Bartlet4America News Archive

Sheen booked at Marquette

By NAHAL TOOSI
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Martin Sheen, who portrays President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing," will receive an honorary doctorate of letters degree from Marquette University at the dedication of the school's new library on Sept. 19. He's getting the honor for his involvement with Catholic social service efforts. The event, at 4 p.m., is open to the public.

'The West Wing' Hits the Ground Running

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - President Josiah Bartlet has a lot of explaining to do when the fifth season of "The West Wing" gets under way.

Last season ended with the president's daughter, Zoey, being kidnapped from a nightclub as she was celebrating her graduation. Martin Sheen, who plays the president, said he doesn't want "to spoil it" — but they go after the kidnappers and try to get her back.

"There's a lot of family conflict because it's revealed that I gave the OK to assassinate Sharif," Sheen told AP Radio. "And this kidnapping of my daughter is a retaliatory action it seems. So I have to confront the family on my decision."

The NBC hit, which received 15 Emmy nominations last month, is a three-time best drama series winner. However, "The West Wing" slipped in the ratings and in critical esteem last season — and writer-producer Aaron Sorkin's recent departure from the show could affect Emmy voting.

For the first time in four seasons, the cast is having to do without Sorkin. After a few weeks of shooting without him, Sheen said his absence can be felt.

"We appreciate Aaron's talent now, perhaps more than ever," Sheen said. "That doesn't belittle what we're doing now. It's just different. And we have to let go of the old and accept the new.

"Nonetheless, it's still 'The West Wing.' It's still his creation. We are still the characters he started with. And we're still going in the direction he pointed us."

With football season and the fall television season fast approaching, Sheen has sports on his mind when describing the show without Sorkin.

"It's like having the same players, with a new playbook and a new coach."

"The West Wing" season premiere is Sept. 24.

Crivitz native nominated for Emmy for 'West Wing' work

By ERIC LaROSE
The EagleHerald

MARINETTE -- It's always neat to watch award shows, to see the big celebrities walking down the red carpet, smiling, waving and dressed to kill.

But for every Jerry Orbach and Debra Messing, there are thousands of tech people making sure they're lighted correctly and sound perfect when the director yells "action."

It's good to know that those people are recognized as well, even if their award show is separate and not as flashy.

Better yet, it's good to know that one of Marinette County's own is up for one of those prestigious awards.

Patrick Hanson, originally from Crivitz, has been nominated for an Emmy Award for his work as a production sound mixer on the NBC drama, "The West Wing."

For 28 years, Hanson has been working as a sound man in Hollywood, the self-described entertainment capital of the world. He has worked in the entertainment field for 30 years.

"A lot of things in our business, you sort of evolve," he said. "You get in and you can't get out, you sort of wander from one thing or another."

He left Crivitz right after high school and worked in Kohler, Wis., for a while before joining the Navy. The Navy led him to Hawaii and from there he moved to California.

Hanson, 53, said that after a couple of years of evolving, he decided that he wanted to be his own boss, and working with sound seemed to be the best way to go.

"The way most people do that is to work in the camera department, but the equipment is basically so expensive and changes so often it's very hard and very expensive to own your own equipment," Hanson said. "And so I looked around and sound was one of those departments were you could own your own equipment and be your own boss and that's sort of how it started."

He got his start working with interviews and documentaries to get his feet wet. That lead to a fairly big job, working on a documentary on the making of a music video.

The documentary was "The Making of Thriller," starring Michael Jackson, and he won a Participation Grammy Award for his work on it. That lead to more work with music videos, which was perfect since at the time, the early to mid-'80s, the music video was in its heyday.

"I found a sort of niche in that area," he said. "I had all the equipment and everything by that time. I just did a lot of music videos. I think I did over a thousand of them. I went to Russia with Billy Joel in '87, I've been all over the world doing music work, and then I sort of fell into television."

His first foray into television was with commercials. He again traveled the world doing commercials for American Express. He brags that he has been to every continent, except for Antarctica.

