100,000 Airplanes (16 Jan. 2002)

On the night of the State of the Union, Sam has to explain the process of writing the speech and grading reaction to it to a magazine reporter (Traylor Howard) throughout the evening; C.J. ... See full summary »

Director:

David Nutter

Writers:

Aaron Sorkin (creator), Aaron Sorkin,

Stars:

Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Rob Lowe	...	Sam Seaborn
Dulé Hill	...	Charlie Young
Allison Janney	...	C.J. Cregg
Janel Moloney	...	Donna Moss
Richard Schiff	...	Toby Ziegler
John Spencer	...	Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford	...	Josh Lyman
Martin Sheen	...	President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Amy Gardner
Marlee Matlin	...	Joey Lucas
Traylor Howard	...	Lisa Shureborn
Bill O'Brien	...	Kenny Thurman
Nancy Linehan Charles	...	Oncologist #1
Howard S. Miller	...	Dr. Ken Walker
Nicholas Hormann	...	Oncologist Bobby

Storyline

On the night of the State of the Union, Sam has to explain the process of writing the speech and grading reaction to it to a magazine reporter (Traylor Howard) throughout the evening; C.J. arranged the coverage unaware that the reporter, Lisa Sherbourn, is Sam's ex-fiancée; flashing back to the speechwriting process, we see the president dining with several of Abbey's medical colleagues, and they ponder the future of cancer research, motivating Bartlet to ask that a section be added to the SOTU in which he calls for U.S. scientists to find a cancer cure by 2010; the staff, convinced that the Congressional censure is weighing heavily on the president, tries to talk him out of this bold but risky proposal.

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Plot Keywords:

number in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 23, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Sam is describing the process for writing the SOTU, and says "Whatever it takes to get started", the three books placed on the desktop are The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Writings of Abraham Lincoln Vol. 8, and Cicero.

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Goofs

Joey polled 16 Republicans, 16 Democrats, and 12 Independents, and found that 69% said the President was a strong leader. This is mathematically impossible, as 30 divided by 44 is 68% and 31 divided by 44 is 70%.

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Quotes

Sam Seaborn: Over the past half century, we've split the atom, we've spliced the gene and we've roamed Tranquility Base. We've reached for the stars and never have we been closer to having them in our grasp. New science, new technology is making the difference between life and death, and so we need a national commitment equal to this unparalleled moment of possibility. And so I announce to you tonight that I will bring the full resources of the Federal Government and the full reach of my office to this ...

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Soundtracks

"The Surrey With the Fringe on Top (from Oklahoma!)"
(uncredited)
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers

User Reviews

Inspiration, and then a reality check

In season 2 there was a string of what I thought were four slightly underrated episodes, starting with The Leadership Breakfast and ending with The War at Home. One of those episodes was Bartlet's Third State of the Union, which made the interesting choice of skipping over the making of the speech, providing just a glimpse of the preparation, and just a glimpse of the speech itself, and focusing on the reception. 100,000 Airplanes, a highlight of season 3, is also about a state of the union, but it's focused on the making of the speech. I'm not going to argue whether the season 2 or season 3 episode was better: both were great at looking at something from different angles.

This episode is also interesting partly because we learn a little more about Sam. I learnt he was engaged (although I'm not sure if that wasn't mentioned before), and we met the girl and heard why the relationship ended. He describes to her how the White House staff considered promising that they would find a cure for cancer by the end of the decade. Maybe it's good that they didn't because it's 2010 now and there's still no cure. Still, for a moment the thought was uplifting. Is it true we're close to a cancer breakthrough? It was good to see the president wanting to take charge and pursue the possibility. It may seem like an impossible promise to make, but Bartlet takes inspiration from President Kennedy's promise to land on the moon, and it inspired me too. As Sam noted, it was "optimistic"- it's one of those things that makes you feel good about government. It's the kind of thing that makes a president's legacy.

But then we get a reality check. Sam and the president were the only ones who thought the promise would be a good idea, but then they admit to themselves that this is a promise they can't make. Still, Sam's speech regarding the promise is nice, we can share in the dream one last time.