« April 2004 | Main | June 2004 »
May 19, 2004
Season finale of 'West Wing' will confirm the show's decline
by Bill Goodykoontz
The Arizona Republic
May. 19, 2004 12:00 AM
Will Donna survive the car bombing that wounded her last week on The West Wing?
Will the "surprise" complications telegraphed so blatantly in the endless promos for tonight's season finale do her in?
Does anybody really care anymore?
Hard to imagine they do, since The West Wing is a shell of its former self. Intelligent, witty banter has been replaced by bonehead moves like blowing stuff up - no great surprise, as creator Aaron Sorkin, drummed out of his own show, was replaced by ER's John Wells. "When in doubt, explode" could be ER's motto. It's sad to see it working its way into the Bartlet White House.
Not that The West Wing hasn't used death, or the threat thereof, as a plot device before. Mark Harmon's Secret Service agent was shot to death in an idiotic exit to a guest-star stint. Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) was killed off more effectively, in a car accident.
And let's not forget that the first season's cliffhanger finale was an assassination attempt, which Martin Sheen's President Bartlet survived.
It's tempting to say that when Wells took over the show it declined so fast it needed a parachute to break its fall. Not true. The show had already begun to slip, mired in the missed opportunity of a dull re-election campaign dragged down further by a multiple-sclerosis subplot, then painting itself into the corner of a White House-sanctioned political assassination.
Its first big misstep was a noble failure, the post-Sept. 11 stand-alone episode. Preachy, arrogant and boring, it played to all of Sorkin's weaknesses, and the show never really regained its stride after that.
Which is not to say that there haven't been good episodes since. There have. But The West Wing has never enjoyed a run of good shows like it did its first couple of seasons when, at least once an episode, someone in the remarkable cast would delivery a civil-service soliloquy so moving you wanted to sign up for . . . whatever you sign up for that allows you to work at the White House.
Stunts this season such as "revealing" that C.J. (Allison Janney) once slept with the former vice president (Tim Matheson, in a great role), meanwhile, smack of ER's heavy hand. Policy-wonk poetry has become pedestrian. Now Donna (Janel Moloney) has been injured in a blast that killed three U.S. officials in Gaza, affording the show a chance to offer a primer on Middle East relations. Maybe Sorkin could have pulled this off. We'll never know.
Every year of its existence so far, The West Wing has won the Emmy for best drama. This implies that it's been the best drama on TV; it hasn't. Depending upon the season, HBO's The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and The Wire were better.
Still, for a couple of years, there was no question that The West Wing was the best drama on network television, a sort of weekly liberal wish-fulfillment hour. Sorkin broke, gleefully, one of the rules of TV: Politics can't be interesting. While he was at it, with witty, rapid-fire banter borrowed from Sports Night, his brilliant take on a Sportscenter-like show, he broke a second rule: Talking too much can't be interesting, either.
Those rules still apply, by the way. Unfortunately, they now apply to The West Wing.
Posted by Jo at 06:41 AM
Political show seems to be Winging it
by David Hinckley
New York Daily News
"The West Wing" is finishing its first year without creator Aaron Sorkin, and whatever happens with injured White House aide Donna Moss' medical cliff-hanger tomorrow night, it's been an uneven season.
That's not a good sign.
Yes, "The West Wing" still has interesting characters and actual ideas. But the writers aren't conveying them as clearly these days, and that's not a good sign, either.
Sorkin conceived the show as an ambitious view of power from the inside. He obviously liked liberal-tilting President Jed Bartlet, but he found good and bad guys across the ideological spectrum.
Around the time we didn't expect it, he'd throw a sharply breaking curve ball.
The pace was fast, sometimes manic, the stories often complex and only partly resolved. Sorkin's first "West Wing" seasons were studded with sparkling gems like communications director Toby Ziegler's battle to get a homeless veteran buried with honors.
This season, unfortunately, too many moments made the viewer simply say, "Huh?"
Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, cold-shouldered by Congress for screwing up a deal, jumps out of a car, shakes his fist at the Capitol and yells, "You want a piece of me?"
