Bartlet4America News Archive

‘West Wing’ heads farther west

SAN PEDRO: Community stands in for a tornado-struck Oklahoma town in an episode of the popular NBC drama.
By Larry Altman
Torrance (CA) DAILY BREEZE

Starstruck fans of “The West Wing” could walk away with one thing Monday after spotting Martin Sheen at the show’s shoot in San Pedro: President Bartlet gets his job back.

Sheen — and cohorts Allison Janney as press secretary C.J. Cregg and Dule Hill as aide Charlie Young — could be spotted here and there working in front of the cameras as “The West Wing” crew filmed an episode in the community’s downtown.

“Oh wow!” said Maywood resident Luann Hernandez when a spectator pointed out Sheen. “There he is. He’s coming our way.”

The old buildings and a parking lot on Seventh Street between Centre and Palos Verdes streets served as a double for an Oklahoma town devastated by a tornado. Buildings were ravaged, windows were shattered, brick walls lay in pieces, clothes hung from trees, and cars and trucks rested on their sides and roofs. And there was President Bartlet surveying the damage in his casual jacket and pants.

“It’s interesting to watch this,” said Pearl McIntyre of Harbor City. “My God, it’s a lot of hurry up and wait. You don’t realize how many people are involved in filmmaking.”

In current episodes, Sheen’s character, Bartlet, has invoked the 25th amendment, temporarily giving up his job as president while his youngest daughter is held by terrorists. But if Monday’s taping is a harbinger of things to come, Bartlet will make a return to the Oval Office.

About a dozen people stood on Centre Street on Monday afternoon, straining their eyes to see the actors, kept away from the set by security guards who became upset if anyone took photographs.

An NBC publicist said Sheen, Janney and Hill were the most notable names on the set, but she had not heard the rumor circulating among the spectators that Charlton Heston was due to arrive. Moses wasn’t on any of her official lists.

“I watched Martin Sheen grow up and all his kids,” McIntyre said. “It’s a real privilege to get a little sight of him.”

Cries of “Rolling!” and “Action!” incited Janney and other actors in business suits to walk along Seventh Street in front of the presidential limo parked amid the debris. A wind machine blowing from across the street tousled their hair.

Hill occasionally walked back and forth talking on a cellular telephone — not for the camera.

A number of police officers watched, but it wasn’t clear which ones were real and which were actors. The ones wearing state trooper hats definitely were actors playing Oklahoma officers because no LAPD officer would ever don one of them.

The tornado show has not been given an official air date, the spokeswoman said. Although some onlookers said they heard shooting would continue for a couple more days, the publicist said she believed it was to finish up Monday night.

Some spectators planned to stay right to the end.

“I wish that they’d let us get (Sheen’s) autograph,” said Libby Strouthard, who is from Florida and enjoyed watching the Hollywood scene in San Pedro. “They won’t even let us take pictures.”

Publish Date:September 30, 2003

Media musings: 'Lyon's' sparkles, 'Wing' flat

By Rob Thomas
The Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Remember when it seemed like Rob Lowe was making a mistake by leaving "The West Wing"?

Lowe's decision last year to leave one of television's best dramas seemed misguided at the time. Yes, the show's ratings have slid somewhat, but that was mostly due to ABC running "The Bachelor" against it. Creatively, the show seemed to have rebounded from a muddled third season, and in fact went on to win its fourth straight Emmy for Best Drama this year.

But, based on viewing both the season premiere of "The West Wing" and the premiere of Lowe's new NBC show, "The Lyon's Den," Lowe's defection is starting to look like smart thinking. Because while "The Lyon's Den" shows some real promise, "The West Wing" showed some real trouble spots.

"The West Wing," which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on WMTV/Channel 15, was in the process of wrapping up the cliffhanger from last season, in which President Bartlett's daughter Zoey was kidnapped, and a distraught Bartlett stepped down rather than allow himself to be manipulated by terrorists. Since the vice president had conveniently resigned because of a sex scandal in the previous episode, that left the presidency in the hands of the speaker of the House, a hard-line Republican (John Goodman).

In Wednesday's episode, the Republicans are running the roost in the White House, while the "West Wing" regulars sit nervously on the sidelines and watch as a trigger-happy Goodman blusters his way into a military confrontation with the terrorist-harboring country of Qumar.

Goodman was terrific in his first appearance last year, but this season his performance seems a little crude and overbearing. It's like Walter from "The Big Lebowski" has his finger on the button. The one really nice touch is that Goodman brings a yappy little dog with him into the Oval Office. The mutt scratches at the window and sheds on the antique furniture, a clever if overheated metaphor for how the cast sees the uncouth conservative interlopers.

But all the tense Situation Room scenes and other hyped-up drama can't obscure the fact that there's a gigantic hole in "The West Wing" left by creator Aaron Sorkin and executive producer Thomas Schlamme's departure at the end of last season. Sorkin's dialogue is unlike anything else on television -- funny and perceptive and graceful and, above all, in love with the idea of conversation itself. Even when Sorkin wasn't directly responsible for a "West Wing" script, you could feel his influence upon it.

There was none of that in Wednesday's episode, which was written by the show's new head honcho, executive producer John Wells. The writing was capable enough, but had none of the music of a good Sorkin script. People said what they meant and moved on to the next scene. Perhaps the cast was supposed to be so distraught over Zoey's abduction that they couldn't say anything memorable. We'll see.

Wells has been involved in "The West Wing" from the start, so he knows his way around the show and its characters. But in interviews, he expresses a desire to tinker with the show to attract casual viewers, which usually means big-name guest stars and unbelievable plot twists that play well on commercials. If you want to see a textbook example of a great show that constantly tried to "top" itself and ended up diminishing itself, watch Wells' other show, "E.R."

On Lowe's new show, "The Lyon's Den," which airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on Channel 15, he could be living just down the street from his "West Wing" character, Sam Seaborn. In the new show, he's do-gooder lawyer Jack Turner in Washington, D.C., trying to navigate the world of power politics while helping the downtrodden. In Sunday's episode, for example, he's helping out a Nigerian woman seeking political asylum.

The case-of-the-week legal drama is nothing new on television, and "The Lyon's Den" is head-to-head going against one of the old pros of the genre, ABC's "The Practice." But what makes "The Lyon's Den" different is the ongoing, John Grisham-style story line that will be wrapped around that formula.

In the premiere, Turner's mentor died in an apparent suicide, and he's offered a partnership in the mentor's powerful, shadowy law firm. So, in addition to dealing with the case of the week, Turner will spend the season investigating his mentor's death and fending off the schemes of his corrupt colleagues, including a bitter rival (Kyle Chandler, worlds away from his nice-guy role on "Early Edition") and a scheming assistant (a terrific Frances Fisher).

The show has a great cast of recurring characters -- Rip Torn crackled as Turner's father, a carnivorous U.S. senator who apparently sold his soul in exchange for power, and only regrets not having gotten a better deal.

It's a tricky balance between serial drama and legal drama, but if it works as well as it did in the premiere, "The Lyon's Den" could give an underperforming "West Wing" a scare at the Emmys next year.

The West Wing documentary special.

by Bill Zarchy
American Cinematographer

March 2003

Former White House Director of Communications David Gergen is recalling the unforgettable day that President Reagan and his staff woke up at Versailles Palace, had lunch with the Pope and ate dinner with Queen Elizabeth. My problem, however, is lighting his dark suit without pouring too much light on the top of his head.

Henry Kissinger is describing the peace agreement in Vietnam as a high point in his White House service. But how do I get light in both of his eyes without creating distracting glare in his glasses? And what do I do about the moiré pattern on his tie?

Bill Clinton reveals that he is more idealistic about the presidency now than when he took office, Jimmy Carter tells us he did the right thing by not bombing Iran, and Gerald Ford defends his pardon of Nixon as necessary to heal the country after Watergate. But will their respective shots integrate well with our show, despite differences in setting and lighting? And how do I pre-set these interviews, knowing that I will have a bare 30 seconds to adjust each person’s lighting after he sits in?

These challenges were just a fraction of what I encountered as director of photography for the Emmy-winning The West Wing Documentary Special, which NBC aired on April 24, 2002. During 11 shooting days, in five cities around the country, we created a classic look to suit the subject matter and reflect the grandeur of our locations. Our talking-head interviews of Gergen, Kissinger, Ford, Carter, Clinton, and a dozen presidential aides, shot on digital Betacam, would be intercut with the fictional White House world of The West Wing, and we were constantly challenged to match the shadowy, peripatetic look of the show, which is filmed in 35mm by Emmy winner Thomas Del Ruth, ASC.

Our director was Oscar-winning documentarian Bill Couturié, with whom I have collaborated often over the past year. The West Wing shoots most exterior scenes and some interiors in Washington, and we follow suit in our documentary, carefully choosing, lighting and dressing locations to resemble the grandeur of the White House and other D.C. government temples.

Many former White House staffers are on the schedule as we start our shoot. Former president Bill Clinton has agreed in principle to appear on the show, but only if another president agrees. The Bushes will not be on the show, Reagan no longer appears in public, and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter are deciding.

In all, I make two trips to Washington, three to New York, one to Atlanta, and one to Rancho Mirage near Palm Springs, with San Francisco-based producer Anne Sandkuhler and video field engineer Jim Rolin. Bill Couturié, who lives in southern California, joins us at each of these venues, conducts all of the interviews, and completes postproduction in Hollywood. Production coordinator Alexis Ercoli also accompanies us on several of these trips.

Our Washington location is at the headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a block or two from the White House. We set up in the grand President General's Room, where many presidents, first ladies and world leaders have awaited the start of events in adjacent Constitution Hall, the DAR's gem of a concert venue.

On our first day, we interview Marlin Fitzwater and Dee Dee Myers, press secretaries to Reagan-Bush and Clinton, respectively, and Clinton adviser Paul Begala. We also scout other rooms in the DAR complex and decide to change locations daily.

We had planned to record this show in HDTV, using that medium's cinematic qualities and native widescreen format to help blend our look with that of The West Wing's fictional material. But budget considerations dictate our shooting in the 16x9 aspect ratio with a Sony 790WS camcorder on digital Betacam. Later, we switch to an Ikegami HL388 camera with a separate tape deck, all from Videofax in San Francisco. Both cameras use 15x8mm Canon zooms.

Fitzwater, Myers, and Begala reflect on their White House days, the trappings of Presidential power, the lack of time for a personal life, the respect and affection for their respective bosses, and the thrill of working for causes they believed in. Begala is particularly exciting and articulate in this trio of Washington pros. He remarks at one point that being in the political consulting business with his better-known partner, James Carville, is "kind of like being Dolly Parton's feet."

We wrap out of the President General's Room and wheel all of our video, sound, lighting, grip, and prop gear through the serpentine cellar of the DAR complex, which actually consists of three interconnected buildings. We emerge in the classic old Museum wing, with wide marble staircases, arched hallways, statuary and enormous paintings. Large items need to be carried upstairs, though a tiny, temperamental elevator is available for small loads. It holds an old brass plaque dedicated to Josiah Bartlett, a signer of the Declaration of the Independence and real-life ancestor of The West Wing’s fictional president, played by Martin Sheen.

Truly, our production value mantra is location, location, location. The walls at the DAR document two centuries of the nation and the Daughters' history, and marbled corridors connect dozens of ornate rooms, most named after states, some large, some small and roped-off like museum dioramas. We shoot two interviews in the Connecticut Board Room, now famous as the room where former presidential candidate Bob Dole once filmed a Viagra commercial.

Our subjects are lit with a 1200-watt HMI PAR light in a medium Chimera softbox. The Chimera comes with a variety of front diffusions, baffles, and inner diffusions, and the PAR light has several changeable lenses. The Chimera diffusions warm up the 1200’s daylight color, and we typically add an additional 1/4 CTO gel. This key light provides a flattering, controllable, variable, soft, direct glow on the subject's face, yet it can be moved in a moment.

Bill C. and I have an agreement that, immediately after arrival, I get to see each person for 30 seconds in the interview chair, with the correct eye line and with no one standing in the light. Then they lead him or her off for makeup and prep. But that quick inspection helps the gaffer and me decide whether to raise or lower the key light, bump it more to the side for more ratio, or more frontal for more light in the second eye.

