Bartlet4America News Archive

A ‘Freaky’ Twist on Reality Television

By MARK JURKOWITZ
Boston Globe

How's this for a dizzying blur of fantasy and reality? Former White House aide George Stephanopoulos, now an ABC newsman, visits the faux White House at NBC's "The West Wing" set in Burbank, Calif., to interview the actors playing him and his former colleagues for yesterday's edition of "Good Morning America." To make things even stranger, on Tuesday night "Entertainment Tonight" ran a piece on Stephanopoulos doing a "GMA" piece on the Hollywood version of his old workplace.

"It was really freaky," Stephanopoulos said of his "West Wing" visit during a phone interview. "Especially in the middle of the Oval Office. It's as close [to reality] as you could possibly get. It was easy to just be transported."

Asked if he believes, as is widely rumored, that Rob Lowe's character of Sam Seaborn is based on him, Stephanopoulos said Lowe "is a little bit of [economic adviser] Gene Sperling, a little bit of me, and a little bit of younger aides."

He did, however, compare himself to the sardonic and often dyspeptic Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff), saying, "I always had the reputation for the dark side."

Stephanopoulos admitted the Clinton White House staff could not match the level of snappy "West Wing" White House patter provided by Aaron Sorkin, the show's creator. "Aaron Sorkin is a brilliant writer, and everyone on that show, at some level, talks like Aaron Sorkin [writes]," The Clinton Team was "not that clear and quick."