The Bartlet administration works out a way to get a liberal Supreme Court justice confirmed by pairing her with a conservative, wrapping up a fascinating drama in one way-too-quick "That's that!" episode.
The White House is locked down for the sole purpose of trapping characters together and forcing them to have conversations that set up the next round of plots.
Press secretary C.J. Cregg is such a good character that, sadly, the writers have inflated her into the least realistic. Are we already setting up a "C.J." spinoff?
Too often as well, the show has brushed aside the great little interwoven human dramas of the White House to spotlight glamour guests like John Goodman and Matthew Perry, who then leave just about the time they get interesting.
Now for the season finale, the show is killing and maiming major characters, which is not only redundant but, for "West Wing," feels just plain lazy.
If the idea is to make a splash, let's hope it isn't the sound of another good show running out of ideas and reaching the end of its run.
Originally published on May 19, 2004
Posted by Jo at 06:39 AM
Frederick's Little Hunting Creek Featured on 'West Wing'
WTOPnews.com
THURMONT, Md. (AP) - Little Hunting Creek served as the backdrop for an on-location shoot for NBC's "The West Wing."
Baltimore fly fishing expert Theaux LeGardeur, who helped script fishing scenes, kept busy between takes Monday by tossing cicadas into the stream. Each was devoured instantly by the trout in the well-stocked section of the stream.
As LeGardeur prepared to teach actress Lily Tomlin the basics of fly fishing, he wore a few home-tied flies on his chest that resembled cicadas.
"I think we'll catch one today," LeGardeur told The Frederick News-Post. "Ladies are lucky at fishing."
Tomlin, who plays the president's secretary on the series, said she was enjoying the surroundings.
"I'm going to buy this place," joked Tomlin, referring to the remote lodge near the Camp David presidential retreat in Western Maryland. "Right now I'm haggling over the price."
Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlet on the series, didn't fish, saying he didn't want to disturb the fish in their natural environment.
"I don't fish," said Sheen. "I think fish belong where they belong."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted by Jo at 06:35 AM
May 17, 2004
Nothing Funny About NBC's New Schedule
By Daniel Fienberg
Zap2it.com
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The new network motto at NBC may be "Comedy Doesn't Live Here Anymore." The network's schedule for the fall of 2004 features NBC's lowest number of scripted comedies in decades. In all, NBC has ordered 12 pilots to series, with five going forward in the fall and the rest hovering in the wings as part of the network's efforts to provide fresh programming year-round.
None of last fall's new comedies return for a second season, with the demise of the likes of "Whoopi" and "Happy Family." In fact, the largest change to the NBC schedule is the demise of the Tuesday night 8 p.m. ET comedy block, which has been replaced by a reality wheel, leaving the network with only four scripted comedies for the fall.
"Out of our reality, we've gotten comedy," says Jeff Zucker, now the president of NBC Universal Television. "'Average Joe,' in many respects, has played as a comedy. There are elements of 'The Apprentice,' though highly dramatic, that played as a comedy. I think that there's plenty of laughs to go around."
On Monday nights, "Fear Factor" returns at 8 p.m. ET, where it's followed by "Las Vegas," which has the distinction of being the only returning member of NBC's scripted development season from last fall. The 10 p.m. slot goes to "LAX." The flashy airport drama, which stars Blair Underwood and Heather Locklear, was formerly know as "HUB."
"It's actually a very different show, but I think tonally it matches up real nicely," says NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly of the similar sounding shows that conclude Monday night.
Instead of beginning Tuesday with comedies, NBC will launch a new season of "Average Joe" at 8 p.m. and when that series completes its season, the network will premiere the highly anticipated boxing reality drama "The Contender" from Mark Burnett. While NBC announced earlier this year that "Average Joe" will reverse the gender roles with a "Plain Jane" season, network executives won't confirm whether that would be the twist in the fall.
"All we're going to say today is that 'Average Joe' will be back and there is a twist and viewers will learn that twist in the fall," Zucker says.