The irony is that we spend hours staging the shot, lighting and propping the background, but we have only those 30 seconds to scrutinize each person's particular facial topography, wardrobe, glasses, or complexion. Everyone has a distinct facial bone structure, so the light strikes each face differently. During setup, we pick someone on the crew to sit in and model for the shot, someone with roughly the same hair color and build as the subject. But there's no way to know how the same lighting will look on two different heads.

Bill C. likes to conduct the interviews from near the camera, to bring the subject's eyeline close to the lens, and usually we have the key on the same side as the interviewer, to face the subject into the light. This rule changes when the subject wears glasses (more on this later).

I use no fill, just a 4x4-foot white foamcore card to bounce a bit of ambient light, and we always set a "kicker" – a low-angled, subtle backlight cheek-scrape opposite the key side, using a daylight Kino-Flo fixture and lots of diffusion. With dark-haired subjects, I might add a top backlight, but generally I'm not a big fan of hair lights, especially with balding, middle-aged politicos. Usually we bounce a little light on the tops of heads with another 4x4 card. We use this method for David Gergen’s interview.

In the background we deploy a combination of small HMIs, Kino-Flos, and Source 4 Lekos. The HMIs, usually 200- or 400-watt Jokers, give us splashes of cool light. The Kinos provide warm or cool ambience, using tungsten or daylight tubes. I use patterns with the Lekos, but always for abstract texture, never as a representation of an arched window, blinds or a floral pattern. The Lekos streak in from the sides, their patterns distorted and softened, dappling and texturing bookcases, walls, and furniture. We let the Lekos keep their natural warm tungsten look to mix with the cool background lights. Since our portrait lighting scheme is the same for each subject, we spend much of our setup time designing and lighting the backgrounds.

Our camera is usually about three feet off the floor on a focal length between 30 and 45 mm. Early in The West Wing shoot, we did occasional slight zoom moves during responses. After the first day or two, Bill C. and I decided instead to let the interview play out within a single frame. The subjects are eight to 10 feet away, sitting on a small plywood platform built on quarter or half apple boxes. This setup provides a slight up-angle on the lens for a pleasing perspective against the background, even though we have a propmaster to hang paintings and adjust furniture.

I have shot many talking heads and always hate to center faces, so I compose each shot with the head bisecting the left or right half of the 16x9 (1.77:1) frame. Anne keeps track of the eyeline in her production notes, and we shoot about as many interviews with eyes left as eyes right.

Over the years, I've used a great variety of tools and gimmicks during interviews. Some directors like to film interviews from a moving camera, some use abstract backgrounds (such as a grey mottled canvas backdrop painted with light), some use greenscreen backgrounds (for later insertion of relevant B-roll material, or eye-candy graphics), some like to have the camera dutched and dollying, or to frame close-ups with people's noses bumping the edge of frame.

For The West Wing documentary, we've decided on a consistent, classic approach to composition, a comfortable head-and-shoulders shot for each person. I encourage subjects to "be Italian," to talk with their hands, and Bill C. prefers them in chairs with arms, so their hands appear in frame. We often exploit and enhance the depth in our locations, with a window or lamp deep in the frame.

We use a 12x12-foot black double net behind our interviewees to soften and distance the backgrounds, a technique I have often used with Bill C. Gaffer Bob Waybright from the Washington Source also has 8x8 foot nets that will do the same job in a small space, but we prefer the 12x12, which we can push further back and out of focus. It’s vital to keep stray light off the net, which can raise the background black level.

This 12x12, along with a coarse black bridal-veil net on the rear element of the lens, helps to create a soft, cinematic image for our talking head, especially in a recording format as potentially sharp as digital Betacam. Jim Rolin and I keep the "details" circuit on the camera set fairly low to minimize electronic sharpness. We white-balance from the key light, then warm up the picture electronically from that base setting. We carefully control the camera’s black level to avoid letting the background net or the bridal veil on the lens milk out the picture. The nets should provide softness and texture without compromising rich blacks.

In the Viagra Room at the DAR we interview Betty Currie, Clinton's personal secretary for eight years, and current owner of Socks, the presidential cat. She warms our hearts by recounting the thrill of having her mother and sister meet the president, shortly before her mother's death. We turn the camera around and face the opposite corner of the Viagra Room, setting up for Lanny Davis, a White House staffer who describes himself, off camera, as the "flak sponge" during a particularly contentious, scandal-ridden time in Clinton's second term. Lanny wears new glasses with a great anti-glare coating, and we bravely face him into the key light. Someday I want a spray can of that coating.

We shift to the DAR Library, a magnificent open reading room, the original Constitution Hall, before the current auditorium was opened in 1929. Here we talk to Gene Sperling, a vital cog in Clinton's brain trust, widely credited as the hardest-working of that famous group of workaholics. He is seated on a balcony over the reading room; behind him, 50' away, loom a golden eagle and a magnificent arched ceiling. The shot has fantastic depth, so we don't need our 12x12 net in the background.

On our last day in D.C. we set up in the DAR's O'Byrne Gallery, a magnificent long room with huge French doors along one wall. I call it Versailles. When the DAR library was still a theatre, the O'Byrne was its grand foyer. The West Wing often uses the colonnaded portico just outside as a location resembling the White House. To take full advantage of this magnificent space, we set up the camera with our backs to the wall.

Our subject here is Ken Duberstein, former chief of staff under Reagan. He is rhetorical, dramatic, and riveting. His voice rises in power and intensity, then drops to an emotional whisper as we watch his performance, open-mouthed. We quickly fill two half-hour tapes. Duberstein seems inexhaustible, but he does have a plane to catch. A car whisks him off when we're done.

Days later in Manhattan, our interview with Gergen is at the House of the Redeemer, a former Vanderbilt mansion on East 95th, in a huge, library-like setting. New York gaffer Don Muchow, key grip John McElwain and I enjoy painting this rich environment with light, streaking and dappling dark wood, books, mezzanine, and a few bright sconce lights in a shadowy background. The 6'4" David Gergen has a spellbinding presence; he’s eloquent, professorial, articulate and polished. He tells tales of life under four presidents, stories that go on for five minutes – an entire century in the too-quick world of television.

The next day, we interview Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and a young Clinton aide named Michelle Crisci at the Soldiers and Sailors Club on Lexington. This hotel for members of the armed forces, retirees, and veterans was founded in 1919 and has a living room with the right kind of elegance. Noonan tells us of her defiance of the request that she write speeches for Nancy Reagan, which stems from her worry that she would be seen as "the woman speechwriter." Now, however, she admits that "I couldn't have done anything dumber."

Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta and several young former Clinton aides are on our agenda the following week, in the Chairman's Suite at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, a lovely wood-paneled, book-lined location with a second floor of bedrooms, and an internal staircase and balcony. Panetta is warm and avuncular, with a gleam in his eye. When he hears me address gaffer Jon Fontana by name, he smiles at Jon and calls him "paisan." He tells us that when he heard that the chief of staff on The West Wing was named Leo, he just hoped he was a nice guy.

Here I break my rule on facing the subject into the key light. The closer the interviewer is to the lens, the harder it is to eliminate reflections in glasses. I always try to keep the key at least 45 degrees off axis to maximize ratio on the subject's face, but I usually cross-key people wearing glasses, facing them out of the key light. This way, I can often push the key far enough to the side to get good ratio and good light in their eyes, the "windows to the soul," without fighting reflection. Glasses have always been a problem, especially with the huge convex styles of the 1980s and early ’90s. Lately, more people wear small, flat lenses, some with effective anti-glare coatings like Lanny Davis’. But the closer the questioner is to the lens, the harder it is to eliminate glare in the lenses unless we cross-key.

By the end of the day with Panetta, Anne tells us that we finally have an appointment with Jimmy Carter on March 21st, a whole month away, and about four weeks before the airdate. After Panetta, we are done shooting for a couple of weeks.

Early in March we are back at the DAR, in the Pennsylvania Foyer, a marbled hall lined with flags, paintings, and busts of prominent American statesmen. We set up for Karl Rove, a political strategist in the current Bush Administration. Our 12x12 in the background brings down the level of a distant glowing window and softens the background pleasingly. We paint a combination of warm and cool light, in soft washes and patterns, on the marble sills and walls and statues and flags in the background. Rove is our only subject from the current White House.

In New York two days later, we meet former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Suite at the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel. A wrap-around terrace outside the suite enables Don Muchow to light an arched window in the background of Kissinger's shot and block the sun from blasting in.

We were told we would have Dr. Kissinger for 45 minutes, less if he decides to leave sooner. Kissinger, nearly 80, arrives in a jovial mood, accompanied by his aide and, for some reason, his brother. He looks older than I remember, but his deep, richly accented drone rings a familiar bell. I use my 30 seconds with him in the chair to inspect our lighting, and I am horrified to see that the fine design on Kissinger's tie causes a distracting moiré that dances and pulsates as he talks. This interference pattern is a common problem with tweedy or herringbone patterns on men's clothing, and we are grateful when the former Secretary of State readily agrees to switch ties with his brother.

As we did with Panetta, we face Kissinger out of the key light, though his glasses are not as thick and large as in his heyday. We find a good angle for the key light, with a bit more ratio than some of our subjects, and I am happy with the results

Dr. K peeks at his watch several times during our 22 minutes of videotape, but always during questions. He enjoys reminiscing about his days at the nexus of power in the Nixon and Ford administrations. Bill C. asks good questions, some prompted by the writers from The West Wing, about process and style, rather than issues and politics. This show is a memory piece, not a political forum, and that's why many of our subjects have agreed to participate.

In Atlanta two weeks later, we are offered a small study for our interview with former president Carter. Instead, we arrange to set up at the Carter Center in the Cecil B. Day Chapel, a large auditorium, where we bring in bookcases and lamps and furniture and create a presidential office set. Once again, our background net softens and distances the background. Gaffer Denny Mooradian sets an extra fill light to smooth out any facial imperfections, but we don’t need it for the interview.

We have President Carter for 30 minutes; he arrives exactly on time and we are ready. We study him in the chair intently for 30 seconds, make him up, and turn him over to Bill C. Carter is 77 and grayer than during his term in office, but he glows with a sharp mind, a gentle wit, and a twinkle in his eye. He discusses the difficulty of unpopular decisions that could put Americans in harm's way or devastate civilian populations abroad. Sometimes, he notes, these policy choices can cost an election, as his own actions in the Iran hostage crisis did. His articulateness, his warmth, and his candor are impressive. Bill C. enjoys concluding the interview with "Thank you, Mr. President," we take a group photo with Carter, and he is gone, 30 minutes and 40 seconds after arrival.

We are all delighted. Our shoot has come to the end of a long road, and it seems unlikely the network will pursue more interviews: now we have a president, and the airdate is only weeks away. "We've got to stop meeting like this," says Bill C. to Jim and me. He needs uninterrupted time in the editing room with editor Terry Schwartz. We say goodbye to Bill and our Atlanta crew and wish each other well.

We already have 17 interviews and more than 400 pages of transcripts, and the historical weight of our story is compelling. Our subjects consider public service a noble and uplifting profession, despite the political maneuvering and personal sacrifice. They all miss their time in the White House, except Rove, who is currently ensconced there. Any would go back in an instant.

Except for postproduction, this job is over.

Or so we think. Ten days later, Anne calls. Clinton is back from Australia, she says, and he is interested in appearing on our show, now that we have interviewed Carter. Soon we are back in New York, setting up in Clinton’s office, a long room with 40' of south-facing windows. The view is a unique perspective from the 14th floor of this federal office building in Harlem. As I look across Central Park from the north, the Empire State Building is now the tallest building in the skyline, and I wonder if Clinton was here on September 11.

We once again shoot with the wall at our backs, the length of the office behind Clinton, his desk and bookcases deep in the background. We don't plan to see the windows here, so we cover the glass with black Visqueen plastic.

Gaffer John Merriman sets our usual portrait lighting, and we paint the background with cool washes from the HMIs and Flos and warm streaks from the Lekos. Because the office has great depth but is only slightly wider than our 12x12, we forego the background net, which would gobble up the room and restrict access. Clinton's staff tells us this is his first television interview there, other than a brief statement at his desk after September 11 with a news crew. This is also the only interview where we show anyone in his own office.

