Five Votes Down

Act 1

Margaret: You don't want a violinist?

Leo: To play the violin?

Margaret: Yeah.

Leo: Is that what people get now?

Margaret: I know it's available.

Leo: No. 'Cause after the initial thing wears off it's just a guy with a violin in my house.

Thing = appeal/effect
Posted by MorganG at 02:19 PM

The Crackpots and These Women

Act 1

Donna: Donald hasn't called yet.

Josh: Who's Donald?

Donna: Donald. From the thing?

Thing = unspecified social event

Donna: Wait. Uh, there's another thing.

Josh: What?

Donna: Hang on…

Josh: Donna…

Donna: Hang on, here it is. Leo wants you to meet someone named Lacey from the National Security Council in his office after staff.

Thing = appointment/meeting

Josh: Sorry we're late. Is this Total Crackpot Day again?

Leo: Yes it is.

Sam: And let us please note that Josh does not go on the list.

Leo: Actually, you've got a thing right now.

Josh: Yeah, I know. Donna told me.

Thing = meeting with Jonathan Lacey from the National Security Council, who gives Josh a card with instructions on it on where to go in the event of a nuclear attack
Act 2

CJ: What's going on?

Josh: We're doing the thing

Thing = prep session for the President's press conference

Sam: Hey…is there any word yet on the…

Cathy: The thing's still out there.

Thing = UFO
Posted by Ryo at 02:23 PM

Mr. Willis of Ohio

Act 4

Josh: You thought you were telling a complete stranger that you slept with a call girl.

Sam: Accidentally slept with a call girl. Mallory, does your father know?

Mallory: No.

Sam: Zoey, does your father know?

Zoey: Not yet.

Sam: Oh, so this is going to be a thing.

Thing = possible blackmail material
Posted by Ryo at 02:43 PM

The State Dinner

Act 1

Leo: Listen. McClane, Idaho – I need someone to monitor and keep the President and me updated throughout the day.

Josh: I'll assign someone from my office.

Mandy: I can do it.

Josh: No, you can't.

Mandy: Why not?

Josh: Because you're a political consultant and this is an actual…you know…thing.

Thing = important matter

Sam: You got something going on tonight with Josh?

Toby: We've got to see a guy about a thing.

Guy = Indonesian senior deputy Thing = freeing a French national currently imprisoned in Indonesia
Act 2

Sam: So, you got a thing tonight? A date?

Laurie: A client? Yeah.

Thing = escort service assignment
Act 3

Donna: If you can't explain what you're doing there, the assumption is that you're a sorcerer. If you try to run, the assumption is that you're a sorcerer. Okay? So if anything happens, the prudent thing is to stand still and calmly explain your business.

Josh: Well, prudent or not, once the scythe comes out I'm probably going to haul ass.

Thing = course of action

Leo: Can they get out?

CJ: Leo, the thing is 600 miles across. They're locked in. How bad can this get?

Leo: Catastrophic.

CJ: What do you want to do?

Leo: Let's do this thing and then get ready. --

Thing 1 = hurricane Thing 2 = state dinner
Posted by Ryo at 02:49 PM

Enemies

Act 2

CJ: What's your thing about?

Sam: Nothing. What's your thing about?

CJ: Nothing.

Thing = reason for seeing Leo

Leo: Did you need something?

Bartlet: No, I just came in to see what you were doing.

Leo: No appointments?

Bartlet: Nah, you know, we had most of the night blocked off for that thing and it got canceled so…

Leo: Take the night off.

Thing = unspecified event
Act 4

Bartlet: I don't want to hear about Hoynes and the Cabinet meeting.

CJ: Mr. President…

Bartlet: Is Danny going to make it a thing?

CJ: No.

Bartlet: What did you have to give him?

CJ: A half hour sit-down on the record.

Bartlet: Sold.

Thing = news story

Leo: Sam, I gave you the thing to do because I was pissed you were taking, you know, blah blah blah…

Mallory: Well said, dad.

Leo: Anyway, I'm sorry about that.

Sam: Yeah, I figured. Say, do you mind if I skip the coffee? I want to nail this thing.

Thing = assignment to write a birthday message for the Assistant Secretary of Transportation
Posted by Ryo at 03:06 PM

The Short List

Act 4

Danny: Josh said you like goldfish.

CJ: The crackers, Danny. The cheese things that you have at a party?

Danny: You know what? I'm not a hundred percent sure I was supposed to know that.

Thing = crackers
Posted by Ryo at 03:10 PM

In Excelsis Deo

Act 1

Leo: Who the hell is this guy and why do I care if he has a merry Christmas?

Margaret: Just sign the damn thing.

Thing = Christmas card
Act 2

Josh: Sam, I need to know if she would divulge the name or names of any influential Republican members of Congress that she might've…

Sam: No way.

Josh: Sam…

Sam: I'm telling you, there's no way, Josh!

Josh: There's a thing that's going to happen.

Thing = Revelation of Leo's past drug abuse

Bartlet: This is a Christmas thing I'm doing, Mandy. We don't have to make hay out of it.