"Father of the Pride," one of NBC's two new comedies, will premiere at 9 p.m. in a later-than-anticipated slot for the animated offering from DreamWorks TV.
"The point is, quite frankly, this is an adult comedy, much on the level of 'Shrek,'" Zucker says. "'Father of the Pride' is made for adults. We think that kids will enjoy the unbelievable animation and seeing it, but really this is an adult comedy, otherwise it wouldn't be on NBC."
"Scrubs" will follow at 9:30 on Tuesdays with "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" returning to its 10 p.m. home.
Wednesdays will start with the "Hawaii," an island-set cop drama starring Michael Biehn, Sharif Atkins and Ivan Sergei. "The West Wing" will stay at 9 p.m., but the political veteran's season will be divided in half, with the limited run drama "Revelations," starring Bill Pullman, stepping into the slot. As always, the night will end with the flagship "Law & Order."
As expected, Matt LeBlanc's "Friends" spinoff "Joey" will anchor Thursday nights. NBC's confidence in the freshman comedy is so great that the network will screen the entire pilot for advertisers on Monday, a step only taken in rare instances, like "The Cosby Show." The rest of the Thursday schedule will remain fairly stable with "Will & Grace" leading into the second season of "The Apprentice," followed by "ER."
"Dateline NBC" remains at 8 p.m. on Friday with "Third Watch" moving up to 9 p.m. in the fall. The 10 p.m. slot goes to "Medical Investigation," a tentatively titled drama featuring Neal McDonough, Kelli Williams and Anna Belknap as doctors with the National Institute of Health.
NBC's weekend is unchanged. Saturday nights will be dedicated to movies and Sunday night will feature the solid foursome of "Dateline," "American Dreams," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Crossing Jordan."
The network has yet to announce plans for the other midseason offerings, beyond promising that they will role out in several waves throughout the year.
Posted by Jo at 01:31 PM
No Oval Action In TV's `West Wing'
ncbuy.com
LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- The relationship between two "West Wing" characters is getting more personal than ever -- but, don't worry, art won't imitate life.
Bradley Whitford -- who plays White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the hit NBC drama -- says he has been pushing for his character to have a relationship with his assistant, Donna Moss, played by Janel Moloney.
He may be getting his wish on the show's season finale, airing May 19 on NBC -- but don't worry, there won't be any "West Wing" whoopie in the TV version of the White House because "the characters are in a work situation where it can never get soapy or silly."
Some real-life political staffers have met while on the job but Whitford insists that Donna and Josh feel they are working in a privileged environment and says make-out scenes in the show's version of the Oval Office "...would be a bad scene."
Posted by Jo at 01:24 PM
ON WISCONSIN : JS ONLINE : NEWS : WISCONSIN : E-MAIL | PRINT THIS STORY
By ROBERT GUTSCHE JR.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted: May 16, 2004
Madison - President Bush's got a challenge Sunday at a University of Wisconsin-Madison commencement ceremony.
Bradley Whitford, who plays Democratic White House deputy chief of staff on NBC's "The West Wing," dared Bush to swear, under oath, that he wrote the speech he gave Friday at Concordia University in Mequon. The crowd inside UW-Madison's Kohl Center cheered.
Whitford said he wrote his own speech for the weekend graduation ceremonies, but doubts Bush wrote his.
"Concordia got ripped off," Whitford joked. "George Bush did not write that speech. There's no way."
A Madison native who attended the city's East High School, Whitford was chosen by the graduating class as guest speaker.
More than 5,000 students graduated in the three days of ceremonies. On Sunday morning, more than 8,000 people came to watch.
In 2003, Whitford won an Emmy for his role as the sarcastic and sometimes-arrogant-but-almost-always-right Josh Lyman on the popular NBC show.
Sunday morning, he shared the rules he followed when he started working as an actor. He suggested the rules were also life lessons.
Among them: drown out self-doubt by hard work, learn from mistakes and pay attention to the process of life, not just the end results.
He also urged the graduates to think creatively and question authority.
