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The West Wing

  • TV Series
  • 1999–20061999–2006
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 44m
IMDb RATING
8.9/10
75K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
253
20
Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Moira Kelly, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, and Bradley Whitford in The West Wing (1999)
Watch Trailer Season 1
Play trailer1:31
3 Videos
99+ Photos
Drama
Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.Inside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
IMDb RATING
8.9/10
75K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
253
20
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Creator
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • Stars
      • Martin Sheen
      • Rob Lowe
      • Allison Janney
    Top credits
    • Creator
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • Stars
      • Martin Sheen
      • Rob Lowe
      • Allison Janney
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 286User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
    Top rated TV #60
    • Won 26 Primetime Emmys
      • 120 wins & 264 nominations total

    Episodes155

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos3

    A Guide to the Work of Aaron Sorkin
    Clip 5:24
    A Guide to the Work of Aaron Sorkin
    Trailer Season 1
    Trailer 1:31
    Trailer Season 1
    Why Sarah Wayne Callies Would Trust RuPaul and C.J. Cregg to Raise a Family
    Video 2:54
    Why Sarah Wayne Callies Would Trust RuPaul and C.J. Cregg to Raise a Family

    Photos981

    Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Kevin Foley, and Mandy Hampton in The West Wing (1999)
    Allison Janney in The West Wing (1999)
    Mary-Louise Parker in The West Wing (1999)
    The West Wing (1999)
    Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, and Bradley Whitford in The West Wing (1999)
    Jimmy Smits and Ed O'Neill in The West Wing (1999)
    Ed O'Neill in The West Wing (1999)
    Melinda McGraw in The West Wing (1999)
    Martin Sheen and Allison Janney in The West Wing (1999)
    Mary McCormack in The West Wing (1999)
    The West Wing (1999)
    Joshua Malina in The West Wing (1999)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Martin Sheen
    Martin Sheen
    • President Josiah Bartlet
    155 episodes155 eps • 1999–2006
    Rob Lowe
    Rob Lowe
    • Sam Seaborn
    85 episodes85 eps • 1999–2006
    Allison Janney
    Allison Janney
    • C.J. Cregg
    155 episodes155 eps • 1999–2006
    John Spencer
    John Spencer
    • Leo McGarry
    155 episodes155 eps • 1999–2006
    Bradley Whitford
    Bradley Whitford
    • Josh Lyman
    155 episodes155 eps • 1999–2006
    Janel Moloney
    Janel Moloney
    • Donna Moss
    150 episodes150 eps • 1999–2006
    Richard Schiff
    Richard Schiff
    • Toby Ziegler
    145 episodes145 eps • 1999–2006
    Dulé Hill
    Dulé Hill
    • Charlie Young
    137 episodes137 eps • 1999–2006
    NiCole Robinson
    NiCole Robinson
    • Margaret Hooper…
    106 episodes106 eps • 1999–2006
    Melissa Fitzgerald
    Melissa Fitzgerald
    • Carol Fitzpatrick…
    102 episodes102 eps • 1999–2006
    Joshua Malina
    Joshua Malina
    • Will Bailey
    80 episodes80 eps • 2002–2006
    Stockard Channing
    Stockard Channing
    • Abbey Bartlet
    69 episodes69 eps • 1999–2006
    Kim Webster
    Kim Webster
    • Ginger…
    57 episodes57 eps • 1999–2006
    Kris Murphy
    Kris Murphy
    • Katie Witt…
    53 episodes53 eps • 1999–2005
    Timothy Davis-Reed
    Timothy Davis-Reed
    • Mark O'Donnell…
    52 episodes52 eps • 2000–2006
    Mary McCormack
    Mary McCormack
    • Kate Harper
    48 episodes48 eps • 2004–2006
    William Duffy
    William Duffy
    • Larry…
    47 episodes47 eps • 1999–2006
    Peter James Smith
    Peter James Smith
    • Ed…
    46 episodes46 eps • 1999–2006
    • Creator
      • Aaron Sorkin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Final project of John Spencer, who quit acting in movies to fully concentrate in his role as Leo McGarry (which earned him one Emmy and two SAG Awards).
    • Goofs
      In a couple of instances, Secret Service agents are seen holding an umbrella for a protectee. In reality, Secret Service agents must keep their hands free at all times.
    • Quotes

      Leo McGarry: This guy's walkin' down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole, and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, "Father, I'm down in this hole; can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey, Joe, it's me. Can ya help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are ya stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.

    • Crazy credits
      The special post-9/11 episode was broadcast without the regular opening credits. Instead, the episode began with the cast, out of character, speaking about the episode, followed by credits on a black screen.
    • Alternate versions
      The first airing of the episode "20 Hours in America" contained a scene between President Bartlet and the First Lady in which they good-naturedly tease each other, calling each other Medea and Jackass. This scene was not included in subsequent reruns because of commercial limitations and was also not included on the DVD.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2000)
    • Soundtracks
      West Wing Main Title
      (uncredited)

      Written by W.G. Snuffy Walden

      Performed by Pete Anthony

    User reviews286

    Review
    Top review
    "Wing" is a beautifully written, cinematically packaged series that satisfies the audience's desire to see behind these particular closed doors
    Network: NBC; Genre: Drama; Content Rating: TV-PG; Available: DVD and syndication; Perspective: Modern Classic (star range: 1- 5);

    Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (7 seasons)

    Created out of the ashes of the tragic failure that ABC befell his neo-classic "Sports Night" (which I also highly recommend), Aaron Sorkin's next effort aims at nothing short of the most powerful office in the world. "The West Wing" takes us behind the scenes of the Bartlet (Martin Sheen) administration and his staff, which includes special counselor Leo (John Spencer), the dryly spunky Press Secretary C.J. (Allison Janney), Chief of Staff Josh (Bradley Whitford) and his model-like assistant Donna (Janel Moloney), morose Communications Director Toby (Richard Schiff), aid Charlie (Dule Hill) and Deputy Comm Director Will (Josh Malin, "Sports Night").