Mandy: It's such good hay.

Bartlet: Wanna come?

Josh: An hour with you in a rare book store? Couldn't you just drop me off the top of the Washington monument instead?

Bartlet: It's Christmas Josh, no reason we can't do both.

Thing = activity
Act 4

CJ: Take me out tonight and convince me.

Danny: Excuse me?

CJ: You heard me.

Danny: I didn't. Cause there was - I was distracted by a thing.

Thing = thing

Bartlet: When is this thing?

Toby: I'm going to pick his brother and go there now.

Thing = Funeral of a homeless veteran at Arlington National Cemetery
Posted by Ryo at 03:17 PM

Lord John Marbury

Teaser

Process Server: Sir, if you'd just sign this to show proof…

Josh: Give me the thing. This is like the forty-third time…this is Freedom Watch, right?

Thing = subpoena
Posted by Ryo at 03:20 PM

He Shall, From Time to Time...

Act 1

Sam: You know, here's a thing: we haven't been invited.

Josh: What do you mean?

Sam: Technically, the Speaker of the House invites the President to deliver the State of the Union.

Toby: And we haven't been invited yet.

Sam: Not yet.

Leo: Is anybody seeing to this?

Sam: I'll take care of it.

Toby: Good, because we want to be able to report that the country's a lot stranger than it was a year ago.


Thing = State of the Union organizational detail that needs to be addressed


Act 2

Bartlet: You're very sexy when you're in doctor mode, you know that? ‘Get me an IV saline solution and 100 milligrams flumadine, stat.' I could jump you right now.

Abbey: I could kill you right now.

Bartlet: My thing's more fun.

Thing = plan
Posted by Ryo at 03:32 PM

Take Out the Trash Day

Act 1

Toby: There's going to be a thing with Zoey. Her sociology professor's teaching some things and we're going to get her out of the class.

Thing = news story
Some things = racist philosophies
Act 4

Josh: We put the thing in a drawer for a year and you can guarantee us…

Congressman: That there'll be no hearings in the House, yes.

Thing = sex education report that recommends teaching “abstinence plus” in schools
Posted by Philateley at 10:00 PM

Take This Sabbath Day

Act 3

CJ: So, here's my job tonight if this thing happens: “At 12:01 he'll get the injection…”

Mandy: CJ…

CJ: No, I'm saying – I'm reading it right here. “The first sign of death will be his hands twitching. After sixty seconds he'll strain against the straps. His head will have snapped back violently and after ninety seconds he'll be in convulsions. At 12:04 he'll be pronounced dead.”

Thing = execution of a criminal via lethal injection
Posted by Ryo at 03:46 PM

Celestial Navigation

Teaser

Sam: This thing's about thirty minutes old, Josh. We don't know exactly what happened.

Josh: What do we know?

Sam: Roberto Mendoza doesn't drink.

Josh: He was arrested for drunk driving.

Sam: Roberto Mendoza doesn't drink, Josh.

Josh: How much does the press know?

Sam: They don't know anything.

Josh: The cops haven't leaked it?

Sam: I swear to God, I don't think the cops know.

Josh: They don't know that they've arrested Roberto Mendoza?

Sam: They don't know it's that Roberto Mendoza.

Josh: I've got this thing now.

Sam: I got a cab. [to driver] The White House. [to Josh] I'll let you know what's going on.

Thing 1 = Mendoza's arrest for drunk driving Thing 2 = guest appearance at the Marjorie Dupont lecture series
Act 1

CJ: Carol, let's move the briefing to 1.

Carol: You can't.

CJ: Why not?

Carol: You have the thing.

CJ: Yes, and this is a perfect excuse to postpone the thing.

Carol: You really don't want to do that.

Sam: You have a thing?

Thing = Dentist appointment
Act 1

Josh: Eight words: “The President's not taking any questions right now.” If we'd just stepped in 30 seconds sooner…[cell phone rings] that's me. I'm sorry, I, uh, there's a thing. I have, I have to answer this now. This'll just, uh, take a second.

Thing = crisis involving the President's nominee to the Supreme Court
Posted by Ryo at 03:55 PM

20 Hours in L.A.

Act 3

CJ: Uh, would you excuse me, Mark? I'm sorry…I've got to talk to Sam about a…a thing…the uh, President wants to… [makes her escape to Sam]

Thing = undefined; really just a vague excuse to get out of talking to Mark
Act 4

CJ: Sorry, there's a thing I've got to talk to Sam about regarding a… [to Sam] Pretend like you're talking to me again.

Sam: Okay, this time let's use code names

Thing = another vague excuse to get out of talking to the person
Posted by Ryo at 03:58 PM

The White House Pro-Am

Teaser

Lilli Mays: So here's my thing.

Sam: What?

Lilli: What would you guys think about the President not going to the Hill for the Budget meetings tomorrow, but us bringing the leadership to the White House instead?

Sam: Why?

Lilli: We want the news cycle.