Today he lives in Hermosa Beach, Calif., with his wife, Vicki, and children Caroline, 16, and Max, 14. As the production sound mixer for the "West Wing," he's responsible for the entire sound recording for the show. It's something he finds very rewarding.

And one of his biggest fans is his mother, Helen Hanson, who still lives in Crivitz, as does his brother.

"Of course, I'm so proud of him that he's done what he has," his mother said in a telephone interview. "You know, every time you see your friends they want to hear how he's doing. He's done a lot of different things and he's won some awards, too."

There are also some benefits to having your son work on a popular television show. On her 75th birthday, she got a phone call from none other than Martin Sheen, one of the stars of the "West Wing."

"He was working one night, and when they weren't busy, he mentioned to Martin Sheen that it was my 75th birthday. So he called me and wished me a happy birthday," she said.

In fact, Patrick Hanson said the phone call even surprised him.

"It was just out of the blue, that just the kind of guy he is," Hanson said.

And as far as awards go, Hanson has already won a Cinema Audio Society Award, the most prestigious award for sound producers, this year for his work on the "West Wing." Regarding the possibility of winning an Emmy, he can't even describe his elation.

"Beyond words," said Hanson. "It's very, very exciting."

He has some heavy competition. In the category of Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series, the "West Wing" is up against "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which airs on CBS; "ER" which also airs on NBC; "The Sopranos," which airs on HBO; and "24," which airs on FOX.

The technical awards portion of the Emmy Awards, the Creative Arts Awards, will air on E! Entertainment Television Sept. 13. The Emmy Awards will air on Sept. 21.

If you want to hear Hanson's work, the new season of the "West Wing," which also stars Wisconsin native Bradley Whitford, begins Sept. 24.

Hail to the Chief!

TVShowsonDVD.com

8/19/03
The actually U.S. Election Day this year may be the fourth, but Warner Home Entertainment has voted for November 18th as the street date for The West Wing: The Complete First Season.

This complete, 22-episode debut year of the exciting and thought-provoking series about the inner workings of a White House headed by President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is presented on 4 discs and includes exclusive, must-see extras.

Among these will be lots of extra footage (gag reels ["Gag Order"] & outtakes ["Off The Record"], deleted scenes, and behind-the-scenes stuff), commentary tracks from creator Alan Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme on 5 episodes ["Pilot," "What Kind Of Day Has It Been," "Take This Sabbath Day," "In Excelsis Deo" (featuring additional commentary from Co-Executive Producer/Director Alex Graves) and "Celestial Navigation" (with Co-Executive Producer/Director Chris Misiano joining Sorkin and Schlamme)], featurettes "The Primaries" and "The West Wing Inauguration", and interviews with folk both in front of and behind the camera.

Warner mandates this release will be in 1.33:1 video format and Dolby Surround Stereo audio format, in English. Subtitles will be in English, French, and Spanish. The 4 DVDs in the set will be Double Sided/Dual Layer "DVD18" discs. The SRP is $59.98 for this Emmy-winning inaugural season.

West Wing, The

Sorkin idea taking wing

By STEPHEN BATTAGLIO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Live from New York, it's - Aaron Sorkin?
Maybe.

The writer and creator of "The West Wing" has set his sights on "Saturday Night Live" as the subject of his next TV series.

Sorkin has told his studio, Warner Bros. Television, that he'd like to take a behind-the-scenes look at an irreverent late-night sketch-comedy show modeled after the long-running "SNL" and its creator-impresario Lorne Michaels.

"He wants to do the politics, the fighting to get stuff on the air, the masterful show runner and the young crazy comics," said a Sorkin friend familiar with the project. "He's fascinated by it."

The public has shown an interest in the show's colorful history as well.

"Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live," by Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales and CNN producer Jim Miller, made the best-seller list this past year.

Sorkin has taken viewers inside the makings of a TV show before.

His sitcom "SportsNight" - about the people who put on a cable sports-highlight program - ran on ABC for two seasons.

TV critics loved it for the snappy banter they would later hear more of on "The West Wing." But it didn't draw enough viewers to be renewed for a third season.

Sorkin's new show concept has not yet been pitched to a network.

"It's in the earliest of stages," said a spokeswoman for Warner Bros.

