And It's Surely to Their Credit (1 Nov. 2000)

Sam helps Josh battle his health insurance company; Ainsley Hayes encounters her firebrand boss and hostile colleagues; Abby gives the President some good news about his health; C.J. discovers a retiring General intends to publicly criticize the president.

Director:

Christopher Misiano

Writers:

Aaron Sorkin (creator), Aaron Sorkin (teleplay),

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
Stockard Channing	...	Abbey Bartlet
John Larroquette	...	Lionel Tribbey, White House Counsel
Emily Procter	...	Ainsley Hayes
Daniel Roebuck	...	Lieutenant Buckley
Tom Bower	...	General Barrie
Paul Perri	...	Steve Joyce
Steven Flynn	...	Mark Brookline

Storyline

Josh discovers that his insurance company is refusing to pay for his life-saving emergency surgery after being shot; newly-hired Republican strategist Ainsley Hayes is justifiably nervous about meeting her boss, the White House Chief Counsel with a reputation for volatility and partisanship; President Bartlett's attempts to record his weekly radio address are complicated by exciting news from Abby about his health; C.J. goes on the offensive after learning a retiring three-star general intends to publicly criticize the President.

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Plot Keywords:

republican | radio broadcast | reporter | attorney | reference to the pirates of penzance | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 2000 (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 trying to convince Josh to sue the white supremacists who shot him, Sam lists several court cases, including Brown v. Invisible Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan., Vietnamese Fisherman's Association v. the Knights of the KKK, and Donald v. United Klans of America. These are all real court cases brought and won by the Southern Poverty Law Center (a Montgomery, Alabama-based civil rights organization) against various racist, anti-semitic, and anti-immigrant groups on behalf of people (or survivors of people) who had been victims of those groups.

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Goofs

During the "Previously on the West Wing" segment at the beginning, when Ainsley Hayes tells her friends "And I'm their lawyer," she says the word "lawyer" rather sharply and then looks pointedly at Bruce. In the original scene in the previous episode ("In This White House"), it was clearly a different filming of the line, which was said less angrily, with a bit of a smile playing about her lips (as she knows she's going to surprise them), and without the look upward at Bruce afterward.

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Quotes

Sam Seaborn: See, I was told you were just going to be working in the Majority Counsel's office, which I wasn't wild about to begin with, but it's my understanding I'd be talking to Brookline and Joyce, seeing as how they work for me.
Ainsley Hayes: I was taking initiative.
Sam Seaborn: Well, wasn't that spunky of you.
Ainsley Hayes: Sam, do you think there's any chance that you could be rude to me tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday. I will be here. You can call me and be rude by phone or you can stop by and do it in person. 'Cause I think if I have to ...

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Connections

References Meet the Press (1947)

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Soundtracks

"West Wing Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written by W.G. Snuffy Walden
Performed by Pete Anthony

User Reviews

the Gilbert & Sullivan episode

Ainsley's second episode is startlingly sharp, compared to her debut. Two junior staffers greet her enthusiastic efficiency with disdain and outright harassment. Irrepressible White House Chief Counsel Lionel Tribby (John Laroquette, in the first of two wonderfully outsized episodes) goes ballistic when told of her hiring, but is firing her tormentors by the end. Bartlet gets medical clearance to have sex again...but carelessly dismisses the life of Nellie Bly in the presence of the First Lady, putting the kaibosh on his hopes. Brandishing a cricket bat, Tribby interrupts an Oval radio address. At the end, the senior staff throw a Pinafore party for Ainsley, in her steam pipe trunk distribution office.