    To best enjoy "Wing", with its occasionally maddening bouts of self indulgence and nose-in-the-air intellectual showboating, is to understand how purposefully different it is from just about anything else on TV. It lacks the kind of compelling situational drama you'd expect. Most of the real action occurs off screen, with us simply hearing that a crisis was solved. This show is about conversations, history and civics lessons and an ambitious deconstruction of wedge issues that you never heard spoken of so thoughtfully in entertainment television. "Wing's" vision of politics is an old-fashioned fantasy of a noble grass roots attempt, guided by history and the framers, where the political process is a necessary tool, o do what's right for the common man.

    The political right has taken the show out to the woodshed for spouting liberal propaganda (every character is a vocal Democrat), but in my experience with it, it has been nothing but honest and fair with it's topics, unlike the blunt object beating we get from David E. Kelley and Dick Wolf shows. You have to be quick to catch inferences to tax cuts creating service cuts and women's lives being ruined by having a child and not an abortion. Free from a need to create simplistic sound-bytes or follow poll numbers of real-world politicians, Sorkin's world depicts the kind of well reasoned discourse lost in the modern, media-driven political climate.

    Back to the dialog and the most important thing. This is a show that can be written with such lyrical beauty and directed with such cinematic majesty that it elevates it from a conceptually tedious concept and static stories. Sorkin brings back the snappy, lightening-fast "His Girl Friday" conversations of "Night". A man in love with his dialog (I can't fault him for that), he crams very syllable of every crisp monologue in the running time.

    Satisfying the audience's desire to see behind these particular closed doors, "Wing" consciously maintains a fly-on-the-wall quality as we follow the White House staff through hallways and offices discussing everything from the most frivolous everyday annoyances and grammatical idiosyncrasies to weighty issues of domestic and foreign policy. It gives us the wonderful illusion we are seeing the real nit and grit behind the political process - from getting enough votes to pass a bill to keeping piece in the Middle East. This is C-SPAN stuff, packaged with beautiful, epic pageantry.

    At series' end my initial reaction to the show still holds water. By comparison it doesn't have the heart or the laughs of "Sports Night". It has a rich look and feel but, for all its philosophizing and linguistic gymnastics, I still remain detached from the characters and any emotional core at all. Spencer is terrific and Janney and Whitford make TV stars of themselves with what are for the most part mechanical characters with just enough quirks to get them banging against each other nicely. That said, Whitford and Moloney have an engaging chemistry that draws us in and lets us root for them. A chemistry that the show takes a smart 7 years to pay off.

    Sorkin and Sheen's president is a Frank Capra fantasy the melds together the most idealistic elements of politics and Americana into someone who can represent the best of his ideology and is still human enough to display the worst. Granted, this is Sorkin's fantasy so the latter is rare and Bartlet gets the last wise word most of the time.

    After the 4th season, Sorkin leaves the show amid rumors of drug use and studio hack John Wells is brought on board. Wells is a network hack who took over "ER" when Michael Crichton stepped away and turned it into a soap opera, and then did the same with his own "Third Watch". The show slowly changes under Wells and while he resists his usual urge to sadistically kill of major characters, Sorkin's trademark dialog is slowed down and the show gets more traditionally exciting, but the intellectual substance remains and Wells gels with the show well.

    I don't love "The West Wing" as much as others. Each episode starts strong and ends strong, but almost always looses steam in the long 2nd act. So goes entire seasons, which can bring us in and go out with an assassination, a kidnapping, terrorist attack or some other exciting peril for a main character and stall for entire hours in the winter.

    Under Wells' control, the series ends with a spectacular bang. The final season brings an end to the Bartlet administration and follows the feverish presidential campaign of both parties race to win the election and instill their candidate - either Republican Senator Vinick (liberal He-man Alan Alda) or Democrat congressman Santos (Jimmy Smitts) - in as his successor. After 7 seasons the show goes out as rewarding and classy as it came in. A behind-the-scenes celebration of the American political process. It is an exceptional final season for a classy and classic show.

    * * * * / 5
    helpful•73
    32
    • liquidcelluloid-1
    • May 20, 2004

    FAQ13

    • It is said a few times in the show that the president really only has 18 months to govern. Can somebody explain to people not from the United States and not all that familiar with U.S. politics why that is and what happens during the remaining two and a half years?
    • How much real life political knowledge is required to fully understand and enjoy his show?
    • What parallels to real world politics have been elements of the show?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 22, 1999 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • NBC (United States)
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • West Wing
    • Filming locations
      • Alexandria, Virginia, USA
    • Production companies
      • John Wells Productions
      • Warner Bros. Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      44 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby

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