But Sorkin is available to do a new show. The prolific writer, known for cranking out nearly every episode of the White House drama starring Martin Sheen, left his creation at the end of last season.

Executive producer John Wells has taken over the Emmy Award-winning show, which begins its fifth season on NBC this fall. Wells will have the challenge of reviving the series, ratings for which plunged this past year.

Originally published on August 18, 2003

Gary Cole is Joining The West Wing

Variety

Gary Cole (The Brady Bunch Movie, Office Space) has been sworn in as the new vice president on the NBC drama The West Wing. The actor, who joins the popular series in its third episode, will appear in several episodes next season.

Cole will play Robert "Bingo Bob" Russell, a Colorado congressman who's appointed to the vacant position and immediately puts into action a few unconventional ideas.

The vice presidency became vacant last season after Tim Matheson's character, John Hoynes, resigned over a sex scandal.

Cole next appears in the DreamWorks feature Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, which is set for a First Quarter, 2004 release.

Stars and Strife

'The West Wing's' approval ratings have slipped. Its co-creators are gone. So is a major co-star. New producers and writers are taking over. We asked the Hollywood pundits: Can this presidency be saved?

by Dave Walker
New Orleans Times-Picayune

Of all the coming TV season's unknowns, the most unknowable is the fate of "The West Wing."

A crackling depiction of life inside the president's inner circle, "The West Wing" combines breakneck dialogue with stirring tales of what could only be described as extreme wonkery.

It has been broadcast television's best drama since its 1999 premiere, at least in the eyes of Emmy voters, who awarded the series the Outstanding Drama trophy after each of its first three seasons.

Again this year, "The West Wing" is the most-nominated broadcast network series of the year (with 15, trailing HBO's "Six Feet Under" by one).

Other honors have included a Peabody Award and several trophies from the Television Critics Association.

To launch its "West Wing" rerun package -- and perhaps remind recently disappointed fans of the series' earlier excellence -- the Bravo cable network has scheduled a mini-marathon of the show's first six episodes, starting at 10 a.m. Sunday. (Starting Monday, episodes will air at 10 a.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.)

The marathon leads in to a 4 p.m. documentary in which real West Wing occupants, including Presidents Clinton, Carter and Ford, recall their own experiences there.

At 4:30 p.m., Bravo will screen 1995's "The American President," written by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin.

The Sunday splurge concludes with a 7 p.m. episode of "Inside the Actors Studio" featuring Martin Sheen, "West Wing's" President Josiah Bartlet.

As the Bravo reruns will reinforce, the body of "The West Wing" remains monumental TV. Yet, season No. 5 is often a fateful juncture for a TV series, the season in which, for a variety of reasons, shows usually begin to tank.

With Sept. 24 set as "The West Wing" season premiere, the series began production a few days ago facing a much more complicated set of challenges than your average fifth-year flopper.

Gone are two of its co-creators and most influential creative voices -- writer/producer Aaron Sorkin and director/producer Thomas Schlamme.

Schlamme was the genius behind the show's visual style, which brought the energy of "Top Gun's" jet-fighter battle sequences to hallways clogged with jabbering civil servants.

Sorkin wrote nearly every word ever uttered on the show, but apparently couldn't deliver his dense scripts on time.

John Wells, the force behind NBC's "ER" and a founding executive producer of "The West Wing,", has been sworn in as the show's new chief executive.

Wells will attempt to replace Sorkin's distinctive voice with a writing staff whose credits include some of TV's best-ever series, from "China Beach" to "ER" to "L.A. Law" to "Sex and the City" to "Friends."

New cast members are coming, too.

Annabeth Gish, ex of "The X-Files," will play the eldest daughter to Sheen's Bartlet.

Steven Eckholdt, ex of CBS' "My Big Fat Greek Life," will play her husband.

NBC didn't make the "West Wing" cast and producers available to TV critics at the recent Hollywood press tour. But to ignore the fate of "The West Wing" would be to ignore my civic duty.

So I spent part of my time at the recent TV tour discussing "The West Wing" with . . . well, just about everybody else.

. . . . . . .