The former president is gracious and jovial and clearly enjoys meeting people and exchanging ideas. He looks trim and fit in a well-cut suit, and I am struck by how young and vital he appears. His hair is whiter than I had anticipated, so we turn off the minimal hair light we had planned. His daughter Chelsea, who was on our plane from San Francisco the night before, shows up at the office later in the day.

Clinton loved the presidency and tells us he ended his tenure in the White House more idealistic than when he started. He loves to talk, and sticks around for pictures and chat after his interview. When asked about his future plans, Clinton mentions that former strategist James Carville recently told him that they are both eligible to run for President of France. Because Carville and Clinton were born in Louisiana and Arkansas, respectively, both parts of the formerly French Louisiana Purchase, they could move to France, establish residency, and run for office. "I don't think I will," says Clinton, with a broad smile. "I'm sure I would soon start to take flak for my French accent."

As we wrap out of Clinton's office, certain that this shoot is now over, Bill Couturié gets a call. "Hey, we got Ford," he calls out to me as we head to the elevator. "What, commercials?" asks one of our local crew. "No, Gerald." Of course, it makes sense. Now that we have two Democratic Presidents, the show needs a Republican.

Later that week, and less than two weeks before our airdate, we interview former president Ford in the Board Room at the Lodge at Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs in Southern California. The room is paneled, cozy and smaller than we would like, but the double net helps the background to recede. Gaffer Larry Roth and his crew dash around making it all beautiful.

"The guys at The West Wing are all jealous," reports Bill C. "No one gets to talk with three presidents in a month." We had heard earlier that Ford was ill, but the former president, now 88, has a spring in his step and looks much as he did when he succeeded Richard Nixon in 1974. "You guys just don't age," says Bill C. when he meets Ford.

The Michigan Republican has an easy laugh as he answers the questions clearly and articulately. He is particularly earnest and candid in defending his pardon of Nixon, maintaining that he needed to get the problem "off his desk." Ford is proudest of the fact that he came from a broken home and rose to be president of the United States, a "tribute to our system."

At last our shoot is really over. The show airs 12 days later and is a great success. The blending of the interviews with the fictional scenes is skillful and poignant. And getting three ex-presidents to participate in anything together is a unique achievement and a matter of some historical significance.

'West Wing' actress urges students to listen

By JENNIFER OCHSTEIN
South Bend Tribune

CULVER -- Actress and playwright Anna Deveare Smith became another person while she was on stage at Culver Academy Wednesday.

Actually, she became several people.

Smith, known for her role as National Security Adviser Nancy McNally on the NBC series "The West Wing," showed students why her plays are two-time Obie Award winners.

"Fires in the Mirror," about riots between blacks and Jews in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and "Twilight: Los Angeles," about the Los Angeles race riots sparked by not guilty verdicts in the trial of four police officers charged in the beating of motorist Rodney King, are two of Smith's Obie Award winners.

Smith told the students she is currently working on another play of her own called "Snapshots: Glimpses of America."

She explained to students she is learning about America by speaking the words of the people she interviewed.

Smith is technically a one-woman show in which she plays each of the characters she interviewed, talking with all of the nuances of an interviewee's voice and nearly taking on his or her persona.

She tells a story through her interview subjects' eyes. For example, Smith said she interviewed 300 people for "Twilight: Los Angeles" and played 26 of those people in the play.

But you'd have to see her to believe it.

Smith launched into likenesses of writer Studs Terkel; an anonymous Jewish woman she interviewed in Crown Heights; a Mexican man she interviewed in Los Angeles; a cowboy; and a jury member in the Rodney King beating case.

In a cracked voice, Smith gave her rendition of Terkel talking about defining moments in history.

As Terkel, Smith said there are no set defining moments in history, only a culmination of moments that have shaped America. Terkel had told Smith in his interview with her that the human touch is disappearing, and people are more and more interested in communications and not communication.

At the end of her program, she related Terkel's statement to a question asked by a student. The student asked how his generation could understand the power of the voice and essentially how to take time to listen to people.

Smith said that with greater access to technology, people have access to communications, but spend less time on communication.

Strong 'West Wing' Helps NBC Win Wednesday

Zap2it.com

Fresh off its fourth Emmy win for best drama, "The West Wing" beat back its unscripted competition and contributed to NBC's ratings victory Wednesday.

NBC averaged a 10.7 rating/17 share in primetime to lead second-place ABC, 8.4/13, by a comfortable margin. CBS was third at 6.6/11, followed by FOX, 4.3/7; UPN, 1.9/3; and The WB, 1.5/2.

ABC managed to score a narrow victory among adults 18-49 with a 5.9 rating for the night. NBC was close behind at 5.8. CBS averaged 3.0 in the demographic, FOX 2.9, UPN 1.2 and The WB 0.8.

The hour-long season premiere of "My Wife and Kids," 8.6/14, won the 8 p.m. hour for ABC. "Ed" began its season with a 7.4/12 for NBC. CBS came in third with "60 Minutes II," 7.1/12. The first hour of the "Performing As" finale on FOX was fourth. "Enterprise" averaged 2.5/4 for UPN. "Hilary Duff's Island Birthday Bash" on The WB finished sixth.

At 9 p.m., "The West Wing" began its fifth season with a strong 11.6/18, easily beating the first hour of "The Bachelor's" premiere on ABC, 7.5/11. The finale of "Big Brother 4" scored a 7.0/11 for CBS. The conclusion of "Performing As" kept FOX in fourth. UPN held on to the fifth spot with "Jake 2.0." The WB aired an encore of the "One Tree Hill" premiere to a 1.5/2.

"Law & Order," 13.1/21, won the 10 p.m. hour for NBC and drew the night's biggest audience. "The Bachelor" improved to 9.1/15 in its second hour. The premiere of "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H." averaged 5.7/9 for CBS.

'West Wing's' fifth season: Politics NOT as usual

Onscreen, President Bartlet decided to step aside amid a crisis; offscreen, creator Aaron Sorkin had to leave the show. Now what?
By JILL VEJNOSKA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

He looks small."

So sighs White House aide Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) in the opening moments of tonight's fifth season premiere of "The West Wing." The "he" is Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen), the once and presumably future president of the United States.

Of course, much depends on the actions of Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), the beefy, blunt Republican speaker of the House until Bartlet handed the reins of power to him in last season's final moments. Uncertain of his own ability to run the country while dealing with the kidnapping of his youngest daughter, Zoey, by foreign terrorists, Bartlet shows up tonight at a televised news conference, looking diminutive and diminished as he stands silently by Walken's side.

Meanwhile, "The West Wing" looks surprisingly robust.

Yes, surprising, in spite of its having snagged its fourth consecutive Emmy for best drama Sunday night. In previous years, "Wing" could have won on buzz alone. Its sense of relevancy and richly inventive story lines and dialogue made it appointment television for everyone from viewers to political professionals. That all changed last year, when "Wing's" must-watch status tumbled along with its ratings, which were down 21 percent. While it didn't deserve to be eclipsed by time-slot competitor "The Bachelor," of all things, it didn't deserve to beat out "The Sopranos" or "24" for the Emmy either.

Not when it bogged down in a seemingly interminable presidential election story line whose outcome was only slightly more assured than North Korea's. Or featured such self-indulgent or jarring touches as C.J.'s (Allison Janney) "Show Me the Emmy" visit with her Alzheimer's-afflicted dad, or the acidly brusque Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) suddenly going all squishy over impending fatherhood. Throw in the Zoey kidnapping supposedly tied to the made-up country of Qumar, and it's no wonder viewers were flummoxed.

Not to mention executive producer John Wells.

"I was on vacation with my wife, and I said to her, 'Well, how am I supposed to get out of that?' " Wells recalls about last season's cliffhanger.

He's kidding . . . sort of. The veteran producer helped develop "Wing" along with creator and one-man writing team Aaron Sorkin. When Sorkin and NBC agreed to part company last spring (the network reportedly wasn't happy about cost overruns and slipping ratings), in came "ER" and "Third Watch" executive producer Wells to run things.

Wells has only good things to say about Sorkin and mostly talks about what he won't be doing to "The West Wing." No sudden escalation of "ER"-esque personal story lines, for example, although expect to still see a lot of first lady Abigail Bartlet (Stockard Channing).

"The rest of them have no home life but the White House," Wells says.

Meanwhile, the real world has changed, something Wells is determined to make "Wing" reflect even more. Wells says it isn't the reality of having a Republican in the real White House that's made the Democratic Bartlet Administration feel less like Must See TV. We just feel less safe.

"Something really has changed in the way we look at the world and what we need from our political leaders," says Wells, who foresees story lines about economic and security issues. "We need to address that in a way that makes the show not too ponderous and earnest, but that feels real to the audience."

Adding to the realism, the new vice president, played by Gary Cole, will be in place by episode four or five, and around more than predecessor Tim Matheson.

"He needs to be brought up to speed," Wells says of the character. "He's also very ambitious."

But first, there's a missing daughter and an extra president to deal with. Far from being the disaster some "Wing" groupies predicted, tonight's episode moves crisply, without sacrificing either humor or emotion. Most satisfying are the chinks we finally get to see in Channing's Super First Lady armor as she swings between fear for her daughter and fury at what her husband may have done to bring the family to this point.

Even better is Goodman, who assumes his role as confidently and unapologetically as his House speaker moves into the Oval Office.

A big man with a little dog he keeps ordering off historic pieces of furniture, Walken would be so easy to overdo -- especially since he's a guaranteed short-timer in the office. But Goodman wisely resists that temptation -- like Walken, he knows he's there to keep the show going, not steal it outright -- and the result is a richer story all around.

Indeed, Wells' next big challenge may be getting viewers to immediately embrace the "small" Bartlet upon his inevitable return to office. (Regarding Goodman, Wells says he's "hopeful to have him back" later in the year.)

By the end of tonight's episode, though, we still don't know Zoey's fate or when her father might give Walken and his growing staff of Republican aides their walking papers. And that only adds to the sense of fun as Josh Lyman and the rest of the usually articulate and assured Bartlet staff are reduced to having to watch and wonder along with the rest of us.

It feels real because it is.

"They don't like to ask a lot of questions about where we're going," Wells says of the cast. "Mostly, they like to be surprised."

So far, all the surprises are good.

Sorkin's Gone, But `West Wing' Doesn't Miss A Beat

By WALT BELCHER
Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Watching the huge cast and crew of ``The West Wing'' scramble on stage Sunday night to accept the Emmy for best drama probably caused some excitement and concern for fans of the NBC drama.
Hey, we're glad you won, but can the series survive the loss of its creator?

Prolific writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, whose distinctive, rapid-fire, detail-filled dialogue set the tone for four seasons, accepted the award Sunday and sort of said ``goodbye'' and ``good luck.''

He has left the series, along with Emmy-winning director Thomas Schlamme, who gave ``The West Wing'' a distinctive style.

Also gone is co-star Rob Lowe, who stars in his own series, ``The Lyon's Den,'' debuting Sunday on NBC.

`The West Wing'' can easily move on without Lowe's Sam Seaborn character, but Sorkin's exit fills fans with trepidation.

If the season debut on Wednesday night is any indicator, then fans can rest easy for the moment.

Less Wordy, Easier To Follow

The script, penned by Sorkin's replacement, John Wells, is tight and well-written. The look and feel of the show are still top-notch. And the story is compelling.

If anything, Wells' scripts are less wordy and might be easier for some to follow.

Pound for pound, Sorkin writes the heaviest scripts in television - packed with so many words and delivered at such a dizzy pace, some viewers have trouble keeping up.

And Wells is no slouch. His writing, directing and production credits include ``China Beach,'' ``ER,'' ``Third Watch'' and ``The West Wing'' (he was one of the original executive producers).

His brother Llewellyn Wells has been with the show from the beginning as a co-executive producer.

The opening script doesn't miss a beat.

When we left the White House in May, President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) had stepped down temporarily while a desperate search is under way for his abducted daughter, Zoey (Elizabeth Moss).