Thing = suggestion
Act 2

Josh: I'll talk to Lilli Mays.

Sam: I'll do it. I'm already going in there on the Ron Erlich thing. If I'm going to take a hit, I might as well take two.

Ron Erlich thing = wire report stating that the First Lady expressed a preference for Ron Erlich as the new Fed Chair
Act 3

Danny: 2000 marriage proposals, 2000 death threats. A dozen bodyguards. Everyone wants to get close, everyone wants a thing.

Thing = favor/acknowledgment
Act 4

Donna: It's an interesting book.

Josh: The hundred years ago thing?

Thing = book on what life was like in America a century ago

Bartlet: This wire thing is a problem for me. The kid on TV was a mistake, and the amendment from Becky Reeseman will bring down a trade bill that's been worked on for years

Thing = report

Abbey: Just ease up on the high ground.

Bartlet: On that point, I concede the high ground.

Abbey: And I concede I was wrong about the thing.

Bartlet: Good.

Abbey: However…

Bartlet: No, no however. Just be wrong.

Thing = appearing on TV to talk about child labor without running it by the President's staff first
Posted by Ryo at 04:04 PM

Six Meetings Before Lunch

Teaser

Toby: These things take patience. These things take skill. These things take luck. In the fifteen months we've been in office, what kind of luck have we had, Ginger?

Ginger: Bad luck.

Toby: What kind of luck?

Ginger: Very bad luck.

Thing = Supreme Court nominee confirmations

Josh: A panda's what I think it is, right? Little Australian thing, eats the bark off a koala tree?

Donna: That's a koala bear I believe you're describing.

Josh: The panda's the other one.

Thing = animal
Act 1

Josh: I mean…was there a thing?

Leo: Two sentences on the back dust jacket of a book that's coming out called The Unpaid Debt.

Josh: That's it?

Leo: Stadler's unhappy.

Thing = outcry over the statement in support for slavery reparation made by a nominee for assistant attorney general for civil rights

Leo: What the hell is that?

Josh: CJ's going to do “The Jackal”.

Leo: Oh, where she lip-syncs to the thing?

Thing = song
Act 3

Gina: The thing with the reporter this morning - it was fast, it was physical, she's 19 years old and she thought her father was in trouble.

Thing = confrontation in which a reporter goaded Zoey by asking her if the president's daughter should be partying with drug dealers
Posted by Ryo at 04:11 PM

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

Teaser

Toby: Okay, here's my thing. If you're wrong; if the Coast Guard is wrong…the remarks open with "As I look out over this magnificent vista." If the event gets moved indoors, he will no longer be looking out over a vista of any kind.

Thing = concern; problem
Act 2

Josh: I need you to get me prepped on something.

Donna: What?

Josh: English as the national language.

Donna: Why?

Josh: It might come up.

Donna: Why?

Josh: Because if we do a thing with the FEC, opponents will put English as the national language on the table.

Do a thing = appoint 2 people who are in favor of campaign finance reform instead of people chosen by the party leadership
Act 3

Toby: So…there's going to be a thing.

Leo: About what?

Toby: Mandy wrote an opposition research memo for Russell and somebody's got it.

Thing = news story
Posted by Ryo at 04:16 PM

Mandatory Minimums

Act 1

Josh: It's fine. Bring her [Joey Lucas] out here.

Toby: She'll be here tomorrow.

Josh: This isn't a thing.

Toby: Okay.

Josh: I met her twice, Toby.

Sam: Yeah, but one of those times she broke your heart.

Thing = situation that would cause Josh discomfort
Act 2

Josh: Did you talk to him about the thing yet?

Leo: No.

Thing = Toby's meeting with his ex-wife, a prominent Congresswoman, to discuss campaign finance reform
Act 3

Toby: You want to be there, you can be there. But this is a serious thing.

Andy: Can I bring my pie?

Toby: Andy…

Andy: I'm just saying, it's a serious thing. There might not be any food there.

Thing = meeting between Leo and the representatives of 7 Representatives who oppose spending more money on drug treatment programs

Sam: Steve, the FEC nominees aren't my thing.

Thing = project/area of responsibility
Act 4

Josh: I brought you a coffee mug. Just as a thing…cause you don't know anybody.

Thing = welcome gesture
Posted by Ryo at 04:27 PM

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Act 1

Leo: Rodney!

Rodney: Yes, Mr. McGarry.

Leo: Could you do that thing you were doing before?

Thing = dress Marine rifle routine
Act 2

Danny: You can't stay pissed at me forever.

CJ: Let's find out.

Danny: Mandy's thing went away. Do you see anybody writing about it? Do you see anybody talking about it?

Thing = recon-and-strategy memo
Posted by Ryo at 04:37 PM

What Kind of Day Has It Been

Teaser

Leo: I thought that was the signal for the other thing.

Josh: That's the signal for this thing now.

The other thing = safe rescue of the pilot whose plane had crashed in Iraq This thing = safe landing of the space shuttle Columbia, which had Toby's brother on board
Posted by Ryo at 04:41 PM