Bartlet4America News Archive

Expect a ‘West’ Fling For Series’ Janney

by Mitchell Fink
New York Daily News

Attention, "West Wing" fans: The on-again, off-again TV relationship between Allison Janney and Timothy Busfield is definitely off again.

Janney, who plays C.J., the tart-tongued White House press secretary on the Emmy Award-winning series, is telling people that Busfield's character, Danny, a reporter covering the White House, must now step aside for a new man who is poised to enter her character's life. "Some tall, dark, handsome man," she said. "It's going to happen real soon, and if people are sharp and with it, they'll notice right away who it is." Allison Janney

Janney would not reveal too much about the person except to say that he is not yet a part of the show. "My guess," she said, "is that he will be introduced within the next couple of weeks."

Another "West Wing" co-star, Richard Schiff, who plays White House communications director Toby Ziegler, also has been spilling some beans about upcoming story lines.

"We've just shot the episode dealing with the State of the Union address," he said. "Toby is the major architect of that speech. While the speech is being given, DEA agents are taken hostage in Colombia. It's about the drug war, like the movie 'Traffic.'"

C'mon, Get Real

Speaking of "The West Wing," its creator, Aaron Sorkin, revealed his cynical side when chatting with Scott Sassa after the NBC West Coast president accepted an award at an industry function in Beverly Hills.

During his speech, Sassa made a point of defending his network's decision last year not to jump head-first into the reality-TV wars. NBC focused its attention elsewhere, Sassa said, "because our number-one commitment is to scripted TV."

After the event, as Sassa and Sorkin waited for their cars at valet parking, the exec was overheard inviting Sorkin to see some of the early XFL football games, which NBC will begin televising Feb. 3.

Sorkin's response was quick and to the point. He said, "So much for scripted TV."