The president, believing his ability to govern could be compromised, invoked the 25th Amendment.

Because the vice president (Tim Matheson) has resigned over a scandal, the conservative and somewhat creepy speaker of the House, Glenallen ``Glen'' Walken (John Goodman), gets to move into the Oval Office.

The fifth season opens seven hours after Zoey's kidnapping, and the White House staff is worried about working with Walken, especially because of a potential international crisis.

Walken is considering the military options after receiving a ransom note for Zoey demanding the release of Pakistani terrorists and a pullout of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia and Qumar.

Meanwhile, the Democratic congressional leadership is unhappy. Also the president's eldest daughter, Elizabeth (Annabeth Gish), arrives at the White House with her husband and two children.

In the coming weeks, Walken will order the bombing of terrorist training camps in Qumar; presidential aide Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) will become increasingly uneasy with Walken; a new intern (Jesse Bradford), a Harvard grad from a powerful political family, will join the staff; and Gary Cole will debut as the new vice president.

Experienced Team

John Wells' writing team includes John Sacret Young, who worked with him on ``China Beach,'' ``ER'' and ``Third Watch''; Carol Flint (``China Beach'' and ``ER''); Lawrence O'Donnell (a ``West Wing'' veteran and MSNBC's senior political analyst); and Alexa Junge (``Sex and the City'' and ``Once and Again'').

Alex Graves and Chris Misiano, who directed previous episodes, will follow in Schlamme's footsteps.

Llewellyn Wells recently told the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman that Sorkin left behind a brilliant blueprint.

``There may be a slightly different take on things, maybe a bit more plot- driven,'' he said. ``Aaron's voice as a writer is so distinctive that I don't think anyone here wants to try to imitate his style. It's futile. There will be some changes in the way the characters sound, but they'll be subtle changes.''

'West Wing' back in fine form

By Diane Holloway
Indianapolis Star

September 23, 2003

Fans of "The West Wing" are approaching this week's fifth-season premiere with trepidation.

Creator Aaron Sorkin, whose signature dialogue set the tone for the fast-paced political drama, left at the end of last season, along with director Thomas Schlamme, who was responsible for the show's distinctive look.

And Rob Lowe, the original star who had faded into the ensemble, left and wasn't quiet about the reasons.

"It was never about money or screen time," Lowe told reporters in July. "At the end of the day, I wanted Sam to be involved in the big story lines, not just shuffled in and out for relief."

It was an ominous situation for the acclaimed series, which finished the season with a 26 percent dip in its ratings.

'Crackling good'

But guess what? This season's opening episode (9 p.m. Wednesday, WTHR ), written by Sorkin's replacement, John Wells, is crackling good. The tone is the same, the story is compelling and the emotional wallop powerful. In at least one regard, it's even better than last season's finale: The characters don't talk over each other or sound like they're on speed.

Co-executive producer Llewellyn Wells, who has been with the show from the beginning (and is man-in-charge John Wells' brother), says the goal is to make only slight changes in style.

"Aaron and Tommy left us with a brilliant fictional world," Llewellyn Wells said in a recent phone interview. "There may be a slightly different take on things, maybe a bit more plot-driven. Aaron's voice as a writer is so distinctive that I don't think anyone here wants to try to imitate his style. It's futile. There will be some changes in the way the characters sound, but they'll be subtle changes."

John Wells, an original executive producer on "The West Wing," has assembled a writing team that includes John Sacret Young, who worked with him on "China Beach," "ER" and "Third Watch"; Carol Flint ("China Beach" and "ER"); Lawrence O'Donnell (a "West Wing" veteran and MSNBC's senior political analyst); and Alexa Junge ("Sex and the City," "Once and Again").

Alex Graves and Christopher Misiano, who directed previous episodes, will follow in Schlamme's footsteps.

"Tommy created such an indelible and beautiful style for the show that talented people can step in and take what he created and enhance it," Llewellyn Wells said.

So, "West Wing" fans, we enter the new season in good hands.

Catching up

When last we left the Bartlet White House in May, presidential daughter Zoey had been drugged by her French boyfriend and kidnapped by an unknown assailant. The president, believing his ability to govern was compromised, stepped down. After the vice president departed over a sex scandal, the Republican speaker of the House (John Goodman) was sworn in.

In this week's opener, Zoey is still missing, the speaker-turned-president is threatening to take the country to war and the first couple's relationship is strained to the breaking point. The ending (which we won't spoil here) is vintage "West Wing" -- a heart-wrenching scene of emotional agony with a plaintive search for spiritual strength.

The new vice president, played by Gary Cole ("The Brady Bunch Movie," "Office Space"), will arrive in the third episode. Wells said the character is from Colorado and doesn't appeal to the West Wing staffers, at least not at first.

Series return is a nail-biter behind scenes, too

By Mike Duffy
Detroit Free Press

It's not just turmoil on screen that's embroiled President Bartlet's administration on "The West Wing."

'The West Wing'
THREE STARS
out of 4 stars
9 tonight

WDIV-TV, Channel 4, NBC

The critically acclaimed NBC political drama, which Sunday night earned a fourth consecutive Emmy Award as television's best drama series, returns for its fifth season at 9 tonight after enduring a controversial change of administration behind the scenes over the spring and summer.

Aaron Sorkin -- the gifted writer-producer who created "The West Wing" and gave the series its distinctive storytelling style, complete with fast-paced repartee -- has left the Oval Office.

And John Wells, the talented writer-producer behind "ER" and "Third Watch," has taken over.

Though Wells has been an executive producer with "The West Wing" from the beginning in the fall of 1999, the show was Sorkin's baby. He wrote nearly every episode. It was his vision that fueled the meaty, issue-oriented stories of President Bartlet and his staff.

"Nobody wanted Aaron to continue writing the show more than I did," says Wells, who pronounced himself "scared to death" at the thought of writing a series so intensely identified with Sorkin's voice.

"I'm very proud of my writing. I work at it," says Wells. "But it is a little bit of the feeling of trying to come in and live up to a world someone else created and who is remarkably talented . . . It's a terrifying experience because you're staring up at the talent of Aaron Sorkin. And that can be daunting."

One talent Sorkin lacked, however, was an ability to get his writing done on time. Constantly writing episodes of "The West Wing" up against production deadlines led to cost overruns, a cardinal sin in the bottom-line world of network television.

That's not likely to be a problem with the disciplined Wells, who's more willing to delegate to staff writers,

But Wells did write the first two episodes of the new season, which pick up from Sorkin's explosive cliff-hanger last spring in which first daughter Zoey Bartlet was kidnapped, an international crisis erupted and President Bartlet stepped aside as the outspoken Speaker of the House, played by guest star John Goodman, took temporary control of the Oval Office.

As the new season opens in a taut, well-crafted hour, Bartlet and his shell-shocked staff are being overshadowed by the blunt, outspoken new man in the Oval Office, President Walken. And Zoey's fate remains in doubt, though things are looking pretty dire.

Speaking of dire, how about changes in the essence of "The West Wing" with Wells and a new team of writers in charge?

"Our hope would be that you don't sense that it's very different," says Wells. But he acknowledges that the characteristic snap, crackle and pop of the verbal exchanges won't be quite the same.

"Aaron does that exceedingly well," says Wells. "It's very difficult to do well. Unless we can do it as well, we will probably shy away from it and you wont' hear it as much."

Other changes?

Gary Cole ("The Brady Bunch Movie") is signing on as the new, extremely ambitious vice president, replacing Vice President Hoynes (Tim Matheson), who resigned last year.

We'll spend more time with the Bartlets and their children, including eldest daughter Elizabeth (Annabeth Gish), who makes her first brief appearance on the season premiere.

But don't look for "The West Wing" to turn into a conventional domestic soap opera, following Josh Lyman or Leo McGarry home to peek in on their personal lives.

"The truth is, the rest of them don't have a home life just because of the job requirements," says Wells of the White House staffers. "There were a lot of people who expressed fear that's where we were heading. But that's not what the show is."

The truth is, "The West Wing" hasn't been as sharp the past two seasons. Many critics have noted the show's sometimes erratic quality, especially during last season's overdrawn, snooze-inducing Bartlet re-election campaign.

Even with the excellent acting ensemble and continued Emmy accolades, Wells admits the show "struggled over the last couple of years" in the wake of 9/11. "The West Wing" just didn't seem quite as relevant or compelling.

"We need to address the fact that in our audience's mind, something really has changed in the way we look at the world and political problems and what we need from our political leaders," says Wells. "And we want to try to address that without making the show too ponderous or earnest."

There will also be an effort to offer more political balance.

When "The West Wing" was born, President Bill Clinton occupied the White House. So the Democratic administration of President Bartlet and his staff of socially liberal and progressive aides mirrored a certain reality.

Now Wells, with John Goodman's character and others who will appear, hopes to balance that with more conservative and Republican views in the era of President George W. Bush.

"Our characters aren't changing," says Wells. "But the world in which they live . . . forces them to have those conversations (with the Republican majority in Congress) and really hear more of the other kind of view."

"My own sense of it is that the country is more (politically) divided than it has been in my lifetime," says Wells.

"And the more we can reflect that division and allow another place that conversation can take place, the more interesting the show is for our audience."

Television: righting the ship of state

NEW CAPTAINS TAKE OVER IN 'THE WEST WING'; PRODUCER LEAVES AND 'PRESIDENT' YIELDS REINS
By Charlie McCollum
San Jose Mercury News

In May, John Wells, one of television's top producers and writers, was vacationing in Hawaii with his wife, Marilyn. One night, he took a busman's holiday and watched the season finale of ``The West Wing,'' in which President Josiah Bartlet temporarily gives up his office because his daughter has been kidnapped by terrorists.

``When it finished,'' recalls Wells, ``I remember turning to my wife and saying, `How am I supposed to get out of that?' ''

Just a few weeks before the finale, Wells had agreed to step in and take over the Emmy-winning White House drama after creator Aaron Sorkin and executive producer Thomas Schlamme, the director responsible for the show's distinctive pacing and style, abruptly and unexpectedly announced they were leaving the show.

In taking on ``West Wing,'' which won its fourth straight drama Emmy Sunday night and returns for its fifth season tonight, the 47-year-old Wells was not simply being asked to come in and produce another TV show. He was taking on the daunting task of reversing a tumultuous months-long slide that included the departure of Rob Lowe, criticism that the show had lost its way in terms of its storytelling, disputes over late scripts and budget overruns and a precipitous 21 percent drop in viewership.

More dauntingly, Wells was being asked to find a way to continue a series whose voice and style were more the product of one man -- Sorkin -- than anything else on TV. His rapid-fire dialogue, reminiscent of 1930s screwball comedies, was so vivid that ``The West Wing'' could take on all manner of esoteric political issues and still thoroughly entertain an audience.

``Aaron is, if not the most talented writer writing in television or film or stage, certainly one of two or three most talented ones,'' says Wells. ``I am very proud of my writing. I work at it. But it is a bit of a feeling of trying to come in and live up to the world that someone else, someone who is remarkably talented, has created.''

The producer, who has worked on such critically acclaimed series as ``ER'' and ``China Beach,'' says that stepping in for Sorkin is ``a bit like you're Ethel Merman's understudy in `Gypsy' and at intermission, she comes down with the flu.

``Suddenly you're standing backstage to start the second act and you hear the stage manager announce to the crowd, `In the second act, Miss Merman's part will be sung by John Wells.' ''

In fact, Wells is not coming in cold to ``The West Wing.'' He developed the drama with Sorkin back in 1997, before Sorkin made his mark on TV with ``Sports Night.''

The original idea was that Wells would help Sorkin produce the show and assemble a writing staff. But during ``Sports Night,'' Wells says, Sorkin discovered ``he wasn't very good at overseeing a writing staff'' and wanted to write everything himself.

That carried over to ``The West Wing'' and over four seasons, Sorkin ended up writing close to 90 percent of the dialogue on the show. It often made for great television, but it also put incredible pressure on one man.

For the show's fifth season, Wells has assembled a real writing staff that will share the work and pressure. It has some pretty high-profile talent including Lawrence O'Donnell, who was with ``West Wing'' for two seasons before going off to create ``Mr. Sterling''; John Sacret Young, co-creator of ``China Beach''; Alexa Junge from ``Friends''; and Carol Flint, one of ``ER's'' top writers.

