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October 29, 2004
In the end, `West Wing: Third Season' gets his vote
He has doubts, but thoughtfulness, calm in Bartlet White House are persuasive
By R.D. Heldenfels
Akron Beacon-Journal
The third season of The West Wing in 2001-02 is a tough one to watch, as a new DVD collection shows. What had at times seemed to be the best TV had to offer was instead erratic, awkward and redundant.
And still, in retrospect, it at times looks very good.
The West Wing: The Complete Third Season (Warner, 22 episodes, four discs, $59.98) -- due in stores on Election Day -- actually began twice. The first telecast was an episode called Isaac and Ishmael, writer Aaron Sorkin's attempt to deal with some of the issues raised by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As the original introductions noted, that episode is outside the time line of The West Wing (although the DVD set numbers it in sequence with the rest of the season). The DVD adds a warning, that ``some charities mentioned in this special episode may no longer exist. Please check the status of any charity to which you may wish to make a donation.''
I thought the episode was clumsy then, and I do now, except for one thing. It's refreshing this near the end of a presidential campaign to see thoughtful people talking calmly about issues we all must grapple with.
Then the season started, with many things to address, from a re-election campaign to the legal and political issues arising in the wake of revelations about President Bartlet's MS. As I said, in many respects it was not a good season, and the attempts at a big finish were especially irritating. But as I noted the flaws, I found myself gripped by the show because it made people's thought processes entertaining -- even when their thoughts were very wrong.
DVD extras include three commentaries, behind-the-scenes features and a West Wing documentary with real political operatives talking about their experiences, accompanied by clips from the show.
Posted by Jo at 08:54 AM
October 23, 2004
Can this show be saved? Yes, because
by Ellen Gray
Philadelphia Daily News
• Change is good, especially when it pumps new blood into a show whose core cast could use some shaking up. And if Alan Alda's not enough to get the show's heart rate up, Jimmy Smits could be.
• "The West Wing's" talky, policy-wonk characters might be more welcome than usual in an election year that's found voters tuning in to presidential debates in greater-than-expected numbers.
• Executive producer John Wells, who also produces NBC's "ER" and "Third Watch," has shown a willingness to make radical changes in order to keep his shows on the air.
• Think what Smits - and his bare behind - did for ABC's "NYPD Blue."
No, because
• Change is bad, at least when it risks losing the heart of a show, which to a lot of "West Wing" viewers means Martin Sheen.
• An already divided electorate, weary of partisan bickering, doesn't want to see more of the same when the news is over, and with a Democrat in "Wing's" fictional White House and Republicans in power on the Hill, there's bound to be plenty of bickering.
• Wells - who replaced "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin - may care more about keeping shows on the air than about the shows themselves (refusing, for instance, to believe that "ER" has become tired).
• Think what the FCC would do if "The West Wing" even thought of baring that particular asset of Smits'.
Posted by Jo at 08:22 AM
October 22, 2004
Away from the cameras, 'West Wing' star shines
by Colleen Cason
Ventura County Star
October 22, 2004
The middle-age man who jumped out of the Range Rover at California Street and Harbor Boulevard in Ventura on Saturday probably thought no one was watching.
But Venturan Martha Waldman saw what he did.
Waldman and her husband, Michael, were bound for a home-improvement expo at Seaside Park when a train bore down on the intersection. The railway crossing signal clanged and the arm lowered.
To her horror, she saw a dog tied to the crossing signal. She was relieved when she realized the leash was short enough to prevent the animal from reaching the tracks. But she was distressed to see how the noise terrified the brown mastiff mix.
That's when the passenger jumped out of the SUV in front of the Waldmans' car and slowly approached the panicked mutt. The man's lips moved, but what he said was drowned out by the roar of the locomotive and the clickety-clack of steel wheels against the rails.
He stooped over the animal and, risking a dog bite, began to pet her.
"The dog was comforted by him. She was comforted by his touch," Martha told me.
The train was long, but the man gently reassured the dog until the caboose had cleared the crossing.
As he stood up to return to his vehicle, his eyeglasses dropped from his coat pocket.
So Martha rolled down her car window and pointed to the glasses on the ground.
At that moment, she recognized him.
It was Mr. West Wing himself. No, not President Bush.
It was the TV president -- actor Martin Sheen, star of television's "The West Wing."
Her path and Sheen's would cross again in the parking lot of Seaside Park.
"That was so kind of you to do that for that poor dog," Martha told Sheen.
Sheen said he was still worried about her. The collar had rubbed her neck slightly raw, as if she had been there for a while.
Martha decided she would check on the dog later that day, which she did. By then she was gone. Apparently the idiotic owner who had tethered her to the signal had come and gotten her.
Neither the county Animal Regulation nor the Humane Society shows any record of picking up a dog at that location Saturday afternoon.
Sheen and his son, actor Emilio Estevez, who drove the Range Rover, then departed for the Derby Club.
The Sheen family frequents the off-track betting parlor and is always welcome, said club hostess B.J. Tice.
"They are the nicest people you would ever want to meet," she told me.
I had a Martin Sheen moment about 15 years ago, when I worked at the old Thousand Oaks News Chronicle. I was assigned to cover an awards banquet at an ungodly early hour on a Saturday. Sheen was to be lauded for his anti-nuclear protests -- marches which usually ended with him being read his rights.
It was held in a plain, cramped room at California Lutheran University. Maybe 75 people squeezed around the cafeteria tables.
Sheen was then an A-list star after his breakthrough performance in "Apocalypse Now," but the organization giving the award was obscure.
Yet he ate the rubber eggs and greeted everyone who approached him. Every so often, he ducked down and stole a drag off his cigarette.
He seemed deeply touched to be honored and gave a heartfelt speech about the power of nonviolent activism to change the world.
Where are the paparazzi when you really need them? Why are they thick as thieves when Paris Hilton or Britney Spears is showing skin but never there when a celebrity is showing heart?
Many critics argue that Sheen's "The West Wing" has lost its magic since creator Aaron Sorkin decamped.
The Nielsens indicate it has lost some of its ratings might. Viewership for Wednesday's season premiere fell 30 percent from last season's opening episode, according to an NBC spokesman. He blamed the drop in part on the competing major league playoff game.
Ratings, of course, are the measure of how many million people are watching what an actor does.
Character is the measure of what a human being does when he thinks no one is watching.
Posted by Jo at 03:31 PM
October 20, 2004
Drama makes riveting return
Buffalo News
10/20/2004
The West Wing
(Out of four)
9 tonight, Channel 2
Before the heavily hyped changes involving "The West Wing" (9 tonight, Channel 2) are apparent, it has some things to resolve from last season's cliffhanger (which is repeated at 8 p.m.).
Tonight's fast-paced and involving season premiere is conducted on two fronts. There is the emotional story involving the fate of Donna Moss (Jalel Moloney), who was seriously injured in a terrorist attack in the Gaza Strip that killed Admiral Fitzwallace (John Amos) and fueled calls for President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) to respond with force.
And on a more intense and complicated front, there is the attempt by the president to ignore the advice of his hawkish trusted aide, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), and attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rather than illustrate America's might.
"I'm not bombing half the Middle East because we'll all feel better," says an exasperated President Bartlet.
Based on a proposed Clinton administration plan to bring peace to the region, the premiere is a riveting hour that illustrates this thought-provoking political series is back on top of its game. It is at its best when the president and McGarry, who is the president's closest friend and "would jump over a cliff for him," debate ways to respond appropriately.
There is also an excellent, understated scene in which Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) gets some friendly advice in a hospital waiting room from one of Donna's new friends.
The episode also has a healthy dose of dark humor, along with some unintentionally amusing moments in which stars of two new ABC hits, Terry O'Quinn of "Lost" and Steven Culp of "Desperate Housewives" appear.
NBC also sent along highlights of what looks like a compelling second episode, which further explores the Israeli-Palestinian talks while the life of a White House aide hangs in the balance.
The third episode, which was available for review, deals with some of the administration changes that NBC has been promoting for weeks. It is a powerful episode, with the president making his surprising choice for a key available post in a subtle, moving poetic way that reminds one of the glory days of this Emmy-winning series under creator Aaron Sorkin.
With the real presidential election inspiring more interest in politics and the reality show craze looking like it is losing some of its popularity, it is time to be hawkish again about a reinvigorated "West Wing."
Posted by Jo at 04:56 PM
Producers mull Republican president in The West Wing
By Tom Jicha
Sun-Sentinel
Published October 20, 2004
A right-wing West Wing? Anything's possible as the four-time Emmy-winning series begins a season marked by as much uncertainty about what the future will bring as there is in the real West Wing.
Just as in the real world, the current West Wing staff has no idea if they'll still have their jobs next year, both in the show and in real life. Executive producer John Wells predicts they will in the latter case. "I don't believe this will be the last season of the show. We're not planning toward an ending."
