The West Wing, The Musical

Jed Bartlet, while contemplating Leo McGarry's suggestion for the Congressional Democrats' response to his official censure, sits in the Oval Office, absently singing Makin' Whoopee.  When he stops singing abruptly, Charlie Young supplies the next line, "Yeah, the line you're looking for is 'Another sunny honeymoon'" [3.16].

After an incisive comment from Will Bailey, the President retreats to the Residence to do some work and ponder what can be done about the genocide in Kundu.  The current foreign policy dictates that America not intervene for purely humanitarian interests.  However, Jed Bartlet, while watching footage of American soldiers on CNS and part of the Laurel & Hardy movie Babes in Toyland comes to a decision:  that streak's gonna end at noon on Sunday when he announces a new foreign policy in his second Inaugural Address [4.15].

When we first meet Mandy Hampton, she's careening along in her BMW convertible and arguing on her cellphone.  Just before she gets pulled over by the motorcycle cop for blowing through a red light, the song blaring from her car stereo is Moment of Weakness [1.1].

In We Killed Yamamoto, we learn that Amy Gardner is quite fond of Van Morrison.  This is the other song that's playing in the episode.  You know, right before the cellphone is tossed into the stew [3.21].

As Leo relays to the president that the man who saved his life in Korea has failed to comply with the law in order to win a defense contract, Bartlet's copy of My Country 'Tis of Thee plays hauntingly in the background [5.14].

Before the President takes the podium to address members of the Navy at Naval Warfare Center Crane, the band plays National Emblem March [4.1].

Three days after finding out his father has been having an affair for the past 28 years, Sam Seaborn awakens to the strains of Don Henley's New York Minute, still in yesterday's clothes and still in the office (Toby's office, to be precise, since Sam doesn't have a couch in his). Sam, who has been knocked off his game by his father's revelation, wades through the day -- which happens to be Leo's Big Block of Cheese Day -- on little sleep and less patience. With Donna's help, he pulls himself together and agrees to Josh's plan ("We're going to get Sam drunk and put him to bed"), but first he makes a phone call to his father, as New York Minute swells in the background. Notably, the title of this episode -- Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail -- is culled from the song's lyrics [2.16].

After the First Lady realizes she may lose her license, she gathers CJ Cregg and lobbyist Amy Gardner to join her to, in her words, "get drunk." They retreat to a small room, and are later joined by Donna Moss, who is unsure of her citizenship due to the American-Canadian border being redrawn. Abbey is snapped out of her self-pity mode by an unthinking yet utterly sensible remark by Donna, and as a thank you, Abbey has the band play O Canada [3.15].

At the end of Holy Night, as Josh and Leo keep each other company, Will remains hard at work surrounded by Sam Seaborn for Congress posters and stray bicycles, CJ and Danny work on opposite sides of the story, and Jed Bartlet broods in the Oval Office, Toby stands with his estranged father Julie in the Northwest Lobby as the Whiffenpoofs perform a transcendent version of O Holy Night [4.11].

The Barenaked Ladies perform (and by "perform" I mean that the CD version of the song blasted through the speakers while the BNL boys jumped around on stage) their breakthrough tune, One Week, at a Rock the Vote rally emceed by Ms. Claudia Jean Cregg, sporting a lovely pair of jeans and a Rock the Vote t-shirt.  Meanwhile, Josh and Toby huddle at a table on the balcony crunching the numbers for their ideal tuition tax credit [4.3].

At the end of Sorkin's fictitious play-within-a-play--The Wars of the Roses--that President Bartlet and his entourage attend, a song from the actual play, Nicholas Nickleby, is used. Perhaps the song is meant as ironic commentary, as it plays over the decision Bartlet makes to order the summary execution of Shareef [3.22].

As the President arrived on the dais to deliver his commencement address at Zoey's graduation, that old commencement classic, Pomp & Circumstance, was played by the band [4.22].

After a lengthy physical recovery, Josh Lyman jumped right back into the swing of things at work -- only it seems he neglected to deal with the emotional aftereffects of nearly dying at the hands of racist thugs.  As Josh's (as yet undiagnosed) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder worsens, he attends the Congressional Christmas party to hear Yo-Yo Ma play. The music triggers Josh's worst flashback yet, and later that night, he puts his hand through a window in a vain attempt to make it stop. Later when Josh recounts the events to Stanley Keyworth, a psychologist with ATVA, he says, "It was the Bach in G Major" [2.10].

After Toby's Day of Jubilee, he arrives at the White House in uncharacteristically good spirits.  In fact, he freaks Margaret out by telling her to let her smile be her umbrella.  Then in a moment of utter strangeness, Toby sings a line from Put on a Happy Face [1.18].

It's been sixteen hours and Zoey Bartlet's still missing.   Jed, Abbey, Elizabeth, Ellie, and Charlie head for a private mass, Josh and Donna stop on the sidewalk outside the White House, awed by the outpouring of support for Zoey in the form of candles, signs, and flowers.  Inside, Acting President Walken monitors a military response to the crisis that may doom Zoey [5.1]