But Wells himself took on the task of writing this season's first two episodes, which resolve the kidnapping of Zoey Bartlet and the constitutional crisis that led to John Goodman's Republican, very conservative House speaker stepping into the Oval Office.

If Wells was or is angered by the corner Sorkin painted the series into at the end of last season, he does a very good job of concealing it. (He notes that he and Sorkin talk once a week or so and had lunch together last week.)

``I kind of refer to it as: Aaron wrote the first two acts of the play and then I have to write the last two acts of the play,'' Wells says with a laugh. ``Begging is not too strong a word. I begged him to write the first two episodes because it's very difficult to pick up a story line. He had really set up the event that then clearly had to be dealt with at the beginning'' of this season.

``He and I had conversations about it although he really felt that I should go off and do what I wanted to do.''

The great fear of ``West Wing'' fans -- and there are still millions of them -- was that the loss of Sorkin's voice would spell the end of the series.

But somewhat surprisingly, it's hard to tell in tonight's episode where Sorkin left off and Wells takes over. Sorkin's comedic touches aren't there, but then again, the story matter is fairly dark. The episode may not feel like great Sorkin but it certainly ranks with good Sorkin.

Wells is aware that some changes do need to be made for ``West Wing'' to re-establish itself as one of TV's most popular shows. He acknowledges the show has struggled for the right tone since the election of President Bush and, more notably, since Sept. 11.

``We need to address that in our audience's mind, something really has changed'' in this country, he says.

``We certainly want to reflect the economic mood of the country with our characters actually dealing with some of the difficulties of managing an economy,'' Wells suggests. ``We're trying through some of the events Aaron set in motion with the kidnapping of the president's daughter with the issue of security, with all of us feeling not nearly as safe and wondering what it is we should get from government.''

And, he adds, ``we want to have conversations about international intervention. Not to make comments or to take potshots at what the Bush administration has been doing but rather quite the opposite: To just discuss how complex the issues are and how there aren't easy choices.''

All of this without, Wells says, ``making the show too ponderous or too earnest, still maintain its comedic roots.

``And,'' he adds, ``make sure we still feel relevant to the audience.''

The West Wing

*** (tonight's season opener)

** 1/2-*** (last season, depending on the episode)

Airing: 9 tonight,

Creator: Aaron Sorkin

Executive producer: John Wells

Cast: Martin Sheen, John Spencer, Stockard Channing, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Dule Hill, Joshua Malina, Janel Moloney

'West Wing' returns with new leader

Emmy-winning drama back without creator Sorkin at helm
By Barry Garron
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24 — This is not only the fifth season for “The West Wing” but also its first without creator Aaron Sorkin, who dominated writing duties for the show like few other exec producers.

ALSO, THOMAS SCHLAMME, exec producer and the director who established visual style for the show, now serves as consulting producer. They left the show amid glowing comments from NBC and Warner Bros. and an unmonitored record of Sorkin delivering scripts at the last possible minute, a worrisome decline in ratings and fears that stories were starting to go too far afield.

The fourth season also saw the departure of charter cast member Rob Lowe and the arrival of Joshua Malina and Lily Tomlin. Given the large ensemble cast, these changes, while noteworthy, did not significantly affect the tone or the content of the series. Sorkin’s departure was a different matter. His rapid-fire dialogue and thought-provoking themes defined each character and raised the intellectual level of the series above nearly everything else on primetime. More than anyone, he deserves credit for “West Wing’s” four consecutive drama Emmys.

In the season opener, the president’s Democratic staff finds itself serving a new boss, former Speaker of the House Walken, played with vigor and authority by guest star John Goodman. President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) had requested the transfer of power after the abduction of his daughter by terrorists. Walken is a no-nonsense Republican and a decisive Midwesterner with a propensity for shooting straight. (In theory, it is possible for a transition of power across party lines to occur, though in practice only vice presidents have succeeded presidents.) While Bartlet and his wife, Abigail (Stockard Channing), worry about their daughter’s safety, the staff is also concerned about the political implications. Those angles are easy enough to grasp.

Other developments, including the revelation of Bartlet’s role in ordering the assassination of a foreign leader and its possible connection to his daughter’s abduction, will prove more elusive for anyone who hasn’t paid attention last season. Last year, “West Wing” faced unexpectedly strong competition from ABC’s “The Bachelor,” which will not have the benefit of a novelty factor this season. That leaves the door open for a comeback by “West Wing,” but a lot is riding on whether new writers, walking in Sorkin’s footprints, can continue to tell intriguing stories without allowing them to become too complicated or fanciful.

'Wing' has this vote

By David Bianculli
New York Daily News

THE WEST WING. Tonight at 9, NBC.
Despite winning the Best Drama Emmy Sunday night for last season's work, the biggest question surrounding NBC's "The West Wing" this season is whether it will be any good, now that series creator Aaron Sorkin walked away last May.

Based on the one episode provided for preview, it's a little hard to say. The first impression, though, is that the show will survive just fine.

It might not thrive, but it didn't always thrive under Sorkin's watch anyway. After a brilliant freshman season and an equally strong second year, both Sorkin and the show lost focus.

The acting remained brilliant, thanks to one of the strongest ensembles anywhere, but story lines fizzled.

Only when Sorkin was calling it quits and planning his own farewell to the show did he, and "The West Wing," again become astounding. The two-part season finale, in which the kidnapping of President Bartlet's daughter Zoey prompted him to step down and turn over the Oval Office to the Republican Speaker of the House, was a taut nail-biter in which everything was left unanswered.

Was Zoey alive? Was the kidnapping a form of retribution, as Bartlet and his inner circle suspected, for the President's clandestine approval of the assassination of a senior official of the (fictional) country of Qumar? What would the Republicans do now that they were in charge? And how quickly would Bartlet get his title and power back, and at what cost?

With plot threads like that to follow, executive producer John Wells and the rest of the continuing "West Wing" team had a major leg up when it came to shaping tonight's premiere.

And since most of those questions remain unresolved after the season opener, it may take until the conclusion of this story arc, and beyond, before the post-Sorkin "West Wing" can be fully and fairly evaluated.

What's best about the opener is John Goodman as President Walken - a gruff man who makes decisions just as quickly as Bartlet, but clearly not always the same ones. There's the tension of the West Wing staff at trying to function under a new, less popular boss.

And in the residence quarters, where Martin Sheen's Bartlet is agonizing over his missing daughter, his wife Abby (Stockard Channing) learns of the kidnappers' possible motivation, and is furious.

The dramatic structure of the season premiere is more straightforward than Sorkin's usual season openers - no flashbacks, no "Pulp Fiction"-type shuffling of time. A lot more is told through silence, and reaction shots, than is usual for this show. But it's a gripping hour, and the unpredictable twists could carry the momentum, and the show, as well.

In the situation room, with some military advisers pushing for retaliation and others counseling restraint, President Walken booms, "If Zoey Bartlet turns up dead, I'm gonna blow the hell out of something, and God only knows what happens next."

Exactly.

Originally published on September 23, 2003

Sheen proud Canada stayed out of war

Associated Press

Actor and activist Martin Sheen, who portrays a fictional U.S. president on the television drama "The West Wing," said when he crosses from the United States to Canada he feels like he's left "the land of the lunatics."

Sheen said he was "proud" of Canada for not entering the Iraq war. The American actor has been outspoken in his opposition to the U.S.-led war.

"Every time I cross this border I feel like I've left the land of lunatics," Sheen said Saturday in Windsor, Ontario, where he was receiving an award as a Christian role model.

"You are not armed and dangerous. You do not shoot each other," Sheen said. "I always feel a bit more human when I come here."

Sheen, who plays fictional Democratic President Josiah Bartlet on the TV show, was receiving the Christian Culture Gold Medal from Assumption University. The university will offer a new scholarship in his name.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Transitional team starts to rebuild 'The West Wing'

BY PHIL ROSENTHAL
Chicago Sun-Times

In case you haven't noticed, the Bartlet White House -- if we can still call it that -- is a mess.

Everyone close to the scholarly, supposedly sage Jed Bartlet wonders aloud if he has made some serious mistakes over the years, errors that could reverberate for years to come, putting them in a hole from which they can't dig out.

This is a leader who stepped aside for the greater good, but his action has allowed other voices -- simpler, louder and quite possibly more popular -- to be heard and be empowered, and it may not reflect well on him in the end.

NBC's "The West Wing" never has been shy in packing commentary on real-life events into its fiction, but usually its critiques target the political world. John Wells' script for this week's *** fifth-season opener, the first without series creator Aaron Sorkin as puppetmaster, seems intent on reflecting the state of the series itself.

Mistakes were made, Wells seems to acknowledge. Redemption awaits.

"We've put [Martin Sheen's President Bartlet] through quite a bit and the whole beginning of the season is actually about ... getting to the point where he's questioning how he ended up making some of the decisions that he's made and how does he get himself back to leading in the way he originally envisioned himself leading," said Wells, the "ER" boss who took control of "The West Wing" after fellow "Wing" executive producers Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme left at the end of last season.

They departed amid slumping ratings, partly because ABC's "The Bachelor" siphoned viewers and partly because auteur Sorkin had taken a series that had won fans through its ability to weave drama out of the gossamer of ideas (and lefty ideals) and turned it into one that increasingly traded in bombast, bomb blasts and melodrama.

The show still somehow won its fourth successive Emmy Award on Sunday as the best prime-time drama series, suggesting the TV industry is more forgiving of the show's decline than the rest of us -- or those at NBC eager to stem the Nielsen bleeding.

"The basic tension is, what do you do for short-term gain that might in fact ... be of long-term damage to the show," Wells told reporters last week. "Every network is always interested in what's going to happen tomorrow night, and I see my job as being responsible for making sure we don't [hurt the show long term]."

So Wells must take what Sorkin has left him -- the kidnapping of daughter Zoey Bartlet, the installation of Speaker of the House Walken (John Goodman) as ersatz president, the seclusion of Bartlet and his family in the White House residence -- and slowly try to fix ... what Sorkin has left him.

The opener is still a tad too overwrought and too dimly lit. But Sorkin's soliloquies are largely gone (mostly because they are difficult to write, according to Wells) and the Republicans on the show finally make sense much of the time.

"If Zoey Bartlet turns up dead, I'm gonna blow the hell out of something and God only know what happens next," Walken tells his security council, serving notice there's a new sheriff and that "Wing" now may trade in a different kind of wish fulfillment.

The backstage spectrum of series advisers has widened to include more voices from the right, including Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein and columnist John Podhoretz, a former staffer for the first President Bush who once was a Ginsu-sharp TV critic at the New York Post.

"We want to have conversations about international intervention," Wells said of the transformation, "not to make comments or to take potshots in any way at what the Bush administration's been doing, but quite the opposite, to discuss how complex the issues are and how there aren't easy choices."

The opener at 8 p.m. Wednesday on WMAQ-Channel 5, is, by definition, transitional and therefore something short of wholly satisfying. You know what has to happen and it doesn't. Not yet.

In the fictional world of "The West Wing," it is impossible to imagine Bartlet will emerge from this experience unchanged. That goes double in the world of network television.

"Our hope would be that you don't sense that it's very different," Wells said.

Except, of course, that so many people are hoping it is.

Analysis: 'West Wing's' fresh start

By Pat Nason
UPI Hollywood Reporter

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- "The West Wing" enters its fifth season on NBC in a curious position, trying to bounce back from a disappointing 2002-03 season even as it shoots to become the first show ever to win five straight prime-time Emmys for best drama series.

The White House drama lost favor with critics and viewers during its fourth season, which ended with creator-executive producer Aaron Sorkin announcing that he was leaving the show and turning the Oval Office keys over to executive producer John Wells.

But on Sunday, "The West Wing" got a vote of confidence from entertainment industry peers when it became one of just six shows in Emmy history to win the top prize four times. "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "All in the Family," "L.A. Law" and "Cheers" were all four-time winners, and "Frasier" -- a "Cheers" spinoff now beginning its 11th and final season on NBC -- won the top comedy Emmy in each of its first five seasons, beginning in 1993.