"We have a lot of problems in this world," Whitford said. "We need you to think out of the box. I'm not suggesting you bleach your hair to play the jerk in an Adam Sandler movie, but don't limit yourself," he said referring to his role in the 1995 movie "Billy Madison."
Sounding closer to his role in "West Wing," where he often takes jabs at his character's assistant, who attended UW-Madison, Whitford pushed the graduates to hold onto the idea of democracy. He warned that without active participation in democracy, people lose control over civil rights, free speech and the idea of a free nation.
"You don't get democracy; you make it happen," Whitford said. "This isn't a television show - the consequences (of your decisions) are real."
Posted by Jo at 06:42 AM
May 15, 2004
Spring commencement: Transcript of address by Bradley Whitford
University Communications
News@UW-Madison
What's up, Mad City?!
It's great to back in my hometown. On behalf of the acting president of the United States, I want to congratulate you all on your tremendous achievement.
A commencement address is what we call in show business a tough gig. You've got a huge room, you've got a big, distracted crowd that thinks they know everything about everything - and probably stayed out a little too late last night celebrating. I heard you at the hotel, by the way. And you've got a bunch of family members of various ages who you have to worry about offending if you get a little too honest.
Somebody once said it's like being the body at a wake. They stick you in the middle of the room, but deep down they really don't want to hear a lot out of you.
The sad truth is, I don't even remember who the speaker was at my graduation. I remember squinting a lot and a vague sense that I would never again be around so many attractive, available young people in my life. It is my solemn duty to inform you that that fear is entirely well founded. This is coming from a guy who works in Hollywood, by the way.
So I begin this address not only with the full expectation that I will soon be forgotten, but with the additional humiliation there will probably be no one there to remind you of who I was.
I just want to take a moment to note that the commencement speaker at Concordia College this year was the president of the United States, George W. Bush. Concordia has about 5,000 students. The University of Wisconsin has about 40,000. Yes, my friends, the question hangs over this beautiful Kohl Center like a foul stench. Why couldn't you get a more significant speaker?
Why would the University of Wisconsin, a school with a reputation and the stature to attract a genuine world leader - at least some uncelebrated public servant - the guy who runs the dog pound in Baraboo - somebody, for God's sake! Why would you opt instead for a glorified circus clown from a television show? I can't answer that question, my friends. This is uncomfortable for all of us. I feel your shame.
One thing I can tell you is that Concordia College is getting ripped off. George Bush did not write that speech. No way! A bunch of invisible White House lackeys, otherwise known as speechwriters, wrote it for him. And he just strutted up to the podium, he read it, and then he rode off into the sunset in his little taxpayer-funded 747.
Now - you may think that I am inappropriately taking this opportunity to attack the president on a meaningless issue because of my particular political persuasion - and you would be correct. But I hereby challenge the leader of the free world to swear under oath that he wrote every word of the commencement address that he delivered. It is not gonna happen.
Yes, friends, take solace in the fact that if you had actually paid me anything to come here today, you would be about to get your money's worth. For better or for worse, this horribly disappointing choice of a commencement speaker had to write his own speech.
The first problem I faced when confronted with this grim task was that, as my wife and children will attest, aside from drinking coffee, I have only two areas of expertise - reproduction and acting. Let me begin with the one that I don't mind blabbing about to a room full of strange -- acting.
You know, I get it. I know that it's not the most respectable way to make a living. I am perpetually assaulted by examples of children, quadrupeds and a wide variety of insufferable idiots who are, on occasion, capable of acting beautifully. This fills my life with bitterness.
The good news is that if you keep at it long enough and you actually get to make a living at this glorified high school extracurricular activity, you not only get a little better at it -- given enough chances, even a chimpanzee may type a dictionary -- but you begin to see that the process of acting has the potential to show us a little bit about how we might act a little better in our real lives. It comes down to about six basic principles. I call them "Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned on My Way to a Humiliating Audition," and they go like this:
Number One: Fall in love with the process and the results will follow. You've got to want to act more than you want to be an actor. You've got to want to do whatever you want to do more than you want to be whatever you want to be, want to write more than you want to be a writer, want to heal more than you want to be a doctor, want to teach more than you want to be a teacher, want to serve more than you want to be a politician. Life is too challenging for external rewards to sustain us. The joy is in the journey.
