The West Wing 

Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.

Creator:

Aaron Sorkin

Stars:

Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney

Top Rated TV #72 | Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 118 wins & 263 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Allison Janney	...	C.J. Cregg 155 episodes, 1999-2006
John Spencer	...	Leo McGarry 155 episodes, 1999-2006
Bradley Whitford	...	Josh Lyman 155 episodes, 1999-2006
Martin Sheen	...	President Josiah Bartlet 155 episodes, 1999-2006
Janel Moloney	...	Donna Moss 150 episodes, 1999-2006
Richard Schiff	...	Toby Ziegler 145 episodes, 1999-2006
Dulé Hill	...	Charlie Young 137 episodes, 1999-2006
NiCole Robinson	...	Margaret Hooper / ... 106 episodes, 1999-2006
Melissa Fitzgerald	...	Carol Fitzpatrick / ... 102 episodes, 1999-2006
Rob Lowe	...	Sam Seaborn 85 episodes, 1999-2006
Joshua Malina	...	Will Bailey 80 episodes, 2002-2006
Stockard Channing	...	Abbey Bartlet 69 episodes, 1999-2006

Storyline

Presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.

---

Plot Keywords:

dialogue driven | president | politics | american politics | ensemble cast | 

---

Taglines:

What is Next ?

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a 2014 Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview with Roger Rees (moderated by writer Rick Elice, Rees's husband), Elice said that Rees had originally auditioned to play Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, and it eventually came down to a choice between Rees and John Spencer, who won the role. But after that process, Aaron Sorkin told Roger Rees that he would write a different part for him, which he did: Rees played the recurring character of British advisor (and eventually ambassador) Lord John Marbury throughout the show's run. Elice also said that Sorkin came to Rees for help with tracking down the composer of a piece of music that Sorkin remembered from the Royal Shakespeare Company 1982 production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" that Sorkin wanted to use in the episode "Posse Comitatus"; Rees had played the title character in that production.

---

Goofs

During much of the series, characters refer to "battle carrier groups" as the group of ships that are grouped with an aircraft carrier. The real term for this is "carrier battle group".

---

Quotes

Donna Moss: She should stick around. Your whole campaign is like some Dr. Seuss nightmare - One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, We Fought The Good Fight Fish.

---

Crazy Credits

Episode titles are usually the first thing shown on screen (after recaps). This is one of the only American series to show episode titles before its opening credits.

---

Alternate Versions

The original broadcast and syndicated versions of the entire second season were in a 1.33:1 full-screen format, except on select HD broadcasters. The DVD versions of the second season episodes are in the filmed wide-screen format of 1.78:1

---

Connections

Featured in Popcorn with Peter Travers: Rob Lowe on that Sex Tape, his Oscars Flop and Dancing 'Naked' in his Living Room (2015)

---

Soundtracks

Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude
(uncredited)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Making real drama out of politics

So much political reporting seems to be an attempt to fake a drama out of little material. I missed the West Wing when it started, but am catching up now, and find that it turns the specifics of politics into gripping human drama with a fast pace.

The camera seems to move as quickly as the people, following one conversation, then picking up another as two corridors intersect, and going off after that conversation instead. It's a remarkably effective dramatic device, that helps generate a sense of many topics, issues and personalities all being constantly on the move in response to events.

The acting is uniformly good, and often not on screen, Martin Sheen's president remains a constant presence shaping every story.

Details

Official Sites:

NBC [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

West Wing

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles City Hall - 200 North Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min 60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1