This could be just a way to buck up morale on the set and to erase the perception among the audience that this is a lame-duck season, which it probably is. The West Wing's ratings plunged dramatically last season, and it's unusual for a mature show to reverse that trend. In the minds of many, the quality of the show also declined in the first season after the departure of creative forces Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme. For the first time, The West Wing failed to win the Emmy as TV's outstanding drama series.
In a tacit acknowledgement that the show has become a bit stale and redundant, Wells is shaking up story lines, bringing in some important new faces and changing the dynamics of the relationships among the incumbents.
(Those who would prefer not to know the details of what's coming up, which now have been widely reported, should probably skip the rest of this story.)
The sixth season will resemble the third -- the one immediately after 9-11 -- in that there will essentially be dual season-openers. Just as in 2001, when Sorkin felt compelled to write an extra episode in response to the attacks on America, tonight's premiere will wrap up the story line dealing with the Middle East, including the injuries suffered by Donna Moss in a terrorist attack. The second episode then will begin to lay the foundation for the season's major plotlines.
The prevailing theme will be the winding down of the Bartlet administration and the political scrimmaging to replace the president.
Exactly when President Jed Bartlet will leave the White House is up to Martin Sheen, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Wells is hoping he can cajole an extension of some kind, which will keep Sheen playing Bartlet, albeit on a part-time basis, in seasons seven and beyond. "I'm interested in seeing episodes on what happens when you leave the White House. I think there are some interesting things to explore."
If Sheen agrees to continue, the election to choose his successor will happen around episode 13 of next season, according to Wells. If Sheen invokes term limits on himself, this timetable will be accelerated to the end of the upcoming season. Wells said he expects the final word by Christmas.
No matter what Sheen decides, presidential primaries will dominate the story lines. The emergence of Vice President Russell (Gary Cole) will serve as a catalyst for several key developments. Russell's conservative leanings will dismay Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), eventually leading him to resign and search for an alternative, just as Leo McGarry (John Spencer) did when he talked Jed, then an obscure governor from New England, into pursuing the White House. Josh's search will lead him to the former mayor of Houston, a recurring role for Jimmy Smits.
It should not be taken for granted that Bartlet will be succeeded by another Democrat, the obvious politics of the West Wing creative staff notwithstanding. Alan Alda also will be a recurring presence as a Republican senator from California, who appears to have a lock on his party's nomination and represents a formidable threat in the general election. "It might be interesting to see what a Republican president would be like," Wells said, throwing out a possibility likely to be realized only in a final episode of the series.
With Josh leaving and the president in his final days, Donna (Janel Moloney) also will look to her future, quitting the White House staff to align with front-runner Russell and his key adviser, former Bartlet aide Will Bailey (Josh Malina).
Working for rival candidates might seem to be the death knell for the relationship between Donna and Josh, but you know what they say about politics and bedfellows. "It would have been a very bad idea for Josh, as Donna's supervisor, to allow a relationship to develop," Wells said. "It's strictly prohibited within the White House." Well, it's strictly prohibited within some White Houses.
The budding romance will "definitely be a large part of the season," Wells said. There is a degree of trepidation in developing a romance fans of the show think they want, Wells acknowledged, citing the Moonlighting example. Once the sexual tension is relieved, the thrill is gone. "I'm not really sure how interesting that relationship is once the actors end up in it," Wells said.
Additional tension will erupt when Leo suffers a debilitating heart attack, forcing him to bow out as chief of staff. Jed makes an unconventional choice, passing over the political pros on his staff to elevate his press secretary, C. J. Cregg (Allison Janney), to the position. Josh and Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), each of whom feels they have stronger credentials, resent the choice.
The massive shakeup is reflective of the reality of White House politics, Wells said. "The average White House staffer stays about 18 months."
This could be a way to send a message to a cast, many of whose contracts would need to be renegotiated if the show continues. "I would like to keep everyone together," Wells said, "but it would be unrealistic in a new administration." Real politics isn't the only place where the name of the game is hardball.
Ironically, Wells is counting on The West Wing's strong support in affluent households -- a desirable and tough-to-reach demographic for advertisers and a constant target for vilifying by Democrats -- to outweigh the show's slumping overall ratings and keep the show going. Even fictional TV politics makes for strange bedfellows.
Posted by Jo at 04:51 PM
'West Wing' hits ground running
By Rick Bird
Cincinnati Post
Two congressmen are killed and a White House aide is in critical condition after a Middle East terrorist attack. Congress, the media and the American people are calling for the president to retaliate. Invade something; bomb anything.
The president seemingly does nothing. Of course, viewers know better -- we are let into the plot knowing the president is replying to terrorism by starting peace talks.
That is the intriguing, politically charged premise as season six of "The West Wing" premieres tonight (9 p.m., Channel 5). The series picks up last season's cliff-hanger of an ending after a terrorist bombing in the Gaza Strip raises the specter of whether a series regular, White House aide Donna Moss (Janel Moloney), may be killed off. (We won't spoil the result.)
We will say, though, that after watching the first few episodes of the new season available for review, the series has regained its splendid, cerebral form that won the show four Emmys as best drama in its first five seasons.
The show is back to relying on the power of its main characters to carry the drama. Many thought the show slipped to more soap opera status last year after creator and main writer Aaron Sorkin left the series, now in the hands of producer John Wells ("ER").
Martin Sheen is magnificent in the debut as the conflicted, but bold, President Josiah Bartlet, who sees a chance for Middle East peace even as his chief of staff and best friend, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), is urging military reprisal. The next three-episode arc may also be seen as a shot from "The West Wing" writers to get in their pre-election statement. In contrast to the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq, it argues President Bartlet's refraining from military action could actually lead to a peace process.
Because of Sorkin's departure, many viewers thought the series lost some of its political edge last year. But this season the art-imitating-life politics seems to be back. By the third episode, as the president apparently nears a deal that requires American troops as peacekeepers, he is having trouble selling the concept to the fictional Republican Congress. Wells has a Republican congressman say, "We can't afford $60 billion for peacekeeping."
It is an ironic comment, clearly meant as a real-life knock on the Bush Administration.
Still, fans of any political persuasion should find the new "West Wing" season as compelling and provocative as ever, simply based on the great acting and storytelling.
Posted by Jo at 04:49 PM
'West Wing' returns with changes, additions
by Ron Wynn
Nashville City Paper
Few returning shows will be more closely scrutinized this season than The West Wing (Wednesdays, WSMV, Ch. 4), which finally debuts tonight with a special two-hour edition at 7 p.m. But the first hour is merely a reprise of last year's season finale, with NBC opting to protect the actual launch episode by not putting it in direct competition with Lost (WKRN, Ch. 2, 7 p.m.), a program that's quickly emerged as a major hit.
Despite winning yet another Emmy award recently, the producers have planned some major changes and additions this year on the show, notably adding Jimmy Smits and later Alan Alda to the cast. There have also been rumors about some significant deletions as the season focus shifts to the final days of the Bartlet administration. Tonight's premier spotlights the president's surprising decision not to retaliate in the wake of violence and his decision to begin peace talks involving both the Israelis and Palestinians. The show will also reveal the fate of injured staff member Donna (Janel Moloney), who was last seen being rushed into surgery.
Though no one wants to admit it, The West Wing hasn't been the same since creator Aaron Sorkin left the premises, and it may just be time for everyone involved to turn the lights out after this year. But for now, NBC desperately needs the program to generate some decent measure of lead-in audience for Law & Order, whose own ratings have dipped since the debut of CSI:NY.
Posted by Jo at 08:04 AM
'West Wing' cast ready for takeoff
By Mike Hughes
Lansing State Journal
TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE: "The West Wing," 8 p.m. and (season opener) 9 p.m., Channel 10 (NBC).
After an extra-long summer break, "West Wing" is back and big. It seems ready to re-establish itself as TV's best drama.
Last season's finale, which reruns at 8 p.m., had a bomb strike an American motorcade in Gaza. Two congressmen and a general were killed; Donna (Janel Moloney) was hospitalized.
The season opener, at 9 p.m., starts with Donna in surgery, Josh (Bradley Whitford) waits for her; so does a cynical Irish photographer who has quickly fallen for her.
The hour spends more time, however, in Washington. Urged to retaliate, President Bartlet hesitates, taking a last stab at peace talks. Staffers disagree with him; Leo (John Spencer) is enraged.
This is a terrific episode, with bigger things ahead. Next week, the Bartlet-Leo relationship reaches a turning point.
Producer John Wells expects to have nine straight new episodes, a brief break and then 13 more. With Bartlet as a lame duck, the presidential primaries will begin.
Key players include the vice president (Gary Cole), a former Houston mayor (Jimmy Smits) and a moderate Republican senator (Alan Alda). This sounds promising.
Posted by Jo at 07:56 AM
Not much to hail in 'West Wing'
by David Bianculli
New York Daily News
Here's the first good thing about the NBC series "Hawaii": It's done so poorly in the ratings, the network has pulled it, and added a second hour to tonight's season premiere of "The West Wing."
For viewers, that's like trading crudity for crudités.