Number Two: Very obvious - do your work. When faced with the terror of an opening night on Broadway, you can either dissolve in a puddle of fear or you can get yourself ready. Drown out your inevitable self-doubt with the work that needs to be done. Find joy in the process of preparation.
Number Three: Once you're prepared, throw your preparation in the trash. The most interesting acting and the most interesting living in this world has the element of surprise and of genuine, honest discovery. Be open to that. You've all spent the majority of your lives in school, where your work is assigned to you and you're supposed to please your teachers.
The pressure to get into wonderful institutions like this is threatening to create a generation of what I call hiney-kissing requirement-fulfillers. You are all so much more than that. You've reached the wonderful and terrifying moment where you must be your own guide. Listen to the whispers inside you. We have a lot of problems in this world and we're going to need you to think outside the box.
Number Four: You are capable of more than you think. If you've ever smashed a mosquito on your arm, there is a murderous Richard III inside you. If you've ever caught your breath at the sight of someone dipping their toes into Lake Mendota in the late afternoon sun over at the Union, you, too, have Romeo's fluttering heart.
Now, I'm not advocating that you all go out and bleach your hair so that you can play the jerk in a really stupid Adam Sandler movie. I don't know what kind of an idiot would think that is a worthwhile way to spend their life. But don't limit yourselves. Take it from the professional extrovert - the most gregarious among us are far more insecure than we would ever admit. We all go through life bristling at our external limitations, but the most difficult chains to break are inside us.
One of the few graduation speakers who will never be forgotten, Nelson Mandela, put it this way:
Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
Let's just a moment to hope that Nelson Mandela and Adam Sandler never again share a paragraph.
Number Five: Listen. It is the most difficult thing an actor can do and it is the most riveting. You can't afford to spend your life like a bad actor stumbling through a predetermined performance that is oblivious to the world around you. We can't afford it either. Listening isn't passive. It is an act of liberation that will connect you to the world with compassion and be your best guide as you navigate the choppy waters of love, work and citizenship.
And finally, Number Six: Take action. Every story you've ever connected with, every leader you've ever admired, every puny little thing that you've ever accomplished is the result of taking action. You have a choice. You can either be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life. Action is the antidote to apathy and cynicism and despair. You will inevitably make mistakes. Learn what you can and move on. At the end of your days, you will be judged by your gallop, not by your stumble.
Many of you started here in the fall of 2000. You go out into a world we could not have imagined four years ago. Ominous threats seek to distract us from achieving our spectacular potential as individuals, as a nation and as a delicate, shrinking planet. We need you.
Come as you are, armed with nothing more than the tools of a mediocre television actor. All we need is for you to find joy in your journey, to find satisfaction in hard work, to be aware of what is happening around you, to free yourself from your imagined limitations, to listen, and finally, to act - not to play make believe. This isn't a television show. The choices are difficult and the consequences are real.
No matter where you stand politically, we need you to participate in an urgent discussion about the future that we will all share. Some will question your qualifications to participate. We get a lot of that in Hollywood. I like to tell those people that there is nothing less American than telling another American to shut up - so they should shut up.
This is especially true when the stakes are so high. In the words of the great World War II hero and former U.S. Senator George McGovern, "The highest patriotism is not blind allegiance to official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to hold her to a higher standard."
It has always been up to the people to hold this country up to its spectacular promise. Make no mistake about it - if you choose not to participate at the ballot box or in the urgent discussion about the world that we will one day pass on to the next generation, you no longer live in a democracy. You have sentenced yourself to a civic gulag dictated by the whims of those who choose to participate.
In short, my obnoxiously young friends, you don't just get democracy - you have to make it happen. I urge you to extend that call to action to every aspect of your lives.
Let me be clear - I want you all to stay the hell out of show business. The last thing I need is a bunch of young people invading my job market.
