The Leadership Breakfast (10 Jan. 2001)

Toby wants to use a bipartisan breakfast to discuss real issues instead of making it a staged event; Sam floats the idea of moving the press room across the street; Leo wants Josh to apologize to a columnist on his behalf; Leo and Toby realize they need to start thinking about reelection.

Director:

Scott Winant

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
Felicity Huffman	...	Ann Stark
Corbin Bernsen	...	Henry Shallick
NiCole Robinson	...	Margaret
Melissa Fitzgerald	...	Carol
William Duffy	...	Staffer Larry
Peter James Smith	...	Staffer Ed
Kim Webster	...	Ginger

Storyline

A bipartisan breakfast is being carefully staged to avoid any chance of conflict, so Toby strikes a deal with the majority leader's new Chief of Staff to get a discussion of real issues on the agenda. Sam thinks working conditions can be improved moving the press room across the street, but C.J. thinks it's a bad idea. Leo asks Josh to apologize to an important columnist on his behalf after making an embarrassing comment. Maneuvers by political opponents prompt Toby and Leo to begin thinking about reelection sooner than they expected.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 2001 (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:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this episode, Josh and Sam try to lite a fire in a White House fireplace only to find that it is only decorative when they set the fire alarms off. In January 2009, life imitated art when the Obama administration's new Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter R. Orszag, tried to light a fire in a fireplace in his office that filled other office suites with smoke and set the fire alarms off.

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Goofs

Charlie hands President Bartlet some remarks which Sam produced for the breakfast. President Bartlet reads aloud (with approval) from the text: "We spend so much time demonizing the other side, treating our opponents as if they were threatening strangers with whom we share nothing in common." Neither Bartlet nor Sam would have let a redundancy like "share nothing in common" into the text of a Presidential address.

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Quotes

Toby Ziegler: Leo, Ann Stark's a wartime consigliere. That's why she was bumped up.
Leo McGarry: I'm a wartime consigliere, too, Toby.
Toby Ziegler: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: I was just hoping it's be peacetime a little longer.
Toby Ziegler: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: Son of a bitch.
Toby Ziegler: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: Shake my hand.
[Toby and Leo shake hands]
Leo McGarry: We just formed it.
[...]

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Connections

References Ice Station Zebra (1968)

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Soundtracks

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

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