Yet while "The West Wing" remains a very watchable program, at times it can be frustrating to long-time viewers, who remember the issues and high points from the show's earliest seasons, when series creator Aaron Sorkin was at the top of his game.
John Wells is at the helm of "The West Wing" these days - and, as with his stewardship of "ER," he's got to deal with a sprawling ensemble cast, and the challenge of reinvigorating a dramatic show that has lasted long enough to put most of the characters through most imaginable paces.
With "The West Wing," the biggest problem last season was that many of the characters began to act inconsistently.
Martin Sheen's President Bartlet, once the show's moral and intellectual center, was the worst victim of this revisionist history. He spent a lot of time being guided, even scolded, by subordinates like Allison Janney's C.J. Cregg and Joshua Malina's Will Bailey.
NBC sent out two episodes from the new season for preview: the opening "West Wing" hour tonight at 8, and the third episode, which will be televised next week. The network also provided samples from the intervening episode, which, like the others, deals with the fate of car-bomb victim Donna (Janel Moloney) and escalating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
While the season opener has some strong and dramatic moments, it also has its share of forced and unconvincing ones.
Once again, though Bartlet makes the final decisions, he relies on his staff for inspiration as well as information. And the car-bomb incident, traced to terrorists in Syria, is linked by military intelligence to having a possible, but questionable, link to other terrorist factions in Iran.
Bartlet resists the suggestion to attack both countries simultaneously - not when incomplete information leads him to feel that lumping in Iraq with Syria was nothing but "a pretext to attack another country we don't happen to like."
The parallels to our country's real-life treatment of Afghanistan and Iraq are much too obvious - painfully so. In its prime, "The West Wing" would never have been that blatant.
Only a few characters, like Bradley Whitford's Josh Lyman, still sound and act like themselves.
The hope is that the season's major developing story line, about the election of a new administration, will give "The West Wing" both the freshness and focus it needs.
If, however, the on-air NBC promos have led you to expect guest stars Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda tonight, keep waiting.
They don't show up until the November sweeps.
Originally published on October 20, 2004
Posted by Jo at 07:53 AM
'West Wing' Campaign Proceeds Uninterrupted
Zap2it.com
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) NBC has been promising since the spring that "The West Wing" will air without repeats this season.
That's still true, and even better, says executive producer John Wells, the show will run straight through its 22-episode order with almost no weeks off after Wednesday's (Oct. 20) season premiere.
"There will be no pre-emptions and no repeats with the exception of the Christmas period," Wells says. "I think for this show, that's very important. We need that kind of continuous build and not to have people wonder if it's on that week."
The plan, Wells says, is to run nine episodes in a row beginning with the premiere. Then, after a couple of weeks off for the holidays, the show will return in January for an unbroken 13-week run to conclude its sixth season, most likely earlier than May sweeps.
That schedule differs somewhat from the plan NBC announced at its upfront presentation in May. The network had planned to give "The West Wing" a longer break at midseason and air the limited-run series "Revelations" in its 9 p.m. Wednesday timeslot for six weeks.
Wells says "Revelations," a large-scale production about a scientist (Bill Pullman) who investigates what appear to be signs of the Apocalypse, may not be finished in time for the midseason airdate. NBC confirms the "West Wing" scheduling plan but says only that it hasn't set a premiere date yet for "Revelations."
Whatever the reason behind the switch, Wells is happy about it: "We were delighted. For our audience, to be able to do it as more of an event, where you know it's there every Wednesday, it will be a leg up for us."
Posted by Jo at 07:46 AM
Can 'West Wing' build a bridge to the 21st century?
By Bill Keveney
USA TODAY
What do you do when a president sags in the polls? One answer: Shake up the White House staff and bring in some new talent.
That appears to be a strategy for NBC's inventive, Emmy-winning The West Wing, which has seen its audience drop by nearly a third over two years. Changes viewers can expect in West Wing's sixth season (tonight, 9 ET/PT) include:
• A reshuffling of a long-stable White House staff. Press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) will move up to chief of staff after illness sidelines Leo McGarry (John Spencer). He'll be back as an adviser. Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) will eventually leave the staff to work for a presidential candidate.
• A campaign, because the Democratic administration of two-term President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is nearing its end.
• New characters, in the form of two presidential contenders, Rep. Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), a Democrat and former Houston mayor, and Sen. Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), a moderate Republican from California. Ed O'Neill will play the governor of Pennsylvania. Kristin Chenoweth will have a recurring role as a media consultant.
"It's the perfect time. Bartlet can't be in office forever. It's time to shake things up," says Janney, who won her fourth Emmy last month.
Changes will come after the season premiere, which picks up last season's story in which Donna Moss (Janel Moloney) was severely injured in a Middle East bombing.
West Wing, a onetime darling of viewers and critics, has dropped in polls of both in recent years. Last season, after winning its fourth Emmy for best drama, the series averaged 11.8 million viewers, down 31% since 2001-02. Critics also have been tougher recently, especially after the 2003 departure of Aaron Sorkin, the writer credited with creating the show's singular vision.
Despite speculation that this could be West Wing's final year, executive producer John Wells expects it to go further. Plans call for primaries this season, with an election and new administration in 2005-06. (Whether Sheen returns — his contract is up after this season — could affect the campaign schedule, Wells says.)
Smits, who was attracted by the show's intelligence and character development, says the campaign will treat all candidates fairly. "Both points of view are going to be dealt with in a way that has a lot of integrity."
Neither Wells nor Smits worry that the long-running Bush-Kerry race will dim viewer interest in a fictional one. Wells says West Wing offers an alternate view, rather than a reflection, of real-world politics.
"What we're hoping to do is give the audience some insight into what the campaign process is about," Smits says.
West Wing's idealistic view, most apparent in the writing of Sorkin, has always been a big part of its appeal. The promotion of a woman to chief of staff and the introduction of a Latino as a presidential contender shows its ability to depart from convention, Janney says.
At the same time, she likes the more combative tone that has evolved among Bartlet staffers. "It's more interesting when people aren't getting along," she says.
Some speculate that the election of a Republican president made Democratic West Wing seem less relevant, but Wells says any different perspective has more to do with "a changing national mood."
David King of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government agrees. "The West Wing has been replaced by the real thing. People are paying attention to politics," he says. "There isn't a strong reason to watch once a week when you can catch the real thing any day."
At the same time, King credits the political series, a rare success in that genre, with helping to boost the public's interest in government.
And Martin Kaplan of the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center expects the election to influence the show. "My guess is just as the Supreme Court watches the election returns, so will the writing staff," he says. "A second Bush term creates a different context than a first Kerry term."
Posted by Jo at 07:44 AM
October 19, 2004
'West Wing' staff shake-up is no run-up to old glory
By Bill Goodykoontz
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 20, 2004 12:00 AM
NBC is promising change on The West Wing this season, and the first three episodes deliver.
I'm already changing the channel.
The first three episodes involve a major staff change - what seems at first blush an unwelcome one, I might add - and the domino effect that sets in motion. Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits, representing opposite sides of the political aisle, join the cast in later episodes as possible successors to President Bartlet (Martin Sheen).
In theory that's because The West Wing follows the political cycle, and Bartlet is in the third year of his second term. In actual practice, it's tacit admission that the show as it stood at the end of last season clearly wasn't working anymore, and something had to be done.
It's a sad state of affairs, really. We're less than two weeks away from electing a president, what once would have been the perfect time for The West Wing to kick off a season. If only the show still mattered.
Sadly, it doesn't. What was once the best drama on a broadcast network is no longer destination TV - and, frankly, hasn't been for a while. We're starting the second season of White House life without creator and all-around creative genius Aaron Sorkin, whose grip on the show had already begun to slip by the time of his exit. Judging by the first few episodes of the new season, we're moving even further from the show's glory days.
Last season ER mastermind John Wells took over, so it's probably no surprise that The West Wing is looking more like a political version of County General all the time - right down to the by-now familiar cracked-open chest during open-heart surgery on one of the principals in one of the new episodes. Even at its best, ER got by on pure adrenaline; snappy dialogue was just occasional gravy.
The West Wing, on the other hand, in its first two or three magical seasons served as political wish fulfillment almost solely on the strength of the incredibly dense, intelligent lines Sorkin put into the mouths of his talented cast. Sheen's never been better, Allison Janney is an Emmy magnet and Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and John Spencer have taken home Emmy hardware as well.
It's still a great cast, bolstered by the addition of Joshua Malina. They just don't have particularly interesting things to say anymore, mostly leaden platitudes and the occasional joke.
When last we saw the show, Donna (Janel Moloney) was - where else? - in surgery after an explosion in the Middle East injured her and killed, among others, the beloved Admiral Fitzwallace (John Amos). The staff wants military revenge, Barlet's pushing peace and everyone's understandably worked up. The disagreements take a heavy toll as the president struggles to arrange negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The staff, meanwhile, flounders without direction, almost comically screwing up assignments. What? Since when have Josh (Whitford) and Toby (Schiff) been such buffoons? In their personal life, sure. But at work? No way. One of the fun things about watching the old West Wing was seeing a form of spin-free politics we wished could exist, no matter what your political stripe - intelligence and conviction carried the day. Amped-up TV tricks weren't needed.