"I don't think there's a huge change in the show," said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker, who had seen the show's first two scripts at the time of his meeting with the critics.

"Nobody was better at the small banter and the small talk than Aaron Sorkin. What John (Wells) has brought to these first two scripts is some incredible, emotional moments, some incredible character development. I think that whereas you may miss a little of the small talk in the hallway, you're going to be quite taken with how gut-wrenching and emotional it is.

"I think that's the hallmark of a John Wells show, and that's what you're going to get."

One bonus to NBC: "We actually got to read the season premiere before they shot it this year," Zucker said.

. . . . . . .

As Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn, Rob Lowe experienced a rare career revival, but he left "The West Wing" last season.

While promoting his new NBC series, the legal drama "The Lyon's Den," Lowe hinted at why.

"It was never about screen time with me," he said. "I found that Sam was having less and less to do with the stories on the show that were really important.

"I had a story line once where I was trying to get people to wear seat belts. It was hilarious and really, really funny, but at the end of the day I wanted Sam, because I was in love with Sam, to have the president's ear. I wanted Sam to be involved in the big story lines, not just shuffled in and out for relief. . . .

"I felt that ('The West Wing') definitely had changed course, without a question. I think it's like being a crew member on a big ship. You know the ship is changing course probably before the passengers do. And I think it continues on that course. It just wasn't for me."

As for Sorkin's deadline-pushing writing style, Lowe said, "I love Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin is a genius. And he could be 15 years late on a script for me, and that would never be a problem because when you got it, it was like Christmas morning."

. . . . . . .

David E. Kelley, creator of "Ally McBeal," "The Practice," "Boston Public" and the new CBS drama "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.," shares at least one trait with Sorkin.

Both men have shouldered the entire writing burden for an hour-long drama.

Handing off characters to other writers is something that Kelley has attempted before. But he concedes that the transition may prove more difficult for Sorkin.

"I think it's going to be very difficult to approximate his voice," Kelley said. "In addition to him being intimately connected with all his characters, he had a very specific rhythm to his writing style. If it could be easily copied we would see more of it, because it's such an effective rhythm."

Based on his own experiences of delegating scripting that he'd previously handled solo, Kelley said that asking new writers to approximate Sorkin's style would be a mistake.

"I almost go just the opposite direction," said Kelley, who turned over his Fox drama "Boston Public" to a traditional writing staff. "I would say, 'Don't do it the way you think I would do it. Write the story how it emanates from you. I can take it over and shape it into the structure and voices of our characters if I think you're off.'

"I think writers should be true to themselves when they're writing scripts. If they go back with the idea that they've got to hit other writers' targets, then they're in trouble."

. . . . . . .

Veteran actor John Amos has made several "West Wing" appearances as Adm. Percy Fitzwallace.

"I know it's going to be a change," said Amos. "You don't replace a talent like Aaron Sorkin.

"We've all learned to speak Sorkinese, which is a very special language developed by Aaron for the cast.

"I don't know what it's going to sound like. Is it going to go in a less liberal direction? Or more liberal? The show may very well become more conservative.

"There are rumors of Adm. Fitzwallace meeting his demise. Who knows? Anything is possible."

. . . . . . .

WB executive Garth Ancier was working in the programming hierarchy of NBC when "The West Wing" first aired.

"There was wide resistance inside the company at picking it up," he said. "A lot of the senior executives at the company felt that it took a liberal stand, so they were very upset at the idea of putting it on television.

"It had to be talked through with Aaron. 'OK, you've got to present both sides of the story to create dramatic conflict. You can't just take a shot at Jerry Falwell and pounce on all of the conservatives.' "

As for the show's future, Ancier said, "John Wells is a very smart guy and a very, very good producer. He's about the smartest you can get in terms of getting someone to come in behind Aaron.

"That said, Aaron has a very specific voice. He wrote every script himself, in his pool house, for three years, which was one of the reasons they couldn't keep making the show. They were waiting for scripts to come out of Aaron's typewriter."

That said, Ancier, the executive who first placed "West Wing" on NBC's schedule, has no clue as to the show's new direction.