But I do want you to be an actor in your own life. Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen -- yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.
I will leave you with something I have learned from my only other area of expertise, besides the coffee -- being a father. We sit in the shade of trees planted long ago. We have all arrived at this wonderful moment together because of countless gestures of hope made by generations that have preceded us -- the baby born, the family begun, the university founded, the care and nurturing of our schools, our communities, a wonderful variety of faiths and, of course, our families and their families before them.
The line of fire racing across time that we call life is burning brightly in all of you at this moment. We celebrate the joy of your achievement, but we must give thanks for all that brought us here. And we must be keenly aware that our stupendous good fortune carries with it an obligation to keep that flame burning brightly into the future for every living thing that is and is yet to be.
Congratulations, Class of 2004. Go out and plant some trees! Thank you.
Actor Bradley Whitford portrays White House deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman on the NBC TV series "The West Wing," a role for which he won the 2003 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series. After graduating from Madison (WI) East High School, he studied drama and English literature at Wesleyan University and earned a master's degree from the Julliard Theater Center. He is married to "Malcolm in the Middle" actress Jane Kaczmarek, a UW-Madison alumna.
Posted by Jo at 11:40 PM
What would Josh Lyman say ?
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison native Bradley Whitford, the speaker at UW-Madison's commencement ceremony, is best known for his role as acerbic deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman on "The West Wing." <
In five years of the show, Whitford - who won an Emmy in 2001 for his work - has been fortunate, he'd certainly tell you, to be able to read dialogue written by an awesome staff of writers. But what will he say without those writers? Left to his own devices, will the witty Whitford go off-the-cuff? Will he read from his own prepared text? Or will he fall back on some "West Wing" zingers he knows will hit home? <
If you're graduating today or going to the graduation and will hear Whitford speak, play the I'm Bradley Whitford and I'm Here to Speak at Your Commencement game, devised just yesterday by a bored-with-the-weather group of State Journal staffers. <
See if Whitford, during his speeches (two today, two Sunday, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Kohl Center), says any of these lines, lines his character has used on "West Wing." <
Ready? <
<
"I'm having my own celebration with five cloves of garlic and the cast of 'The Exorcist'." <
*** <
<
"We're a business, not a half-way house." <
*** <
<
"Eve Harrington in penny loafers here just corrected me in front of the President." <
*** <
<
"You went over my head, and you did it behind my back." <
*** <
<
"It's 'Lord of the Flies' in there!" <
*** <
<
"I've been subpoenaed." <
*** <
<
"The Democrats aren't gonna nominate another liberal, academic, former governor from New England. I mean, we're dumb, but we're not that dumb." <
*** <
<
"It bugs me when the president listens to anyone who isn't me." <
*** <
<
"You're quite a nerd, Mr. President." <
*** <
<
"You know, I realize that as an adult not everyone shares my view of the world, and with an issue as hot as gun control I'm prepared to accept a lot of different points of view as being perfectly valid, but we can all get together on the grenade launcher, right?" <
*** <
<
"I was just flipping a nickel in my office - 16 times it came up tails." <
Posted by Jo at 09:19 AM
May 13, 2004
Sailors Report For Duty Aboard 'The West Wing'
By Chief Journalist Daniel Charles Ross, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Public Affairs
Navy Newsstand
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NNS) -- Dozens of U.S. Navy members and hundreds more allied military and local civilians, descended on historic St. Anne's Church here to play small roles as "extras" in a May 10 filming of the popular television program "The West Wing."
The program involves the fictional administration of "President Jed Bartlet," played by acclaimed actor Martin Sheen.
"I'm a fan of the show, so it was a special treat to come out and spend the day with the cast," said Lt. (SCW) Eileen D'Andrea, amphibious programs officer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Seabee Readiness department.
Among naval personnel volunteering their off time to be in the show were members of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, who play a large part in several of the funeral scenes. But for others, sitting in the church as "military background mourners," the brush with TV fame was less prominent.