Simply walking and talking rarely made for such good television. And rarely has it been so missed.
Posted by Jo at 09:52 PM
Will He or Won't He? 'West Wing' on Brink of War
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
The New York Times
Published: October 20, 2004
he sixth season of "The West Wing" on NBC is a bit like Montgomery Clift after his 1956 car accident: It looks almost the same, but something is changed and gone forever.
Tonight's premiere begins where last season left off: terrorists have attacked an American delegation in Gaza, killing members of Congress and Adm. Fitzwallace, and wounding Donna Moss, a White House assistant. President Josiah Bartlet is under pressure to retaliate by bombing targets in Syria and Iran.
Not that again.
There should be term limits for television presidents. And one term was just right for "The West Wing." The prolongation of one of the best and most popular dramas on television is brave and at times bold, but often it is painful to watch.
Mostly, what's missing is the dry wit. Since Aaron Sorkin, the show's creator, left in 2003 at the end of the fourth season, the new writers, led by the executive producer John Wells, who also oversees "E.R." and "Third Watch," have cranked up the volume. Everything is a crisis, and all the president's men and women holler with urgent intensity. It's a little like "E.R." on the Potomac - and sometimes a lot. In the first three episodes, two top White House aides end up in emergency rooms for life-or-death surgery. (To misquote Lady Bracknell, one can be considered a misfortune; two begins to look like carelessness.)
NBC is hoping to revive interest in the show by adding new characters. In November, Jimmy Smits will join the cast as a three-term congressman from Houston with presidential aspirations, and Alan Alda will play a similarly ambitious Republican senator from California. But only a few, lesser new cast members appear in the first episodes. Deputy National Security Adviser Kate Harper (Mary McCormack), a tall blonde who presses the president to revive negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, was also in a few episodes last season.
There is a lot of wishful Democratic thinking. The president refuses to attack targets in Iran until the intelligence community can dig up "credible, verifiable evidence" that Iran was complicit in the Gaza bombings.
Mr. Wells is better known for soap opera than for global politics. And all the life-threatening perils and interpersonal melodramas (will the love between Leo and the president ever be consummated?) have crowded out the touches that made the first seasons so special, most notably the West Wing aides' banter, muttered at screwball-comedy speed and dotted with eclectic references, from St. Augustine to Gilbert and Sullivan.
The series began to drag a little in 2003, and its once stellar ratings dropped dramatically when ABC put "The Bachelor" on the air against it. Before leaving, Mr. Sorkin set in motion a promising new plot twist: President Bartlet stepped down when his daughter was kidnapped; there was no sitting vice president and the Republican Speaker of the House, Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), barreled in to shake up the Bartlet administration's complacency. That gave the happy band of brothers in the West Wing a new set of enemies, Republican aides who jostled them out of the way like Cinderella's stepsisters.
But under Mr. Wells's command, President Bartlet returned, Walken left and the show went back on its Jolt cola course. The aides still wisecrack, but the jokes are more obvious and leaden.And the preaching is even more moralistic and maudlin.
The show has always seemed one term behind the times. Even when it was obviously ripping story ideas from the headlines, it used Clintonian third-way thinking for crises that popped up on Bill Clinton's watch and then diminished. This season, the writers are reaching back to Carter-era brinksmanship: President Bartlet defies his aides and strong-arms the Israelis and the Palestinians to Camp David. Kate, always an idealist, manages to help forge an agreement for the status of Jerusalem that is secured by an American peace-keeping force. (That'll work.)
The Israeli and Palestinian speeches are cartoonish, but one wordless Camp David scene evokes the show's early charm. The president's secretary inspects the polished wood conference table armed with a ruler: she carefully measures the distance between each name card and writing pad as a tightly wound junior aide looks on.
"The West Wing" won many Emmys for its writing, but some of the best moments were those silent tableaus of power in Washington. The new season is too nervously noisy to let the quiet back into the room.
The West Wing
NBC, tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Created by Aaron Sorkin; John Wells, executive producer. A John Wells Production in association with Warner Brothers Television Production.
WITH: Martin Sheen (President Josiah Bartlet), Stockard Channing (Abigail Bartlet), Dulé Hill (Charlie Young), Allison Janney (C. J. Cregg), Joshua Malina (Will Bailey), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler), John Spencer (Leo McGarry), Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman), John Amos (Adm. Percy Fitzwallace), Mary McCormack (Kate Harper).
Posted by Jo at 09:46 PM
TV REVIEW: 'The West Wing' regains its momentum
By Dave Mason
Modesto Bee
Last Updated: October 19, 2004, 07:33:00 AM PDT
(SH) - "The West Wing" has regained its momentum.
After falling in the ratings and critical acclaim, the once-great drama has risen again, thanks to a season premiere that re-emphasizes the heart of the series: the characters.
President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) has rarely been so presidential. And the other characters' strengths and flaws shine during a timely story tackling Mideast peace and the future of the White House. The season begins Wednesday (9 p.m. ET/PT NBC.)
The story picks up from last season's cliffhanger, in which a terrorist attack on the Gaza strip took the life of Admiral Fitzwallace (John Amos) and injured White House assistant Donna Moss (Janel Moloney). That leads to a big debate between Bartlet president and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) over how to respond to the attacks. Bartlet is determined to bring the Palestinians and Israelis together at peace talks at Camp David, but Leo sees swift U.S. military action as the answer.
That sets the stage for a personal drama involving one of the characters. The subsequent episodes, airing Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, spell a question of change for the White House, and in all three stories, Sheen brings out Bartlet's determination to do what's right in face of overwhelming opposition. At the same time, Toby (Richard Schiff) and Josh (Bradley Whitford) collide over how to win congressional support for the president in sealing the details of major step toward Mideast peace.
Executive producer John Wells, his crew and cast have done a great job of presenting a compelling story arc by making full use of the personalities that the actors and series creator Aaron Sorkin created.
"The West Wing" still hasn't reached the power of its first season, but it now deserves your attention again.
Posted by Jo at 04:42 PM
SHAKE-UP IN THE WEST WING
Look for big changes in the Bartlet administration
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News
Note: The following story reveals a significant number of story lines and character developments for the upcoming season of ``The West Wing.'' Consider yourself warned.
It's been a tough year for the administration of President Josiah Bartlet.
The troubles at NBC's ``The West Wing'' began in the spring of 2003 when series creator Aaron Sorkin departed after four seasons. When the show returned last fall, it took a deservedly fearsome drubbing from critics -- and many fans -- who believed the White House drama had lost much of its spark, smarts and distinctive style.
The dissatisfaction was reflected in the Nielsen ratings. Once a top 10 show with an audience of 17.2 million, ``The West Wing'' saw its audience drop to 11.8 million. The plunge was particularly noticeable among younger viewers, who fled in large numbers to such reality series as ``The Bachelor.''
As a result of all that, NBC executives started to suggest that it was time for ``The West Wing'' to finish its run. Kevin Reilly, the new president of NBC Entertainment, pointedly told reporters in July that the show was ``ratings-challenged last year'' and made several other comments that implied the end was near.
But TV veteran John Wells -- who took over as executive producer after Sorkin's exit -- says that reports of the show's demise have been greatly exaggerated. What may vanish this season, though, is ``The West Wing'' as viewers have known it since the fall of 1999.
``One of the things that starts happening to long-running television shows is that unless you start to shake things up and change the relationships and the way the characters react to each other, you start to feel like you're repeating yourself,'' says Wells, who also produces such dramas as ``ER.''
Successors to Bartlet
So, there will changes -- major changes -- on ``The West Wing'' when it starts its sixth year on Wednesday (9 p.m., Chs. 8, 11):
• The season will focus on the last months of the Bartlet administration after two terms and on the campaign to succeed President Bartlet.
``What we tried to look at,'' says Wells, ``was: `What haven't we done with the Bartlet administration?' And one of the things we haven't done is play the latter part of an administration and what -- when you no longer have the political pressures of being re-elected -- you want to accomplish.''
• As the show's timeline is now constructed, Bartlet (Martin Sheen) will leave office in the late fall of 2005, when the show is in its seventh season. But the timing of that departure depends entirely on whether Sheen decides to stay with the series after his contract is up next spring.
Wells certainly would like him to stay around for another season, saying he's ``very interested in what happens with the old president. I'd be interested in seeing episodes on what happens when you leave.'' But if Sheen opts out, Bartlet's departure from office would happen this season.
• Three candidates will emerge early on as possible Bartlet replacements: Vice President Robert ``Bingo Bob'' Russell (Gary Cole), Texas Rep. Jimmy Santos (Jimmy Smits) and U.S. Sen. Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), a Republican from California.
• The White House staff -- which has been together longer than any West Wing staff has been together in real life -- will undergo a major shake-up.