"When a show is one person's vision, it's very difficult to translate that," he said. "It could be a creative revival, where John Wells figures out how to take the show to the next level. Or it could be a show where the magic is gone."

After a long takeoff, Stockard's soaring

By NANCY MILLS
New York Daily News

HOLLYWOOD - She became a star as the gum-cracking bad girl Rizzo in "Grease."
We know her as the First Lady in "The West Wing."

Now Stockard Channing plays a more conventional character - a mother flying to Paris for the first time to rescue her daughter (Naomi Watts) from a bad marriage - in "Le Divorce," opening tomorrow.

In real life, Channing, 59, a onetime debutante, has been divorced four times, has no children, lives with TV cameraman Daniel Gillham and travels.

"The West Wing" and her character Abby Bartlet return Sept.24 to chaos both personal and national. Her daughter has been kidnapped and the President has temporarily handed power to his arch enemy, the Speaker of the House, played by John Goodman. Washington is locked down and a fleet is heading to the Persian Gulf.

New man in charge

And if that's not enough, series creator Aaron Sorkin has turned the show over to executive producer John Wells.

"John has a tremendous sense of obligation to keep the caliber up," Channing says. "With other writing voices, the show will be slightly different. It's like the first year of a new show."

Channing turned to acting after graduating from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass., in 1965. After 10 years of small parts, she got what she assumed would be her big break: starring opposite Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in "The Fortune."

The film flopped. As she described it, she was hot at 30 and "washed up at 32."

She got another break two years later, with the movie version of "Grease." But despite box-office success, "[It] didn't do a thing for me," she says.

The stage calls

Two short-lived series on CBS followed - remember "The Stockard Channing Show"? - and in 1985, she left for Broadway to co-star in "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg," winning a Tony Award for best actress.

Seven years later, after another slow time in Hollywood, she left again to join a John Guare Off-Broadway show called "Six Degrees of Separation." It moved to Broadway, and that ultimately led to a starring role in the film version and a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

"Although [leaving Hollywood] didn't seem logical, it was one of the best decisions I ever made," she says.

Next up, Channing has a part in Woody Allen's movie "Anything Else," opening in September.

"[My] character is a Park Avenue socialite and failed nightclub singer who moves in with her daughter and her boyfriend [Christina Ricci and Jason Biggs] and talks about reviving her singing career."

Channing said she found Allen's film "baffling."

"I wasn't allowed to read the script," she says. "I had no idea what Woody really wanted. With one exception: He could only tell me I was doing something wrong. He would say, 'NO! THAT'S NOT IT!'

"I thought he was going to fire me, and you know what? That would have been fine."

Originally published on August 7, 2003

Jesse Bradford Interns with 'West Wing'

Reuters

Fri Aug 08, 3:20 AM ET

Jesse Bradford ("Swimfan") is making his television debut with a recurring role on NBC's White House drama "The West Wing."

Bradford is set to appear in 10 episodes of the show, playing a spoiled twentysomething intern from a known political family. He joins Annabeth Gish and Steven Eckholdt, who also have signed on to recur on the Emmy-winning drama during its upcoming fifth season.

"I've been a fan of Jesse's work since I first saw him in (Steven Soderbergh's 1993 feature) 'King of the Hill,' and I'm thrilled that he has decided to join us on 'The West Wing,"' said the show's executive producer, John Wells.

Bradford's other credits include "Clockstoppers" and "Bring It On."

At the same time, the actor is poised to join Jennifer Garner and Lisa Kudrow in director Don Roos' indie comedy "Happy Endings."

The $10 million film, set in Los Angeles, involves three intertwining stories with 10 characters. The first story is about a father and son who are involved with the same woman (Garner). The second focuses on two couples in which one of the men may have fathered the other couple's child. The third is about a woman, Glenne Headly, Kelly Preston, Ray Romano, Rip Torn and Debra Winger. It revolves around three generations who gather to bury their family patriarch and choose a teenage granddaughter to deliver the eulogy. Bradford will star as the boyfriend of Zooey Deschanel's character.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Janney is just like C.J., only nicer

Break in 'West Wing' schedule gave her time for 'How To Deal'

By Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

Originally published August 2, 2003

When Allison Janney answers questions about her acting career, she doesn't sound much like The West Wing's C.J. Cregg, responding to reporters' questions about presidential policy.