"It was a long day of 'hurry up and wait.' It wasn't much different from a command inspection and change of command ceremony rolled into one long day," said Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Barringer. Seated in the front row of the church during a key shot, Barringer may survive the editing process and be seen in the program.
"The personal interaction with the headline stars made the event worth the effort, and the 'extra's cameo' shot was an added bonus," he added. "It was a long eight-hour day for perhaps one or two minutes of usable footage. I am [still] standing by for my close-up."
Posted by Jo at 02:07 PM
May 11, 2004
Annapolis winging it for show's shooting
Filming: The city goes a little Hollywood - by way of D.C. - with the 'West Wing' cast and crew in town.
By Molly Knight
Baltimore Sun
Originally published May 11, 2004
Sun-tanned and smiling, actor Martin Sheen strolled up Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis yesterday, causing something akin to mild hysteria in the historic waterfront city.
"Omigod, there he is," screamed a gaggle of teen-age girls, snapping photographs of Sheen as he made his way toward Church Circle, where more than 100 cast and crew members of the NBC show The West Wing descended for the day to film next season's opening episode.
Sheen stopped frequently on his way up the street - glad-handing with star-gazers, signing autographs, even cradling one woman's baby in his arms and cooing, "Aren't you beautiful?"
Followed by several burly men wearing all black and murmuring into walkie-talkies, it seemed for a moment as if the actor - who portrays President Jed Bartlet on The West Wing - was performing his part off-camera.
"Martin eats all that up," said Neal Ahern, the show's producer, referring to the crowds of fervent fans who gathered around St. Anne's Episcopal Church in the midday heat to catch a glimpse of Sheen.
"He seems really friendly," said Lisa Granados, who spotted the actor - dressed in a three-piece suit - standing outside the church, waving to the audience. "Everyone who's seen him is saying that he's much shorter than they thought he'd be."
Granados and her husband, Chris, spent their day off ogling the cast and crew as they painstakingly acted out a funeral scene at the church, which sits in the middle of the busy circle. The couple, who snapped photographs through the fence that encircles the 19th-century brick church, said they have not missed an episode of The West Wing since it first aired in 1999.
"If we miss it, we tape it," Granados said. "And I call my mother during all the commercials to talk about it."
For 6-year-old Taylor Wimbrey of Baltimore, the show's Annapolis shoot meant the opportunity to appear as an extra on the award-winning drama, playing a granddaughter of the character who is killed off in the season finale, which airs May 19.
"I want to sing and dance and be an actress," said the tiny girl, dressed for a funeral in a black dress, crisp white socks and patent-leather shoes.
For the St. Anne's segment of the show, which will run about 12 minutes, producers cast more than 150 extras, 85 of them from the parish. Also cast were Annapolis and Anne Arundel County police, who appear in a motorcade scene, and at least a dozen Navy and Army officers. After filming at St. Anne's, the cast and crew moved to the city's Quiet Waters Park, where one of the actors was filmed shooting skeet.
Although most episodes are filmed in Los Angeles, a location manager said the show's cast and crew travel to Washington at least three times a year to film segments around the capital. Because the show's season premiere will center on the funeral of a naval officer, Ahern said he and his co-producers settled on Annapolis.
"The connection to the Naval Academy made sense," he said. "But it's also quaint and beautiful."
And noisy.
Construction crews are digging up a nearby stretch of West Street, but producers struck a deal with workers to turn off the jackhammers when filming began.
For actor Dule Hill, who plays President Bartlett's personal aide Charlie Young, the city was a welcome change from the Los Angeles set.
"It's a quaint, intimate town and I like it," he said, adding, "I heard I've got to get down to the harbor when I finish work."
To film the $2.2 million episode, Ahern said the cast and crew will spend nine days on location in Maryland.
Despite complaints about the traffic, which was backed up on every corridor leading into Church Circle, Ahern called Annapolis one of the most friendly cities the show has filmed in.
"This place is a love fest," he said, gazing across the street at a crowd of more than 200 fans, who kept snapping pictures and shouting out the occasional "Mar-tin!" late into the afternoon.