In just the first few episodes, one major character has a heart attack and another takes on an important new position. Donna Moss (Janel Maloney) survives her injuries from the terrorist bombing that ended last season and returns to Washington with Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford). But when they get back, things change for both.
``We're trying to set up a situation where they're at odds but could also have a relationship if they wanted to,'' says Wells. ``We love those two characters and we love their interaction. People who are interested in the possibility of that romantic relationship will enjoy the season.''
The aim, Wells says, is to keep ``West Wing'' alive and kicking for several more seasons.
While acknowledging that it was hard to follow Sorkin, Wells bridles a bit when asked about criticism of last season's episodes.
``We had the experience of changing drivers in a race car in the middle of the track doing 200 miles per hour,'' he says. ``It was as difficult a thing as I have ever been involved in creatively -- but a lot of the shows we were very proud of.''
Restoring the humor
He does admit that he doesn't ``think the show was funny enough. The other thing that Aaron Sorkin could always do was maintain a level of humor. I've gotten a lot of questions over the year about what's really different about the political climate that affects the show. I'd say that's the main area because I think the general situation in the country has, to most people, not felt very humorous.''
Now, he adds, the writers want to make the series more ``enjoyable and restore the buoyancy it had prior to Sept. 11.''
And the producer strongly believes NBC will stick with the show when its contract expires next year, pointing out -- among other things -- that it still attracts large numbers of high-income viewers coveted by advertisers.
``You can look at NBC's schedule,'' he says, ``and see that losing a show of `The West Wing's' quality would be a bad thing.
``There will be saber rattling and all kinds of comments going back and forth. But I'm fairly certain we'll be on NBC next season.''
The West Wing
*** 1/2 (first four seasons)
** 1/2 (last season)
Airing: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Chs. 8, 11
Posted by Jo at 07:56 AM
This White House
This is 'West Wing's' sixth season. Is it its last?
By Toni Fitzgerald
Media Life
Will President Bartlet be voted out of office this year?
That’s been the rumor for the past month over at fading NBC, where “The West Wing” finally debuts its sixth and possibly last season this Wednesday at 9 p.m. amid a woeful start to the season for the long-time dominant network.
“Wing,” with its pedigreed past of four Best Drama Emmys and critical adoration, seems like a microcosm of NBC’s problems as a whole. Where it once drew viewers to its taut plotlines, the show now seems flabby and unaware of how to win people back, just like its parent network.
The show began to struggle in fall 2002 when ABC’s time slot competitor “The Bachelor” began to thrive. That season “West Wing” went from a 6.7 adults 18-49 average to a 4.5, a one-third dip.
Its fortunes fell even further last season, when Fox’s rookie “The O.C.” stole more younger viewers. The show finished No. 27 for the season among households with a 7.8 average rating, down more than 10 percent from the previous season, when it finished No. 20.
NBC has insisted that rumors of “Wing’s” demise are greatly exaggerated, but the network is running original episodes straight through the season after its late return.
When the last original has run, NBC will introduce the limited-run series “Revelations” in the “Wing” time slot, which will run through the rest of the season.
It’s never a good sign when a show gets bumped. But it’s not particularly surprising, given that “Wing” has been abandoned by critics almost as quickly as audiences.
After the fourth season, creator and main writer Aaron Sorkin left the show, having battled a drug problem and difficulty meeting script deadlines despite often brilliant writing.
Original cast member Rob Lowe and executive producer Thomas Schlamme also exited, leaving John Wells to run the show’s fifth season. Critics, who had already begun turning on the faux president the year before, savaged the new setup.
And viewers may have listened. Though “Wing” remains popular among upscale viewers, especially those making $100,000 per household or more, and adults over age 50, where it ranked No. 19 last season, adults 18-49 seemed to grow tired of it.
Several times last spring “West Wing” hit all-time lows in the 18-49 demo. By the time its season finale aired, “Wing” was consistently down almost 30 percent from its year-ago average.
Much like NBC itself, the show seemed to have lost sight of what made it a big draw the years before: sharp writing, believable characters and crisp plotting.
Now, again like NBC, it’s faced with making a turnaround this season. If numbers don’t improve, NBC will not want to pay the large licensing fee to Warner Bros. that it did two years ago to renew the show.
In January 2003, NBC agreed to pay between $5 million and $7 million for two guaranteed years and an option for a third, which would be next season. If ratings don’t improve, especially in a year when NBC is already down more than 15 percent in most demos, Bartlet won’t be back.
One bright spot for the show, however, is the arrival of two guest stars with the potential to pull in viewers. Jimmy Smits (“NYPD Blue”) and Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”) both begin guest arcs on the season debut as potential successors to Martin Sheen’s soon-to-retire president.
And who knows? Perhaps the real-life presidential race and the big crowds for the presidential debates will fuel interest in the show. With ratings for “The Bachelor” off big time already, and CBS and Fox’s sitcoms somewhat vulnerable Wednesday night, it would be an ideal time for “West Wing” to rebound.
The problem may be that it’s slipped too far creatively to do so.
Posted by Jo at 07:54 AM
October 18, 2004
Saunders: Politics back in 'West Wing'
By Dusty Saunders
Rocky Mountain News
Martin Sheen has occupied the White House for five years (nearly two terms in TV drama time).
So who's going to replace him as "president"?
Jimmy Smits, another Democrat? Or Alan Alda, a Republican?
And don't forget Vice President Gary Cole is still in the mix - and on the series.
While George Bush and John Kerry battle for the White House, the parallel political universe that exists on The West Wing will offer several fascinating dramatic scenarios when beginning its sixth season Wednesday.
And here's a bit of interesting speculation: Will The West Wing eventually feature a Republican administration?
But first comes the finale of last May's soap opera-style cliffhanger when Donna Moss (Janel Moloney), aide to Josh Lyman, (Bradley Whitford), deputy chief of staff, was critically injured after being caught up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while on assignment in Gaza.
That scenario will be wrapped up on the season's first two episodes, and then The West Wing will get back to what it does best - set up and deliver intriguing political scenarios.
And Denver's John Wells, who co-created the series with Aaron Sorkin (who left the series), is stirring up a boiling political pot, centering on the political reality that President Josiah Bartlet (Sheen) is winding down his second term as president during the series' sixth NBC season.
His successor?
"We'll set up all the scenarios this season, but the election probably won't be held until season seven," Wells told critics on a conference call.
Season seven?
The 2004-05 season is the last under the current contract between NBC and the Warner Bros. series. And because audience ratings have declined during the past two seasons, speculation exists that this will be the series' grand finale.
"I don't believe this will be our last season," Wells said with a confident tone. He acknowledged that while The West Wing is not extremely popular among the desired 18-to-49 age demographic, it pulls the high-end- income viewers that NBC also covets.
"The West Wing has a specialized audience," Wells said. "For many viewers, the show is appointment television.
"It would be a mistake to cancel it."
Wells also noted he has influence at NBC, since he is also responsible for two other network series: ER and Third Watch.
Noting NBC is facing stiff audience competition in the drama field, particularly from CBS' CSI franchise, Wells added: "NBC will have to hustle."
He feels the addition of Smits and Alda will add "a new cast vitality."
Smits portrays a congressman and a former mayor of Houston, while Alda plays a popular GOP senator from California.
Both characters will be introduced in fall episodes.
Giving further indication The West Wing will have a seventh season, Wells said both actors will be available for an "election year."
Sheen's contract is up at the end of the current season and his future with the series is uncertain, according to Wells.
Meanwhile, look for changes in the lives of President Bartlet's staff.
Leo McGarry (John Spencer) will have heart problems and will relinquish his chief of staff duties to C.J. Cregg (Emmy-winner Allison Janney), currently the press secretary. Spencer will remain with the series.
Donna will leave her White House position, meaning an away-from- the-office romance could really develop with Josh, who will become more disillusioned with the White House political process.
So what would happen to President Bartlet's staff if a Republican were "elected" on The West Wing?
Such decisions are in the hands of the producers and scriptwriters and agents of the actors.
Wells noted The West Wing will have a programming continuity that often has been lacking during recent seasons.
Repeats won't exist.
NBC will broadcast nine consecutive episodes, beginning Wednesday. The West Wing will be pre-empted during the holiday season, returning in January with 13 successive weeks of new hours before moving out of the schedule in late spring.
"Such continuity should please fans who have understandably been upset in recent years by the insertion of reruns," Wells said. "Continuity is a vital component for a series like The West Wing."
Posted by Jo at 07:24 AM
Political Shakeup: Big changes are in store on West Wing
By Mike McDaniel
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
(Editor's note: The following story contains plot and character developments for the forthcoming season of The West Wing. Readers who prefer to be surprised should read no further.)
New characters will emerge as possible contenders for the presidency on future episodes of The West Wing, and the show is expected to continue beyond this season, according to executive producer John Wells.
Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlet, and the show's other regulars will continue with the show throughout the 2004-2005 season, although some of their jobs may change, Wells told television reporters in a conference call.