As C.J., at the podium of a White House press conference, she's cocksure and canny, deploying her wit and executive bearing to deflect tricky questions and to show those ink-stained wretches just who's in charge.

As herself, speaking by phone from the lobby of New York's Four Seasons, she comes off as sincere and almost demure.

It's the same basic voice, with that swift, chirpy sound that can swoop down to a lower register for a sotto voce aside. But there's a sweeter note in there, too, and a more relaxed tone.

Asked why she's chosen to play Mandy Moore's newly divorced mother in How to Deal, Janney sounds positively Oprah-esque.

"I loved the part of Lydia, the mom, because she was going through a divorce and was in great upheaval, and yet she was trying to be a mom and be there for her children and be positive," says the 42-year-old actress, who is single and has no kids.

Timing is another reason that Janney took on the role that director Clare Kilner calls, in press notes, "the 'adult' anchor of the film." She has only a six-week break from her West Wing schedule, and the new film's five-week shoot happened to fit conveniently into last year's break.

"I was able to go to a spa with my mother and relax for a week and then go do the movie," she says. Somewhere along the line, she also managed to squeeze in a voice performance as the starfish Peach in this year's biggest hit, Finding Nemo, and a small role as Meryl Streep's life partner in The Hours.

"I think I'm the only actor in West Wing to miss one whole episode, because I was in London shooting that movie," she says of The Hours. "It's always kind of a pain for them to have to accommodate us if we do other things, so I don't think they're going to be as accommodating anymore."

Janney's performance as The West Wing's press secretary was recently nominated for an Emmy for best actress in a drama, an award she won last year. She also has two Emmys for the same role, but as a supporting actress.

Why has C.J. touched a nerve with the TV academy, the critics and the public?

"She's a woman in such a powerful position in such a man's world, Washington politics, and she's holding her own," Janney explains. "Yet she still maintains her femininity and her sense of humor."

The character, which Janney calls "a great role model," is in the Katharine Hepburn tradition. Janney reveals that she "burst into tears" when she heard of the great actress' recent death.

"Katharine Hepburn would have loved C.J.," says Janney. "I flatter myself to think that maybe she watched West Wing a couple of times."

Work on the show's new season is just beginning for Janney. And although she doesn't yet know what's ahead for C.J., she hopes that romance is waiting in the Wing.

"I love the personal-relationship side of C.J.," she says with a chuckle. "I think I've got the press briefings down pretty much, and I'd love to get into some complicated relationship scenarios."

A note of concern enters her voice when talk turns to the departure of Aaron Sorkin, who created the show and wrote or co-wrote virtually every episode. At the end of last season, an exhausted Sorkin bowed out from the program.

"He couldn't share it," she says, explaining why Sorkin chose to make a clean break from the series. "The way I finally figured it out is that if someone came to me and said, 'Listen, someone else is going to play C.J. for 10 episodes, you don't mind do you?', I'd be like, 'Are you crazy?'"

If C.J. is capable of standing up to the press and, sometimes, even the president, the actress who plays her is more of a softie. Asked about working with pop star Moore in How to Deal, Janney becomes unglued.

"I was a little intimidated by her, actually, because she's so together and confident for someone her age, and she's done so many things," says Janney. "As an actress, she's not afraid to make a fool out of herself, which are my favorite kind of people."

Only once does Janney show some of her West Wing edge, and that's in defense of How to Deal.

The film, which seems targeted to Moore's youthful fan base, expresses an attitude that, if not quite pro-drug, might fairly be called drug-tolerant. The character of Moore's wise, adorable grandmother wanders through most of the movie stoned on pot.

"Hey, listen, you know what I'm going to want to say about that?" asks Janney, allowing a sharpness to creep into her voice. "It's all out there. No one can hide that stuff from their kids, and if they think they can, they're wrong."

Got it. Thanks, C.J.

Or, rather, Allison Janney.