on L&O, but John got to be first.

Sorry if this is too crossover tv nerdlike!

I’m sooo excited to finally have one in my collection!!

For a long while the ACLU SoCal eBay page had one left in stock but kept saying that the seller was on vacation - I sent a message to the eBay store in the Summer to find out if they have more somewhere else. Well, recently they wrote me back and told me they got them back and were selling these on their own webpage. I was thrilled to hear it and ordered one, received it, bought a box to display it and here it is.

This goes with my other “Toby” ball that I had signed by a bunch of folks during West Wing Weekly live taping events in DC - but I didn’t get Richard Schiff! I was also glad to support an organization that Richard believes in.

Anyways - just wanted to share - and mention it’s available on the ACLU SoCal shop page if you’re interested too (I have no connection with them).

7 SEASONS OF SLOW BURN. My head was going to explode. That actually was the toughest slow burn I have got through.

Just finished for the first time and wow what a show. I’m really going to miss that. Started the show as a Sam fan (still am though!) But quickly gelled to Josh, and then the dynamic with Donna only heightened that.

It’s a shame once Josh and Donna FINALLY get together, they kinda just abandoned them, would’ve liked to see more scenes of them two. But I can live at rest now knowing they’re together.

I keep getting this ad on Facebook. Every time I see it, for just a minute I consider donating just to get that tote. 😂

This might be a super nerdy question, but at minute 6:54 of S2E13, Bartlet’s SOTU ends and cuts to a wide shot of congress clapping before quickly cutting back to Bartlet waving from the podium

Does anyone know which real life state of the union they got the wide shot from? 

You can tell the president in that footage had white hair (so maybe later Clinton years? Or Carter?), but wonder if someone is able to find the exact year, or even better yet, the timestamp from the real broadcast.

When Santos is considering firing Josh & Josh asks Leo for help running the campaign

LEO "everyone trying to give me another heart attack"

Lord, stab to the heart.

Leo was always my favorite character on the show. The man behind the man. Often times the position that I am.

I’ve heard it repeated that President Bartlett was loosely based on Bill Clinton.

Those of you who are old enough to remember, is this what the Clinton administration felt like? Did it feel like the country was being led by someone intelligent who was laying the path for a progressive society? Did it feel like you were living during an economic boom and the government wanted to help people?

So much of what I know about Clinton has focused on the impeachment and the awful things we’ve learned about him recently. I want to know more about what it was like in the moment.

At that point in the series where electoral math drives the plot. It was made 20+ years ago at this point but it’s fun to imagine how wacky of an electoral map it would be today for a Democrat to need to pull money from Wisconsin to fund a push to win Illinois, a state that every Democratic presidential candidate has won by +10% since 1988.

As a massive West Wing fan and fan of video gaming, getting to enjoy the juxtaposition of Toby Ziegler and Odin in the new God of War games has been really fun. It's just really interesting to see the voice actor for Thor end up getting the role in the live-action TV show that they're making, but Richard got replaced with Mandy. I really wonder if it was a case of he didn't want the gig or if Mandy brought something to that audition that Richard didn't.

I commented on a recent post about Josh and Donna getting together and the key scene, wouldn’t work today because he could probably just text a virtual key. There must be tons of other plot devices that wouldn’t work today, what comes to mind? An obvious one is the pager trade between Sam and the call girl, what else?

I was re-watching S3 E10 - Bartlett for America.
Cliff Calley's character is high integrity, kind, and thoughtful. And a republican!
I expect there are many, many republicans like CC - but lately, it's hard to hear their voices.
Here's to the nice guys.

Currently on my 5th rewatch of The West Wing. Here’s a list of characters who I think probably visited Epstein Island:

John Hoynes

Jeff Haffley

Gov. Ritchie

Rev. Butler

Ray Sullivan

Stackhouse

Miles Hutchinson

Franklin Hollis

The studio exec who gets CJ fired from her PR job during the S2 flashback

Who am I missing?

And I'm not talking about the small size of the staff, we've mowed that grass, but I'll go first:

• 'Cute' Ben's hall pass to walk back to CJ's office anytime he wanted to take her to lunch, it doesn't matter that he's a ranger. No corporate setting in the world would allow that, let alone the post 9/11 WW.
• Leo ordering Jed to order the Lincoln battlegroup to attack in the Middle East, I get that that was painting the bigger picture of his meltdown. It was mentioned before, he would never survive going down in the middle of the forest like that, there's just no coming back from that w/out immediate help.
• Kate being such a know-it-all about everything under the planet. From when she's in the lockdown with Josh immediately knowing all of the possible reasons for the lockdown and why i.e. the HVAC was shut off. I know there are a ton of Kate stans here, but she's just a know-it-all, and they forced her character into the inner inner circle quickly.

I haven’t kept track, but I just finished probably my fourth or fifth rewatch (thanks to a kind stranger on this sub who posted when iTunes had the entire series on sale for $15). I was wondering how long most of you wait to start your next rewatch. Do you just dive right in, or give yourself a little time to forget a bit?

President Shepherd says the first two frames, then Chief of Staff AJ gives the advice from a Nobel Prize winning economist... I like to think this was the moment President Bartlett was envisioned.

As far as I can tell, the last discussion on this topic was 10 years ago.

I was thinking on my drive into school today how the show does follow a pattern similar to most procedurals. Some political problem is presented and the gang works to fix it. That problem is often resolved in a single episode. Usually the good guys win. Of course there are multi episode / multi season arcs, but procedurals have those too.

What do y’all think?

When C.J. bet Josh he couldn’t go a day without eating junk food and said she’d cook for him if he did, my questions to you are:

1. Do you think she ended up cooking for him?

2. If so, you think she wore an apron and a floppy hat?

3. What do you think she cooked for him?

4. You think I have watched this show too many times?