Wing will return to the NBC lineup Wednesday at 9 p.m., and Episode 1 will clean up dangling storylines from last season. Donna Moss (Janel Maloney) will recover from wounds suffered in a terrorist bombing in the Middle East, and she and her boss, deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), will return to Washington.
The show then will move in a slightly new direction. A heart attack will strike the president's chief of staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer). The president will ask McGarry to become a trusted adviser and press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) to become his new chief of staff.
"We are moving into what will be an electoral cycle on the show," Wells said. "We came in, six years ago, a year and a half into the Bartlet administration. One of the things we haven't played is the latter part of an administration, and, when you no longer have the same political pressures of being re-elected, what you want to accomplish.
"We want to look at an election campaign. We'll be having our political primaries this year (about a year off the real-life election cycle). During the fall, we're meeting with prospective candidates and watching everyone position themselves for the primaries and the general election."
One of those candidates will be Jimmy Santos, a former mayor and congressman from Houston. He'll be played by Jimmy Smits.
Another will be Alan Alda, who'll play a Republican senator from California.
"We'll meet many other candidates from both sides over the next four or five months," Wells said.
All will have to contend with Vice President Robert "Bingo Bob" Russell (Gary Cole) and his right-hand man, Will Bailey (Joshua Malina).
By midseason, Lyman will leave the White House to work for Santos, and Moss will go to work for Russell. That strange working relationship will free up both to pursue a personal relationship.
"It will definitely be a large part of the season," Wells said. "The thing that has prevented us from proceeding on the Josh and Donna romance is the Moonlighting syndrome (a reference to a poor outcome involving Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis on that ABC series). I'm not really sure how interesting that relationship is once the actors end up in it. Also, it would have been a very bad idea for Josh, as Donna's supervisor, to allow a relationship to develop. It's strictly prohibited within the White House and in most workplaces."
The president's wife, Abby (Stockard Channing), will begin a storyline, shortly before Christmas, that will reintroduce the issue of the president's multiple sclerosis.
It's no secret that the show is in the last season of its contract with NBC, and many of Wing's actors have contracts that expire simultaneously.
Wells acknowledged that the typical White House staffer stays on the job for 18 months before burning out, and that actors grow tired of the same dynamics to their characters. And yet, "I've told everybody on the show that I would love to keep everyone together and am hoping that everyone will stay."
That includes Martin Sheen, Wells said.
"I'm very interested in what happens with the old president," Wells said. "I'd be interested in seeing episodes on what happens when you leave. I don't think there are 22 episodes, but I think there are some interesting things to explore."
But that depends on whether Sheen re-ups.
"It would be our preference to do our election next season (around Christmastime)," Wells said, but if Sheen doesn't agree to a new season, Wells is prepared to move that timeline up, changing the administration sooner.
"While we don't have a contract with NBC for an additional season, I don't believe this will be the last year of the show," he said.
Posted by Jo at 07:20 AM
The "West Wing" aims to soar again via twists
By Joanne Ostrow
Denver Post
After running on fumes last season, "The West Wing" returns this week with political and romantic jump-starts.
Warning: Spoilers ahead. Those wishing to be surprised should jump to the real-world politics item below.
"West Wing's" sixth season, debuting at 8 p.m. Wednesday on KUSA- Channel 9, posits President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as a lame duck. He is pondering his legacy - another Nobel Prize? - as possible contenders eye the next election.
"We were a year and a half into the administration when we started the show," executive producer John Wells said in a telephone news
conference. "We have term limits
in this country, and so, on our
electoral schedule, Bartlet's second term would end a year from this
coming January."
Expect a season of split priorities, looking forward and back.
Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue") will play a former mayor and congressman from Houston who will vie for the Democratic nomination. Alan Alda ("M*A*S*H") plays a senator from California hoping for a Republican candidacy. Bartlet's vice president, Robert Russell (Gary Cole), is another potential challenger, with brilliant young staffer Will Bailey (John Malina) crafting his speeches.
The series is expected to extend beyond this season, Wells confirmed. Sheen's contract expires this year, but he may show up for explorations of Bartlet's life post-presidency.
On the romantic front, the will- they, won't-they tease between Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) and Donna Moss (Janel Maloney) will be resolved. The cliffhanger ending from last season will find Donna recovering from wounds suffered in a Mideast bombing. She and Josh, who flew to her bedside, will return to Washington. Expect significant changes within the staff as Lyman and Moss depart to pursue their relationship, each working for a potential candidate.
The president's chief of staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), will suffer a heart attack. Although he'll still show up as a close adviser, press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) will be offered the position of chief of staff.
New dynamics, new cast members. Clearly the network hopes this all translates into renewed ratings.
Posted by Jo at 07:15 AM
October 17, 2004
Big changes await occupants of the "West Wing" White House
By Gail Pennington
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
John Wells talks a good "West Wing."
The executive producer, who took the helm - reluctantly, he says - when Aaron Sorkin departed a year-and-a-half ago, is shaping big changes for Season 6. But he vows that he will never alter its character just to woo back the elusive 18-49 demographic.
Those viewers, the ones prized by advertisers, had been trickling away for a while, but last season the trickle turned into a flash flood, with "The West Wing" losing 18 percent of its 18-49 audience and 13 percent of its total viewership. The exodus alarmed NBC but didn't surprise the show's most devoted fans, who were already complaining that the four-time Emmy winner had lost its way.
NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly acknowledged the problem in talking with TV critics in July.
"OK, 'The West Wing' was ratings challenged last year," he said. "John Wells isn't in denial about it. We're going to try to juice up the show creatively this year, and I'm excited about what I've heard."
But how exactly does one juice up a drama that once built a nifty plot around the franking privilege? Wells routinely juices up his long-running hit "ER" with action-movie tricks: a helicopter crash here, a catastrophically submerged car there. And last season on "The West Wing," he blew up a regular, Janel Moloney's Donna Moss (she survived), to illustrate strife in the Middle East.
This season, Wells will go further, blowing up the whole Bartlet administration - metaphorically, it's necessary to note. That means bringing in new characters with an eye to a future that might find the fictional White House West Wing in new hands.
That's also a trick borrowed from "ER," where Wells said he learned that long-running shows can be refreshed by cast changes.
In the case of "The West Wing," Wells has two more good reasons for shaking up his cast. In keeping the core players stable so long, "we've been a little unrealistic," he said, adding that pressure drives the average White House staffer out after just six months. At the same time, contracts for many cast members are running out after this year, so not all could be expected to stay on.
The season, then, will turn on change, as melodramatic promos for Wednesday's season premiere are already shouting.
"We're moving into what will be an electoral cycle," Wells said last week in a conference call that attracted so many writers, not everyone was able to get in a question.
Thus, the Bartlet administration will be entering its twilight, with the president (Martin Sheen) thinking about what he has (and hasn't) accomplished and contemplating his legacy. At the same time, the parallel-universe nation will prepare to choose a new president, and this season will follow several candidates through the primaries.
Gary Cole's Vice President Robert Russell, guided by ex-Bartlet speechwriter Will Bailey (Joshua Malina), is a leading contender. So are Jimmy Smits as Rep. Matt Santos, a Texas Democrat, and Alan Alda as Sen. Arnold Vinick, a California Republican.
Who will prevail? Wells and his team are still fighting that out.
"We're looking forward to exploring the issues and following the campaigns," he said. "We'll see where that leads us."
The campaigns also will take the show to a larger venue, he said, with several episodes in the new year leaving the White House entirely.
Other big changes will involve the main characters, and although Wells detailed them, he suggested letting viewers be surprised. Suffice it to say that Leo (John Spencer), CJ (Allison Janney), Josh (Bradley Whitford) and Donna are all affected in major ways.
Since he took over from the famously liberal Sorkin, Wells has tried to steer the show more toward the center because "most of us live in more of a middle ground," he said. He still wants "The West Wing" to stand "as an alternative to the existing political situation," rather than attempting to reflect it.
And, like Sorkin, who called his show "a valentine to public service," Wells believes the show's foundation is still good government, "without being Pollyannaish about the sausage making that is politics."
A weakness of the show last season?
"Not funny enough," Wells said, crediting Sorkin with a unique knack for maintaining a balance of comedy and drama. "The political climate hasn't felt very humorous" since 9/11, Wells acknowledged, but promised to "recommit ourselves to making sure the show is enjoyable and has the buoyancy" it once had.
The general plan is to elect the new president midway through next season. But if Sheen, whose contract is up after this year, won't extend it, the vote may take place this spring.
"We're in full denial" that Sheen may actually depart, Wells said, adding that he personally is deeply invested in the Bartlet character.
Although NBC has not officially picked up "The West Wing" beyond this season, Wells professes to have little doubt that the show will go on. "The West Wing" is still top-rated in upper-income households, he said, and is extremely popular with advertisers.
As for the 18-49 demographic, "It would be a mistake to try to bolster that audience in obvious ways" and possibly lose other loyal viewers, Wells said. "We will stay as true to what the show was (in the beginning) as we are capable of being."