In a conference call with entertainment reporters a few days before "The West Wing" won its latest Emmy, Wells conceded there has been pressure from NBC to make adjustments to the show. But he said the pressure was no greater than normal, and he assured viewers that the show will continue to follow Sorkin's original vision.

Wells said there is always tension between network executives and producers centered on short-term commercial interests versus long-term viability.

"Every network is always interested in what's going to happen tomorrow night," said Wells. "I see my job as being responsible for making sure that we don't do anything that in some way keeps us from being able to continue doing the show longer."

The fifth season of "The West Wing" picks up where last year's cliffhanger season finale left off -- with President Josiah Bartlet having given up his office so he can concentrate on retrieving his daughter Zoey, who has been kidnapped by terrorists. He has been replaced as president by the Speaker of the House of Representatives -- a "true believer" type of conservative, played as something of an aggressive bully by John Goodman.

Wells is aware that the show has been accused of favoring the liberal side of America's ongoing political argument, but he said the current storyline will provide more room in the show for conservative and Republican viewpoints.

"You will see the new Speaker of the House and the majority leadership -- which is Republican -- and those views much more represented on the show," said Wells.

Goodman will remain "in office" for the first few episodes, before Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet takes back the reigns.

"He'll be around for a little while," said Wells, "but you know Martin Sheen's pretty good as president, so not too long."

Wells said he hoped Goodman would come back to the series later. While he is there, Bartlet will be stepping back and re-evaluating his performance in office -- which has featured socially liberal policies but aggression and violence in international affairs.

"He's questioning how did he end up making some of the decisions he has made, and how does he get himself back to leading in the way that he originally envisioned himself leading the country," said Wells. "And I think that's a question that we all have as a nation."

Wells said the United States, though perhaps with little choice in the matter, has had to make tough choices in its recent history that have made it "much more difficult to take the moral high ground." He said the fifth season of "The West Wing" will examine that notion.

"We want to have conversations about international intervention," said Wells. "Not to make comments or to take potshots in any way at what the Bush administration has been doing but quite the opposite -- to discuss how complex the issues are, and how there aren't easy choices and what are we going to do and how are we going to proceed?"

Some critics have already noted a change in the show's political tone. Wells said that was largely a reaction to the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The world changed substantially just over two years ago," he said. "Because we're an entertainment program, we need to address the fact that in our audience's minds, something really has changed in the way that we look at the world and political problems and what we need from our political leaders."

Wells said he wants "The West Wing" to remain relevent to its audience "without making the show too ponderous or too earnest" -- and he sort of joked that the diversity of political viewpoints among the show's writers and consultants helps a lot to make that happen. The consulting staff including former Democratic White House staffers such as Dee Dee Myers, Gene Sperling, and Lawrence and Kenneth Duberstein, who served as Chief of Staff to former Republican president Ronald Reagan.

"We get to have hours of angry denunciation -- back and forth conversations -- which we're hoping to be able to infuse the show with," said Wells. "My own sense of it is that the country is more divided than it has been in my lifetime -- and I don't mean over sort of specific moral issues of the Clinton years, but over the direction that we should be taking. And the more that we can reflect that division, the more interesting I think the show is for our audience."

Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International

A new chief slightly alters 'West Wing'

By Matthew Gilbert
Boston Globe

As "The West Wing" enters its fifth season, the greatest mystery is not whether Jed Bartlet will regain the presidency from a Republican warmonger played by John Goodman, or whether his daughter Zoey will survive a kidnapping.

The big unknown this fall is whether Toby, Josh, Leo, Will, and C.J. will still reel off lines that threaten to break the sound barrier. And will they continue to be thrown into overwrought dramatic situations? And can they possibly maintain their superhuman powers of nobility, intelligence, and political brilliance?

Tonight at 9 on Channel 7, the NBC series begins a new chapter under the guidance of a new leader, producer-writer John Wells. Aaron Sorkin, the show's creator and principal writer, left in May amid conflicts with NBC about overspending, tardiness, and his unwillingness to take their creative tips. Although the series did win its fourth best-drama Emmy on Sunday night, it had fallen into a much-discussed slump under Sorkin, and its once-passionate viewers were defecting. Wells, whose other series include "ER" and "Third Watch," is charged with restoring the series' prestige and its Nielsen virility.

It's not uncommon for a show to change hands as it ages. But the style of TV auteurs such as Sorkin and David E. Kelley is impossible to re-create -- imagine taking over a half-finished Woody Allen movie -- and "The West Wing" will certainly become a different product this season. As the writer of almost every episode, Sorkin infused the series with his trademarks -- most obviously his theatrical dialogue, which led to wonderful scenes of conflict as often as it led to smug elusiveness and didacticism. In press interviews, Wells has compared his current situation on "The West Wing" to that of stepping into "Gypsy" as Ethel Merman's understudy.

Still, it's hard not to see Sorkin's ghost in tonight's episode. Wells & Co. were obligated to pick up the curious threads that Sorkin left dangling last season, as Bartlet turned over his office to the Republican speaker of the House after his daughter was abducted. Wells may have less sensationalistic plot turns in mind for the coming season, but he must first see his way out of Sorkin's misguided twists, which have also included Bartlet's multiple sclerosis story line.

The hour is largely "West Wing" business as usual, despite NBC president Jeff Zucker's claim in The New York Times that the episode is the best in the series' history. It even ends with one of Sorkin's favorite crutches, an operatic montage set to the heightened New Age strains of Lisa Gerrard's "Sanvean" that rubs our noses in emotional catharsis.

The only obvious alteration on tonight's "West Wing" is the slight simplification and normalization of the dialogue. Amid the absurdities of the speaker-as-president and kidnapping situations, the tension between the regular characters and Goodman's President Walken provides a few quiet, subtle moments, particulary one involving Walken's tie. These unhappy interactions aren't as wordy as they might have been in Sorkin's hands, but Wells makes them quite tangible.

Let's hope Wells is faring better with his cast than Walken is with his new staff. Tonight's plot neatly parallels his own situation, as the show's fictional West Wing struggles with its own new boss.

While Wells has promised to make the show into a more bipartisan dialogue, President Walken is not the character who will save the series from accusations that it's a liberal fantasy. Goodman, known mostly for comedy, does a decent job in a dramatic context, but Walken is a bit of a Republican cartoon, tossing out lines such as: "If the Arabs are mad at us, we must be doing something right." Before we can truly judge Wells's vision for the show as both a political dialogue and as a drama, he will need time to clear out a good deal of clutter.

The West Wing

Starring: Martin Sheen, John Goodman, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Stockard Channing

On: NBC, Ch.7

Time: Tonight, 9-10

Rating: TVPG

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

Seems David Kelley has lost touch

Different `West Wing' may not be better. And new `Poland' shows no good ideas from writer
By R.D. Heldenfels
Akron Beacon-Journal

A lot of us count ourselves lucky if we come up with one good idea in our lives. A successful television series needs 13 to 22 good ideas a year.

At least, it needs something to keep a show going for that many episodes, to keep audiences amused, script writers energized, actors on their toes.

It should be no surprise then that sometimes shows and producers go from seeming sure-handed to appearing to lose all their art. Not only do ideas wane, but casts change, viewer appetites shift, writers and producers move on.

And we're all left wondering if there's anything left to The West Wing's saga and David E. Kelley's art.

That's the nagging question in tonight's lineup of series premieres.

Tonight brings new seasons of 60 Minutes II (8 p.m., CBS), My Wife and Kids (a one-hour telecast at 8 p.m., ABC), Ed (8 p.m., NBC)and Law & Order (10 p.m., NBC).

Also on the docket is the latest round of The Bachelor (two-hour season premiere at 9 p.m., ABC), with former Bachelorette contender Bob Guiney dispensing the roses.

That lineup offers much to talk about, including my annual rant that Ed's Ed is with the wrong woman. But more interesting, and puzzling, are the two remaining premieres tonight, The West Wing (9 p.m., NBC) and Kelley's The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire (10 p.m., CBS).

On Sunday night, The West Wing picked up its fourth Emmy for best drama, a surprise given that it was coming off a turbulent year that ended with the departure of writer-creator Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme.

It also ended with a huge cliffhanger -- the kidnapping of the president's daughter and the arrival of a new, interim president played by John Goodman -- to be resolved by the new creative team headed by writer-producer John Wells (ER, Third Watch).

I don't want to give away any major plot points, which pick up where the cliffhanger left off. But when watching the premiere, I kept thinking of how some things keep the same name while changing dramatically -- that the Temptations have only one original member, and M*A*S*H changed radically in style (and cast) over its first four seasons.

The new West Wing feels very different from the old one. That's not to say it's bad. Goodman is a strong addition to the cast. And some of Sorkin's more annoying mannerisms as a writer are gone.

But Sorkin's style also set the show apart, and his risk-taking writing meant the show could go from awful to brilliant and back again week to week. Wells' West Wing, in contrast, feels steadier, which means there are no dramatic lows in the premiere -- but neither are there any highs. Its sturdiness makes it feel unremarkable.

Then again, I would happily settle for unremarkable from Kelley at this point, since the alternative appears to be unrepentant awfulness.

Kelley not so long ago was a star producer and writer, someone who could win awards and draw sizable audiences to Ally McBeal and The Practice.

In recent seasons, though, he has struggled through the decline and demise of McBeal (which I never liked), a revamping of The Practice to save money and bring back alienated viewers, and the abrupt rejection by critics and audiences of Snoops and girls club.

But television programmers are unendingly optimistic, so the ones at CBS have placed a bet on Kelley's latest drama. Their optimism appears misplaced.

Brotherhood focuses on three brothers -- played by Randy Quaid, John Carroll Lynch and Chris Penn -- who have spent their lives in a small town and to a great extent run it. Lynch is the mayor, Quaid the top lawman.

But there are troubles below, in Penn's search for a job, in the brothers' homes and possibly on the public stage, where Lynch's old extramarital affair may be exposed.

The show recalls Peyton Place and Kelley's own Picket Fences, though he thinks Brotherhood is more realistic than his earlier drama. He wants viewers to look at Poland and say ``That's a town I've been in, or a town I've grown up in,'' he said. ``At least, they should be able to say, `I know someone from a town like that.' ''

Maybe you will. But even if the characters are recognizable in broad strokes, I doubt that you know many folks who speak in the stilted way Kelley writes dialogue.

If, that is, you want to waste your time listening. Even after some significant changes in the editing room, Brotherhood is a pile of recycled ideas and twists from other shows. Combined with the depressing hash that The Practice has become (including in its overhaul), the two shows suggest that Kelley really has lost touch with whatever it was that made him successful before.

He is just plain out of ideas.

Once-powerful 'West Wing' falls from grace

By Robert Bianco
USA Today

The thrill is gone.

If you were one of the fans who thought Aaron Sorkin's departure from The West Wing would destroy the show, tonight's season premiere will prove you wrong — and right. Wrong because the show's new czar, ER's John Wells, has produced a workmanlike copy of an irreproducible original. And right because what was TV's best drama is now uninspired and uninspiring.


You can't put all the blame on Wells, of course, or even on NBC, tempting as that may be. Given Sorkin's erratic behavior, a change in the White House probably was inevitable.

Still, for viewers, that change borders on catastrophic. Yes, Sorkin had his problems with productivity and consistency. Too often last season, his plots either disappeared too quickly or lingered too long, and his tone became hectoring and out of step with public opinion.

But what Sorkin brought to the show, beyond his gifts for dialogue and surprise, was passion. His commitment to these characters and this setting rang through his work and made West Wing the first romance about civil service. He created an American Three Musketeers.

Unfortunately, there also is no denying he left the show's story in sorry shape. Absurdities from the cliffhanger abound: His daughter Zoey kidnapped, Bartlet temporarily out of office, and the Republican House speaker (guest star John Goodman) in as president.

Handed a loser plot, Wells should have had the sense to follow the lead of Frasier's new producers and dump it. Instead, we leave the show this week not much further along than when we started. NBC can talk about "balance" all it likes, but no one watching West Wing wants to see Bartlet — and star Martin Sheen — sidelined. Even if it's just for one more episode, that's one episode too many.