Posted by Jo at 08:27 AM
May 07, 2004
VIEWERS CAN VOTE FOR THEIR FAVORITE EPISODES OF THE AWARD-WINNING SHOW ON WWW.BRAVOTV.COM
Press Release
nbcmv.com
NEW YORK -- May 7, 2004 -- This Memorial Day, celebrate your patriotism with Bravo's "The West Wing" viewer's choice marathon. Bravo will count down the top ten most requested episodes of the Oval Office drama starting at 2 p.m. Monday, May 31, and continuing on until the airing of the most widely requested episode, which will air at 11 p.m., "The West Wing's" regularly scheduled air-time.
Viewers can vote for their top picks on Bravo's website, www.bravotv.com, starting Monday, May 10. They will be able to select their five favorite episodes from the first four seasons of the critically acclaimed show, although they may have a hard time choosing: "The West Wing" is the winner of four consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as a Peabody Award for Excellence in Television, five Golden Globe nominations and one Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series and three Television Critics Association Awards. Polls close on May 26, but results will not be posted. The only way to know which episodes come out on top is to watch.
"The West Wing" depicts the dedicated men and women who work at The White House, serving their country through times and crises that mirror our own, and providing a fascinating inner glimpse of life inside the world’s most powerful office. Each episode brims with the acclaimed performances of the ensemble cast and a brisk dramatic pace that galvanizes the viewer. The series stars Martin Sheen, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Dule Hill, Janel Moloney and Stockard Channing.
Bravo, an NBC Cable Network since December 2002, is currently seen in more than 76 million homes and was the first service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. Today, Bravo offers innovative arts and entertainment programming with a unique point of view featuring original series, feature films (both independent and mainstream), theater, dance, music and documentaries. Bravo boasts critically-acclaimed original programming -- including "Inside the Actors Studio" hosted by James Lipton, Emmy Award-winning "Cirque du Soleil Fire Within," and the newest hit series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Celebrity Poker Showdown." For more information visit www.bravotv.com.
Posted by Jo at 10:48 PM
May 02, 2004
Cast members of NBC's 'The West Wing' portray land mine survivors in play
By PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated Press
Cast members from NBC's "The West Wing" will depict actual land mine survivors Monday night in a play that focuses on the resiliency of the human spirit.
Martin Sheen, who plays the fictional President Josiah Bartlett on the political drama, will be joined by castmates Stockard Channing, John Spencer, Richard Schiff and Mary McCormack in the fund-raiser for the Landmine Survivors Network.
The nonprofit Washington D.C.-based group was created by and for land mine survivors to offer peer support and to advocate for the elimination of land mines and discrimination against the disabled, said Jerry White, the group's co-founder and executive director.
White, 40, was visiting Israel in April 1984 during his junior year at Brown University and camped in an unmarked mine field in the Golan Heights.
"I stepped on a land mine and everything exploded and it was my introduction to what a land mine was," said White, whose right foot was blown off.
White said he stayed in Israel for his rehabilitation largely because there were other amputees who served as role models.
He finished his studies at Brown and became a weapons nonproliferation analyst for a Washington D.C. think tank that tracked weapons of mass destruction. After a 15-year career, he turned his attention to land mines and the group was formally incorporated in 1997.
"Land mines kill more people than chemical and nuclear weapons combined," he said. "Every 22 minutes someone around the world gets blown up by one."
His cousin, Aly Feltes, a Canadian television producer, wrote the play "Raising Our Voices" to support the group's cause, White said.
"It's a celebration of the resilience of survivors around the world," White said. "We're in the business of putting things back together again and giving an opportunity for people to get back into the game."
Dee Dee Myers, the former press secretary to President Clinton, is a member of the Landmine Survivors Network's board of directors and a consultant to "The West Wing." She pitched the play idea to the show's cast and they agreed to lend their voices, White said
About 300 people are expected at the fund-raiser Monday night at the Skirball Cultural Center.
White, who lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife and four children, will be attending the celebrity-studded event.
"I'm also making my acting debut," he said. "I play myself in the play."
Posted by Jo at 09:38 AM