For his part, "This is the most difficult thing I've ever tried to do," Wells said. "It's challenging and rewarding, but it's a lot of work."
He'll write about 10 episodes this season, but he has an eye on another scribe - one named Sorkin.
"I'm still deluding myself that I'm going to get him to write another one."
"The West Wing"
When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays beginning this week
Where: NBC (Channel 5)
Posted by Jo at 05:52 AM
October 16, 2004
Interview with John Spencer
Tavis Smiley Show
PBS
Tavis: I’m pleased to welcome Emmy-winning actor John Spencer to this program. His portrayal of White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on “The West Wing” has earned him 4 Emmy nominations on one of the best shows on TV. This Sunday here in L.A. he will take part in annual AIDS Walk L.A. But first, here he is in a sneak preview from the season premiere of “The West Wing.”
President Bartlet: General Alexander went ahead with plans for these bombings?
Leo McGarry: At your request.
Bartlet: I said I’d consider it when the time was appropriate. I did not ask--
McGarry: He was trying to anticipate your eventual needs, sir...at my urging. Mr. President, please. Congress, the joint chief, the American public, your own staff, everyone disagrees with your assessment of this situation.
Tavis: You can’t talk to the president like that, man.
John Spencer: He takes my advice every once in a while. [Tavis laughs]
Tavis: Nice to meet you.
Spencer: Good to meet you.
Tavis: I’m glad to have you on the program.
Spencer: Thank you.
Tavis: You guys are starting season number 6, and you appeared not to be tired of this stuff. You still loving it?
Spencer: I’m having a good time. It’s very hard work, I’ll tell you. An hour drama is not for the tired. Ha ha. It’s a grueling schedule, but I’m blessed with such incredible material and have been right from the very get-go. Um, Aaron, who created the show--Aaron Sorkin--is maybe one of the greatest writers in the world. So to have him writing the dialogue and creating these really evocative characters and also to play some--to play--to be a part of this world. Although I’d never want to be a part of it in real life. I would not. I’d steer very clear of politics.
Tavis: You know, speaking of material, I think you’re absolutely right. You get great material to work with. No question about that. Here’s the silliest question perhaps you’ve ever been asked, but I’m just fascinated by how you--I just did a cameo on something the other day that’s airing on NBC in a few weeks, as a matter of fact.
Spencer: Cool. You want to tell me what it was?
Tavis: Well, I think it was a show called “American Dreams.“
Spencer: Great. It’s a great show.
Tavis: Sunday night, Novem--
Spencer: Tommy Verica, a friend of mine.
Tavis: Sunday night--since you set me up for this. We call this a shameless plug. Right here, Jonathan. Right here. Thank you very much. Sunday night, November 7th, I’m on “American Dreams” doing a cameo playing Thurgood Marshall.
Spencer: Cool.
Tavis: 50 years ago. It’s a period piece. Anyway, the point of all this is that I did this cameo the other day, and I had to walk and talk at the same time.
Spencer: Very hard.
Tavis: And I thought about you folk on “The West Wing” because you guys are always moving through the White House.
Spencer: Which we call--
Tavis: How do you do this?
Spencer: We call those walk and talks.
Tavis: How do you do that?
Spencer: Well, the pisser, if I may say that, about a walk and talk is they can’t cut into it. So it starts at the beginning, and if it goes for 3 pages, you can get to 2 pages and 3/4, and you can make one mistake on a line, and you gotta start all over again. So it’s kind of--I like it ‘cause it’s kind of like being in the theater. Once it starts, it doesn’t stop until it’s done.
Tavis: Right.
Spencer: You know, you don’t cut away. I put a lot of work into it. I have 2 wonderfully gifted assistants who drill me nightly. And it’s hard work because I’m putting in a day at work over there at the factory, and then I’m coming home and learning words for the next day.
Tavis: I could lie to you and tell you I didn’t make any mistakes. We did one take. The truth of the matter is they had to pull out some extra tape because I had to walk and talk and walk and talk and walk and talk till I got it right. But it’s hard work, man.
Spencer: Well, it comes a little easier with practice. Uh, but it is hard work. It’s--the trick is to make it look seamless. You know, to make it look easy.
Tavis: You guys have such great diversity on “The West Wing.” I know people on the show, other friends who’ve done cameos, guest appearances on the show. You got great diversity, and I hear that in season 6, you’re gonna get some more diversity on this program.
Spencer: Oh, we have Alan Alda coming on as a Republican senator who’s gonna announce for the White House. Um, we have Jimmy Smits, who plays a Democratic congressman from Texas, who maybe has his eye on the chair, too. Um, and we have all the regulars, the old regulars back, and we just--Kristin Chenoweth, who I’m a big fan of, Broadway actor, is coming on our show.
Tavis: This is probably not a fair question to ask you as a cast member, but what should happen at the end of President Bartlet’s administration?
Spencer: What should happen? I would hope we’d be able to--to elect another Democrat. I would hope that I could leave the wing in very confident and astute hands of maybe my deputy, Josh. Uh, I don’t know that I’d want a chief of staff anybody beside Bartlet. So I think when Bartlet goes, as do I. I think that’s my man in the White House. And I think after that, we all go back to the public sector.
Tavis: Yeah. When you mentioned earlier in our conversation--which I didn’t forget, I just filed it away till I could come back to this--when you mentioned earlier that you could not imagine in your own life being a part of the real world of politics--
Spencer: Too much responsibility.
Tavis: I was about to ask you, why do you feel that way?
Spencer: Too much responsibility. Also the art of compromise. You know, one thing I have noticed, and I’m a dyed-in-the-wool liberal. I use the “l” word as unfashionable as it is.
Tavis: Shame on you. Nobody does that these days.
Spencer: We have tried to disguise it with every semantic, twisted turn we can.
Tavis: Nobody does that these days.
Spencer: Let me tell ya. I’m proud to be a liberal. A liberal is somebody who takes care of their brothers. Uh, who believes that we who are better off should take care of those who are less better off. I don’t see that as false responsibility. I see that as what makes America great. In the sense of F.D.R. and those people. Anyway, um, I’ve noticed in politics that you don’t get from “A” to “B” in a direct line. You might have to go “C” and “F” and “B” and “D” and then you get to the other point. And that takes a great deal of finesse and compromise. And I’m a little stubborn for that and a little impatient. Also, I’ll tell ya, it’s a hard enough time taking care of myself, let alone being responsible for the bigger picture. I do believe in the responsibility of every individual to vote because that is our voice. That is our voice in the government, and we have that right. And I think it’s a right we should all exercise, no matter how you vote.
Tavis: I mean, you’ve met any number of presidents, real U.S. presidents, since doing this show. What do you think the impact, what is the legacy, the enduring legacy you think of this show going to be on the body politic because for the last 6 years, I mean, it’s Hollywood, but--
Spencer: It’s the alternate administration.
Tavis: Yeah.
Spencer: I think it will have an important impact on the history of television. I thank cable. I think cable has raised the bar. I think, you know, shows like “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” who have the advantage of dialogue, adult dialogue in situations have a big advantage, but they’ve brought the whole bar up, so network has to compete with intelligence and good writing. Uh, I would hope that, uh, that the journey has been an interesting one for people. I think if I wasn’t on “The West Wing,” I might watch it because it’s a side of politics we’ve never seen. It’s what happens when the people leave the podium. It’s what happens when the door closes if you open that door and you look behind the closed doors. And we’ve seen that at police stations and law offices and hospitals for years on television and in movies. But to explore it in a world of politics, I think, is very interesting to be a voyeur in the world of politics.
Tavis: How good have you guys been at not emulating--trying to find the right word here--but mirroring or certainly, uh, paralleling what happens in the real body politic?
Spencer: Well, I think that--I think our show has taken a journey. I think when we started, Aaron was very intent. I remember him saying to us at many a table read, when we get together and read the script, “Remember this is not an eat your vegetable show. It’s entertainment. We are an hour drama. We are meant to entertain.” Of course we had the backdrop of the Constitution. We had to play by the rules because we’re, you know, we’re a play. We’re an event about the American government. So we couldn’t make up our own rules. But some incredible things went down. I’ve been asked where is Kumar, you know? And, uh, Kumar is fictional. You know, that was a country--
Tavis: I was about to say, “Don’t ask me.” You got me on that one.
Spencer: And I think the real world has moved into our drama in a way that it’s almost had to. It would be very hard to ignore terrorism at that point. It’s become such a part and parcel of our everyday life, our everyday fears.
Tavis: I got about a minute and a half. You mentioned, um...some real issues here a moment ago in the body politic. You’re doing the AIDS Walk this Sunday.
Spencer: Thank you for bringing that up. It’s still a very important cause. You know, we tend to get casual about things with time. And, uh, when the epidemic started, it was on the front pages every day. And we’ve made incredible progress. But you look at the continent of Africa. You look at the world. It’s become a pandemic. It’s still a very important thing. A cure is out there, and I’ve lost a lot of people in my industry.