To pad out the hour, Wells has filled this badly remodeled West Wing with the same soap slop that has made ER virtually unwatchable. Bartlet's daughters, whom we've never met, now appear, just so they can add to the sudden marital strife between Bartlet and Abby. The pained silences, the sudden outbursts — it couldn't be duller.

But then, sitting through the hour is somewhat akin to watching high school basketball players try to prove they're just as fancy as the pros. It's hard to say what's worse: the painful stabs at Sorkinian banter or the dizzying attempts to take the show's visual style to an even busier level. The camera swings and swoops and circles until you're ready to grab the TV and steady it.

And poor Bartlet. In one scene we see him only in a window's reflection. In another, he's awash in red light, which puts him one-up on his chief of staff, who is bathed in blue.

I'll tell you who's blue: anyone who loved this series. Oh, it will no doubt run more efficiently. Scripts will get done on time, episodes will stay within their budget, and plots will be easier to follow. It might even end up being a fairly competent TV show.

But it won't be West Wing. And that is sad news, indeed.

'The West Wing' Comes to Terms With the G.O.P.

By BILL CARTER
New York Times

John Wells has been the driving creative force behind the most popular television show of the last decade, "E.R.," but he says the prospect of stepping into the breach to take over NBC's admired White House drama, "The West Wing," has left him feeling daunted.

"I have had a lot of sleepless nights over this," Mr. Wells said in a telephone interview. "There's going to be a lot of scrutiny, and I know it."

Much of the scrutiny derives from Mr. Wells's taking over the reins of "The West Wing" from the wildly praised Aaron Sorkin, who created the show and who wrote all but one of its episodes over the last four years. In each of those seasons "The West Wing" won the Emmy Award as television's best drama series.

But the show is also being scrutinized for the possibility of a shift in its political tone. Since the rise of the Bush administration "The West Wing" has been criticized in some quarters as being out of touch with the real-life events in Washington that have overtaken it since the show first went on the air in 1999, featuring a White House of liberal Democrats led by President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. Suddenly a newly installed conservative Republican administration made the action seem especially fictional.

As a result Mr. Wells has been given the task of trying to make the series more politically relevant, and his efforts are being felt. Behind the scenes he has brought in two consultants who would be entirely out of place in a White House led by President Bartlet. One, Kenneth M. Duberstein, was once chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan. The other, John Podhoretz, a conservative columnist who has written for The New York Post and other publications, has been harshly critical of the series.

In 2001 Mr. Podhoretz wrote in National Review Online, referring to Mr. Sorkin, who was arrested in 2001 on a drug charge, "I don't know about you, but I don't need any lessons on theology, destiny, public service, job creation, pay equity or conservative ideology from a crack addict."

Mr. Wells said, "One thing we'll be doing this year is hearing what the other side has to say." The show, he added, will try to build more episodes around "the dilemmas any leader would face, Democrat or Republican."

Of course aiding that goal is the plot twist on which the series ended last season, one that pushed the Republican influence on the Bartlet White House to the forefront. A conservative Republican speaker of the House, played by John Goodman, is forced to step in as president (temporarily apparently, since Mr. Sheen has a long-term contract to star in the show) until the president's daughter, kidnapped by terrorists, is recovered.

Mr. Sorkin left that potent story line behind, a debt Mr. Wells acknowledged: "It was great because there's a lot of story up in the air, a lot to work with."

Mr. Wells himself wrote tonight's first new episode as well as next week's. He said he had consciously tried to emulate Mr. Sorkin's writing style. Mr. Sorkin had gained a reputation as an idiosyncratic creative mind whose writing — full of intricate, dense dialogue spoken by unusually intelligent and passionate characters — was unique to television.

But Mr. Wells said pointedly that he had no plans to write every episode as Mr. Sorkin did. For one thing, he said, while his primary commitment will be to "The West Wing," he has two other shows in his charge. One is "E.R." Mr. Wells has turned over day-to-day management of that series to Chris Chulack. But he did find time to write the first two episodes of "E.R.'s" new season. Mr. Wells's other series is "Third Watch."

Mr. Wells, who has always been a nonwriting executive producer on "The West Wing," took pains to praise Mr. Sorkin, calling him "one of the finest writers of television, films and theater that we have working today." He compared his own position to that of a musician "standing offstage" watching a maestro work and "wondering if you'll get a chance to play for the people yourself."

But Mr. Sorkin's handmade approach to fashioning his White House drama had a downside, at least for NBC, because the series was often over budget and behind schedule in delivering episodes. Adding to NBC's dismay, the show's once-dominant ratings on Wednesday nights fell off significantly last season, assailed by the popularity of the pop-singing amateurs on "American Idol" on Fox and the roses-draped relationship countdown on ABC, "The Bachelor/Bachelorette."

NBC was concerned, especially because it had signed an extension that guaranteed "The West Wing" another two seasons. Those concerns may not have led directly to Mr. Sorkin's decision to step down at the end of last season (he had one year remaining on his contract with the show's studio, Warner Brothers), but they surely had an impact.

While Mr. Wells said Mr. Sorkin had generously read scripts and given helpful advice, the show is not being run anything like the way Mr. Sorkin ran it. In what is surely the biggest break from Mr. Sorkin's style, Mr. Wells has brought in a host of writers, including some of his closest colleagues, like Carol Flint, with whom he worked on "E.R.," and John Sacret Young, with whom he worked on the "China Beach," the acclaimed series about American troops in Vietnam.

Another big difference is one NBC will surely welcome: the shooting schedule.

"We have six episodes finished, and we're writing Episode 10 this week," Mr. Wells said. That has always been the way Mr. Wells runs his shows, with lots of advance planning. "I do think there's an advantage to being kind of planned out and laid out ahead of time," he said.

So far the results have been gratifying, Mr. Wells said, at least in terms of the response he has gotten from the cast. "Martin Sheen said it felt a bit like being orphaned when Aaron left," Mr. Wells said. "But he's been very supportive, as has the rest of the cast. I think if we all do our best work, we might be able to get close to the work Aaron did."

A New Regime at the White House

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
New York Times

The new season of "The West Wing" begins on Wednesday night exactly where the show left off so startlingly in May — with a Republican president in command.

When President Josiah Bartlet learned that his daughter Zoey had been kidnapped by terrorists, he temporarily stepped down rather than risk letting his personal anguish sway his judgment as commander in chief.

And that typically noble decision was his last.

This drastic new course was set by the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin, in the rollicking cliffhanger he wrote before leaving the show in the spring. But John Wells, the executive producer who took over after the departure of Mr. Sorkin and the other executive producer, Thomas Schlamme, has done very well indeed with the scenario he inherited.

"West Wing" needed a jolt.

The vice presidency is vacant (because of a sex scandal), and next in line is the speaker of the House, Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), who barrels into the Oval Office like a right-wing Lyndon B. Johnson, barking orders and slapping down equivocators.

He gives the F.B.I. one more day to find the kidnappers before ordering a retaliatory strike. "But if Zoey Bartlet turns up dead," he says, "I'm going to blow up something. God only knows what happens next."

Viewers, however, can already tell that "The West Wing" has taken a sharp right turn.

The crisis — a terrorist retaliation for an assassination secretly ordered by President Bartlet — does more than bring "West Wing" up to date with current international events. It shatters the complacent amity of the Bartlet White House, giving room to all the tensions that flourish around a real Oval Office and that had been smothered in the show's glow of second-term fellowship, banter and high moral principle. A happy, healthy West Wing is no better suited to drama than a happy, healthy marriage is. It was time for the Bartlet administration to suffer a setback.

One could not hope for a more promising fall from grace. The Walken presidency is the new corporate management in charge of downsizing the company after a merger, the new baby that parents bring home to a toddler accustomed to undivided attention and the new team of writers and consultants brought in to pump up a show after its creator has left.

As Walken, Mr. Goodman sheds all his usual bonhomie and lets the Bartlet loyalists know who is boss the way Johnson was wont to: he makes the press secretary, C. J. Cregg, come in close to straighten his tie while he questions her loyalty. His supercilious congressional aides do not bother to cloak their contempt for their Democratic hosts. Meanwhile the president and first lady are huddled refugees in a guest suite of their own White House, waiting for a whisper of hope, like ordinary distraught parents.

Walken is a hawk and an unrefined bully. (He has a small, yapping dog that sits on antique silk armchairs and has to be walked by senior aides.) But as a commander in chief, he is also decisive, strong-willed and surprisingly good at news conferences. When asked by a reporter if he regrets his predecessor's secret order to assassinate a Qumari terrorist leader, Walken retorts, "My regret is that we only got to kill the bastard once."

Bartlet's staff members watch in awe and dismay, a few fretting over how the United Nations will react. "I'm sorry, he looks, I dunno," says Donna, assistant to a Bartlet aide, Josh Lyman, and at a loss for the right word.

"Presidential," Josh supplies gloomily.

Some fans of the show are already ascribing the switch from a Democratic fictional president to a Republican one as a sly political statement — an effort by NBC to curry favor with the real powers that be. (Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet, was Hollywood's most visible critic of the war in Iraq last spring. )

That reasoning is what Italians call "dietrologia," the art of finding dark, ulterior motives behind the most obvious decisions. The nation may not have a shortage of Republican face time, but "The West Wing" did: its heroes needed a worthy enemy, and the plot needed to move beyond Clinton-era crises and into the more compelling present.

There are a few awkward bits of dialogue that indicate that a new team is in charge. When a Walken aide recommends closing the markets to avert a financial panic, Toby, Bartlet's chief speechwriter, delivers a cliché that since Sept. 11 has often been reserved for satire. "If we close them," he says solemnly, "then the terrorists win."

Over all, however, the first episode of the post-Sorkin "West Wing" is a treat. It would be wrong of course to hope that Zoey is never found. But with any luck, she will not turn up any time soon.

THE WEST WING

NBC, tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time

Created by Aaron Sorkin; directed by Thomas Schlamme, Alex Graves and Chris Misiano. Produced by John Wells Productions in association with Warner Brothers Television.

WITH: Martin Sheen (Josiah Bartlet), Stockard Channing (Abigail Bartlet), Dulé Hill (Charlie Young), Allison Janney (C. J. Cregg), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler), John Spencer (Leo McGarry), Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman) and John Goodman (Glenallen Walken).

John Wells at the helm of West Wing

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer
Providence Journal

The West Wing executive producer John Wells has a tough act to follow.

So tough, he said, that he feels like Ethel Merman's understudy in Gypsy.

Suddenly, Merman is stricken with the flu, and at intermission the audience hears a disembodied announcement that "Miss Merman's part will now be sung by John Wells." Everyone groans.

Actually, Wells is replacing Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer of The West Wing. The show begins its fifth season tonight at 9 p.m. on NBC (Chs. 7 and 10).

On screen, The West Wing is still working through a story line begun in the Sorkin era.

President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) daughter has been kidnapped by terrorists.

Not trusting himself to make the right choices when his daughter's life is on the line, Bartlet temporarily resigns from office, leaving the presidency in the hands of the Republican Speaker of the House, played by John Goodman.

In a conference call with TV critics, Wells didn't want to give away too many plot details. But don't get used to John Goodman as president.

"He'll be around for a little while -- I don't want to say how long," Well said. "But Martin Sheen is a great president, and we plan to have him running the country again."

Indeed, Wells said one of the show's priorities this season is restoring the authority of President Bartlet, who's been battered by one crisis after another.

It's not just President Bartlet who's had problems. It's been a tough year for The West Wing, too.

Critics started taking pot shots, particularly over a Bartlet re-election campaign that generated little suspense. Ratings dropped 21 percent, partly due to competition from The Bachelor.

Rob Lowe exited, complaining he was being left out of the big story lines.

In May, Sorkin, who wrote practically every word of the show, announced he was leaving, too. Supposedly, NBC was pressuring him about late scripts, mounting expenses and declining ratings.

That left Wells, one of The West Wing's original producers, in charge.

Wells said there will inevitably be some changes -- but not radical ones. "We're not going to change who the Bartlet adminstration is," he said.

(The phone conversation was held before The West Wing won its fourth consecutive Emmy as Best Drama Series. The show may have had its problems, but Emmy voters are a very loyal constituency.)

Wells said he remains friendly with Sorkin -- as a matter of fact, he had lunch with him the day before the phone interview. Wells added that he "begged" Sorkin to write the first few episodes of this season, but Sorkin said no.

"Nobody wanted Aaron to continue doing the show more than I did," Wells said.

Sorkin was a one-man band when it came to writing The West Wing scripts. Now Wells, who is also a producer for ER and Third Watch, has assembled a team that includes veterans from ER, China Beach, Sex and the City and Once and Again.

Wells said viewers will probably hear less of the long speeches that were a Sorkin trademark.

"Aaron did that exceedingly well, and few people can do it that well," Wells said. "It's a wonderful technique he developed as a playwright. If we can do it really well, you'll see it. If not, then you won't. My guess is that you'll see it less often."

The new season will see some new characters, including a new Vice President (Gary Cole), and a previously unseen presidential daughter (Annabeth Gish).

Wells said the upcoming season should provide more insight into the fictional First Family's personal life.

And although the Bartlet administration will not change its political spots, there will be more room on the show for conservative viewpoints.

The world has changed since 9/11, Wells said, and the show has to reflect that.

"My sense is that the country is more divided now over major issues than it's been in a long time, and the more we can reflect that, the more interesting it is for our audiences," he said.

'West Wing' back in fine form

By Diane Holloway
Cox News Service

September 23, 2003

Fans of "The West Wing" are approaching this week's fifth-season premiere with trepidation.

Creator Aaron Sorkin, whose signature dialogue set the tone for the fast-paced political drama, left at the end of last season, along with director Thomas Schlamme, who was responsible for the show's distinctive look.

And Rob Lowe, the original star who had faded into the ensemble, left and wasn't quiet about the reasons.

"It was never about money or screen time," Lowe told reporters in July. "At the end of the day, I wanted Sam to be involved in the big story lines, not just shuffled in and out for relief."

It was an ominous situation for the acclaimed series, which finished the season with a 26 percent dip in its ratings.

'Crackling good'

But guess what? This season's opening episode (9 p.m. Wednesday, WTHR ), written by Sorkin's replacement, John Wells, is crackling good. The tone is the same, the story is compelling and the emotional wallop powerful. In at least one regard, it's even better than last season's finale: The characters don't talk over each other or sound like they're on speed.

Co-executive producer Llewellyn Wells, who has been with the show from the beginning (and is man-in-charge John Wells' brother), says the goal is to make only slight changes in style.

"Aaron and Tommy left us with a brilliant fictional world," Llewellyn Wells said in a recent phone interview. "There may be a slightly different take on things, maybe a bit more plot-driven. Aaron's voice as a writer is so distinctive that I don't think anyone here wants to try to imitate his style. It's futile. There will be some changes in the way the characters sound, but they'll be subtle changes."

John Wells, an original executive producer on "The West Wing," has assembled a writing team that includes John Sacret Young, who worked with him on "China Beach," "ER" and "Third Watch"; Carol Flint ("China Beach" and "ER"); Lawrence O'Donnell (a "West Wing" veteran and MSNBC's senior political analyst); and Alexa Junge ("Sex and the City," "Once and Again").

Alex Graves and Christopher Misiano, who directed previous episodes, will follow in Schlamme's footsteps.

"Tommy created such an indelible and beautiful style for the show that talented people can step in and take what he created and enhance it," Llewellyn Wells said.

So, "West Wing" fans, we enter the new season in good hands.

Catching up

When last we left the Bartlet White House in May, presidential daughter Zoey had been drugged by her French boyfriend and kidnapped by an unknown assailant. The president, believing his ability to govern was compromised, stepped down. After the vice president departed over a sex scandal, the Republican speaker of the House (John Goodman) was sworn in.

In this week's opener, Zoey is still missing, the speaker-turned-president is threatening to take the country to war and the first couple's relationship is strained to the breaking point. The ending (which we won't spoil here) is vintage "West Wing" -- a heart-wrenching scene of emotional agony with a plaintive search for spiritual strength.

The new vice president, played by Gary Cole ("The Brady Bunch Movie," "Office Space"), will arrive in the third episode. Wells said the character is from Colorado and doesn't appeal to the West Wing staffers, at least not at first.

Sorkin's Gone, But `West Wing' Doesn't Miss A Beat

By WALT BELCHER
Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Watching the huge cast and crew of ``The West Wing'' scramble on stage Sunday night to accept the Emmy for best drama probably caused some excitement and concern for fans of the NBC drama.
Hey, we're glad you won, but can the series survive the loss of its creator?

Prolific writer-producer Aaron Sorkin, whose distinctive, rapid-fire, detail-filled dialogue set the tone for four seasons, accepted the award Sunday and sort of said ``goodbye'' and ``good luck.''

He has left the series, along with Emmy-winning director Thomas Schlamme, who gave ``The West Wing'' a distinctive style.

Also gone is co-star Rob Lowe, who stars in his own series, ``The Lyon's Den,'' debuting Sunday on NBC.

`The West Wing'' can easily move on without Lowe's Sam Seaborn character, but Sorkin's exit fills fans with trepidation.

If the season debut on Wednesday night is any indicator, then fans can rest easy for the moment.

Less Wordy, Easier To Follow

The script, penned by Sorkin's replacement, John Wells, is tight and well-written. The look and feel of the show are still top-notch. And the story is compelling.

If anything, Wells' scripts are less wordy and might be easier for some to follow.

Pound for pound, Sorkin writes the heaviest scripts in television - packed with so many words and delivered at such a dizzy pace, some viewers have trouble keeping up.

And Wells is no slouch. His writing, directing and production credits include ``China Beach,'' ``ER,'' ``Third Watch'' and ``The West Wing'' (he was one of the original executive producers).

His brother Llewellyn Wells has been with the show from the beginning as a co-executive producer.

The opening script doesn't miss a beat.

When we left the White House in May, President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) had stepped down temporarily while a desperate search is under way for his abducted daughter, Zoey (Elizabeth Moss).

The president, believing his ability to govern could be compromised, invoked the 25th Amendment.

Because the vice president (Tim Matheson) has resigned over a scandal, the conservative and somewhat creepy speaker of the House, Glenallen ``Glen'' Walken (John Goodman), gets to move into the Oval Office.

The fifth season opens seven hours after Zoey's kidnapping, and the White House staff is worried about working with Walken, especially because of a potential international crisis.

Walken is considering the military options after receiving a ransom note for Zoey demanding the release of Pakistani terrorists and a pullout of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia and Qumar.

Meanwhile, the Democratic congressional leadership is unhappy. Also the president's eldest daughter, Elizabeth (Annabeth Gish), arrives at the White House with her husband and two children.

In the coming weeks, Walken will order the bombing of terrorist training camps in Qumar; presidential aide Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) will become increasingly uneasy with Walken; a new intern (Jesse Bradford), a Harvard grad from a powerful political family, will join the staff; and Gary Cole will debut as the new vice president.

Experienced Team

John Wells' writing team includes John Sacret Young, who worked with him on ``China Beach,'' ``ER'' and ``Third Watch''; Carol Flint (``China Beach'' and ``ER''); Lawrence O'Donnell (a ``West Wing'' veteran and MSNBC's senior political analyst); and Alexa Junge (``Sex and the City'' and ``Once and Again'').

Alex Graves and Chris Misiano, who directed previous episodes, will follow in Schlamme's footsteps.

Llewellyn Wells recently told the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman that Sorkin left behind a brilliant blueprint.

``There may be a slightly different take on things, maybe a bit more plot- driven,'' he said. ``Aaron's voice as a writer is so distinctive that I don't think anyone here wants to try to imitate his style. It's futile. There will be some changes in the way the characters sound, but they'll be subtle changes.''

"West Wing" Rewards Talent

by Lia Haberman
E!Online

What a difference an Emmy makes.

Fresh on the heels of their Sunday night victory, four West Wing cast members have received whopping salary raises--ending four months of protracted negotiations.

Variety claims the salary hikes for Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and John Spencer will place them among the highest-paid actors working in TV drama.

All this and the thesps didn't even have to call in sick or score their own personal Emmys--Janney was a Best Actress nominee while costars Whitford and Spencer were both up for the Supporting Actor category, but none won.

While numbers are not being released, the actors were said to be seeking a raise from $90,000 to $150,000 per episode, or about a third of what their commander-in-chief, Martin Sheen, reportedly pulls in per episode of the NBC drama.

No word on how close they got to $150k--neither NBC nor producer Warner Bros. would comment Tuesday on the actors' salaries--but as part of their reputed big-bucks deal the thesps have agreed to extend their contracts an extra year, through a potential eighth season in 2006-07.

The peaceful renegotiations are a far cry from the sick days and walkouts experienced on the set of fellow Emmy favorite Everybody Loves Raymond and not even close to what the Oval Office quartet pulled two years ago when they strong-armed the studio into doubling their respective paychecks by not showing up for work.

This time around, the foursome did show up for taping on the show's fifth season, they simply refused to do any publicity promoting the upcoming season.

But with the forced defections of the show's creator Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme, and the departure of fellow star Rob Lowe following a salary dispute, executive producer John Wells was apparently a major force in ensuring a satisfactory resolution between the two sides.

Wells Just Has to Wing It

With Sorkin's departure, 'West Wing' producer faces challenges

By Verne Gay
STAFF WRITER

Newsday

September 24, 2003

So how out of touch are those Emmy voters who awarded "The West Wing" a fourth consecutive win as best drama? Consider the ways: Last season NBC was bugged with cost overruns, late scripts, and the relentless and occasionally shrill left-leaning politics of its most distinguished drama. Critics - who once reliably prayed at "The West Wing's" altar - barely bothered to TiVo it anymore. Much worse, ratings crumbled nearly 30 percent among young adult viewers.

Meanwhile, the show's prickly genius- in-residence, Aaron Sorkin, rebuffed attempts by NBC to lighten up the Bartlet White House, and by season's end, Sorkin was gone and so was co-executive producer Tommy Schlamme.

"An amicable departure," insisted all parties concerned. "Not quite," said everyone else.

And now it is up to John Wells, the show's new executive producer, to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. The series returns for its fifth season tonight at 9 on WNBC/4.

Wells, one of TV's most highly regarded producers ("China Beach," "ER," "Third Watch" and "The West Wing," where he has been a co-executive producer since its 1999 launch) held a conference call with reporters last week. His message: All is right with "Wing," but all also is about to change. He's added writers (including "China Beach" scribe John Sacret Young) and redundantly explained that he will not be the sole writer on all 24 episodes this season; Sorkin wrote nearly all 90 "Wing" episodes, which was perhaps a sore point with his underemployed colleagues and certainly one with NBC, which blamed him for the late scripts.

Wells also will embrace a different political point of view; imagine that! "We're not going to change the Bartlet administration," but conservative views "will be much more represented on the show and the conflicts between them [and the administration] in trying to get fiscal and international policy done. Our characters aren't changing, but the world in which they live, where there's a Republican-controlled Congress, has forced them to have those conversations more, and to hear the other point of view.

"Our hope would be that you don't sense that it's very different, but we certainly want to address the economic situation in the country ... and deal with the issue of security and how all of us are not feeling nearly as safe. We want to have conversations about international intervention, and not to take potshots at what the Bush administration is doing, but just the opposite, [and show] how complex the issues are and how there aren't any easy choices.

"We have to address the fact in our audience's minds that something has changed in the way we look at the world, and what we expect from our leaders and we want to address that without making the show too ponderous or too earnest, to make sure we're feeling relevant to our audience."

Wells also took some pains to suggest that Sorkin had no hard feelings, but also leaves the unmistakable impression that Sorkin no longer wants anything to do with his creation, although he did show up Sunday night to accept the best drama Emmy.

Wells recalled that while on vacation in Hawaii last spring, he watched the show's two-episode finale (the kidnapping of President Bartlet's daughter). In what he described as a "self-pitying moment," Wells wondered to his wife, 'Well, how am I supposed to get out of that?'"

He later had conversations with Sorkin about the plotline, although "he felt I should go off and do what I want to do." Wells even "begged" Sorkin for s