Tavis: We talked on this show the other night, right quick, about the fact, even though you’re a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, when Gwen Ifill from PBS asked the 2 vice presidential candidates Cheney and Edwards the other night about AIDS and people of color, they were both clueless. It was embarrassing.
Spencer: I know. And that the increase has happened in black women.
Tavis: And neither one of them was clued into it.
Spencer: They were clueless, and it was embarrassing. It was an embarrassing moment. It’s a pandemic now. It’s not--I think it was unfortunately easy to write off in the early days because people thought alternative lifestyles and needles users and--how dare people write those people off--but much easier. Now it’s mainstream. And it’s something that needs to be addressed.
Tavis: Well, I’m glad you’re out there addressing it. It’s an honor to meet you. You’re welcome back here as often as you want to come see us.
Spencer: Thank you. Thanks.
Tavis: John Spencer of “The West Wing.” My pleasure. Just a reminder, “The West Wing” kicks off its new season next Wednesday, October 20th. That’s our show for tonight. As always, you can catch me on the radio on NPR. I’ll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, thanks for watching. Good night from Los Angeles and, as always, keep the faith.
Posted by Jo at 07:55 AM
Martin Sheen - Actor, 'The West Wing'
Washington Post
Sunday, October 17, 2004; Page W07
How do you play a president? I think there's a danger in pontificating, and there's a danger of pretense. You know, I was told from the get-go the most important element of this president was my character -- me, Martin. How would I react? How would Martin react? They made him a Catholic because I'm Catholic. They made him a Notre Dame graduate because I'm nuts about Notre Dame. All these personal things became part of the equation so we could flesh out a human being. It's about being human. It's not about being president. I happen to play a president, but he's first a human being. The thrust of all my work and all my life, really, it's about being human.
It's a running gag: "Oh, if you were president. Would that we had you in the Oval Office." No, no. You don't want me. I'm the most unqualified person I know to run for president. That's not what I'm trained for. I'm an artist. I'm a pacifist. A president has to project an image that they are willing to kill for you, to protect the country or American interests; that's what this whole business is about now, Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'm not willing to do that, so I cannot personally ever serve in the White House.
I'm an actor; all we can do is ring the bell. We talk about civil rights, we talk about equality, we talk about a woman's right to choose, we talk about the environment, we talk about world peace. The show has no power. We can't solve anything. We sell products. We sell cars and credit cards. We're very much a part of the system.
I've learned an awful lot about how an administration can work. But ours has been wishful thinking. Our show is predicated on reality, but it is, in fact, fantasy. You know, we don't have any power except of imagination. Except maybe [the show] might inspire you, spark a public debate. That's the very best we can hope to do, and maybe do it in an entertaining fashion. The only thing that I can help do through the story is project an alternative to what we've got, and to say, Wouldn't it be interesting to discuss all these issues and make them great public debates and not just work out of arrogance?
-- Interview by Tyler Currie
Posted by Jo at 07:52 AM
October 15, 2004
'West Wing's' Maloney pushes for Kerry in FM
By ROB JENKINS
Fort Morgan Times
Janel Maloney is not a politician.
But she plays one on TV.
Maloney, who plays Donattella "Donna" Moss on the largely popular White House television drama "The West Wing," got a taste of life imitating art Thursday as she took to the campaign trail in support of presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry.
Maloney's tour of Colorado began with a stop at In the Mood Coffee House in Fort Morgan Thursday afternoon before heading to Colorado State University and New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins.
While she is an actress of relatively widespread popularity, Maloney simply decided to campaign for Kerry because of her conscience.
"It's really simple for me," Maloney said. "I'm just doing what I can do. I want to be of service at this point in the election. I heard somebody say, 'If they win they wanted it more,' and I really took that to heart."
Maloney took the time to chat with voters discussing the issues that were important to Morgan County voters and how Kerry could force a change with regards to those issues. But while appearances portrayed a confident actress speaking up for her favorite presidential candidate, Maloney's internal thoughts were not necessarily the same.
"One of the things that scared me about this is I am an actor and I care about my career," Maloney said. "Part of my egotistical, small-minded fear was that I'd get labeled as this crazy, lefty actress, but we all have to do what we can. We owe it to ourselves to do the best we can."
Maloney is preparing to take on the role of Donna Moss for the sixth season (the show is in its sixth season as well), and viewers will get a bit of a surprise as the new season of the show premieres.
"You'll find out in the beginning (of the season) if Donna lives or dies," Maloney hints.
Maloney's character, who plays the assistant to the deputy chief of staff on the show, is known for being one of the characters on the show who very seldom ventures outside the confines of the White House fences. However, at the end of last season, Maloney's character was sent to the Middle East as a part of a fact-finding mission that resulted in her being caught in a car bomb that has left her critically injured.
As an actress cast alongside Martin Sheen, a celebrity known for his vocal Democratic political activism, Maloney could not help but catch a bit of that activism from her cast mate and taking a cue from Sheen that being involved does not necessarily mean you can't have a flourishing career at the same time.
"At the end of the day I think you have to give; you have to be of service, and all of the stuff you gather in life you don't get to keep it in the end," Maloney explained. "We need to be taking care of each other and speak the truth, and that is what Martin has always done. Plus, he's had a great career so it's not like you can't do both."
And as she departed Fort Morgan to attend to the rest of her engagements, Maloney shared her thoughts about a plains town that is about as far removed from Hollywood as anywhere in America.
"Everyone I've talked to has seemed really smart and informed and concerned and really sweet," Maloney.
"The West Wing" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC with the new season set to premiere Wednesday, Oct. 20.
Posted by Jo at 10:01 PM
Crime and Replenishment: Why Wednesdays Have Been Murder
By Lisa de Moraes
Washington Post
Sunday, October 17, 2004; Page N09
Wonder why, four weeks into the new TV season, there are almost as many reruns on Wednesday night as on Saturday -- a night on which all of the networks have formally given up on original scripted programming?
When NBC unveiled its new prime-time lineup to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall last May, it promised advertisers it would keep "The West Wing" in the Wednesday 9 p.m. time slot. A couple days later, when CBS trotted out its new prime-time slate at Carnegie Hall, it announced that its 9 p.m. Wednesday hour would consist of two comedies, "King of Queens" and the new "Center of the Universe," marking John Goodman's much-ballyhooed return to sitcoms.
Yet since the official start of the TV season on Sept. 20, NBC has been airing "Law & Order" reruns at 9 p.m. Wednesdays -- except the first Wednesday of the season, when it aired back-to-back original "Law & Orders" from 9 to 11 p.m. Meanwhile, CBS changed course, plugging the hole with a "Dr. Phil" special during premiere week, and more recently with reruns of some "CSI" or another. Both networks vow that starting this week, they'll bring us the Wednesday 9 o'clock shows they promised.
The two networks' 9 p.m. series are the victims of the two networks' 10 p.m. series. CBS is trying to take down NBC's venerable "Law & Order" with the latest clone of its procedural crime drama factory, "CSI."
Naturally, each network wants to give its 10 p.m. show the biggest possible lead-in audience. NBC felt that would be better accomplished at 9 p.m. with "Law & Order," even in repeats, than with original episodes of "The West Wing." This is reasonable, given that last season, while "The West Wing" was not as bad as some critics had anticipated without Aaron Sorkin at the helm, it was a ratings sinkhole. Meanwhile, CBS's new "Center of the Universe" is just plain bad, the network has had trouble launching a comedy block on Wednesday night, and we've seen that followers of "CSI" flock to reruns in large numbers.
Meanwhile, Fox has been airing "Bernie Mac" reruns on Wednesday nights at 9:30 since the start of the TV season. That's because the network debuted "Method & Red," which was supposed to air in that half-hour, back in the summer and had canceled it by the time the season officially started in September. Clearly, Fox has some work to do on its new, groundbreaking 52-week-a-year schedule.
Posted by Jo at 06:17 PM
Actress campaigns to put Kerry in West Wing
Actress campaigns to put Kerry in West Wing
By NIKOLAUS OLSEN
Fort Collins Coloradoan
Moving beyond her role as a staffer in Martin Sheen's White House administration on the NBC show "The West Wing," Janel Moloney sought to influence the real presidential election.
Moloney, who plays Donna Moss on the show, made her way to Fort Collins and Northern Colorado on Thursday to stump for Sen. John Kerry and the Democratic Party.
She contacted the campaign earlier this week asking how she could get involved.
"I'm really shocked that people care what I think," said the Emmy-nominated actress during a stop at New Belgium Brewery, 500 Linden St. She later stopped at a rally at Colorado State University.
Using celebrities in real-life places is a tactic called "retail politics" to reach voters -- especially undecided voters -- outside traditional organized events like campaign rallies, said Steve Haro, Kerry's Colorado campaign manager.
"Finding those undecided voters is like finding a needle in a stack of needles," Haro said.
Moloney chatted with about 50 brewery visitors and employees as she drank a glass of beer and posed for photographs.
"Most people ask me about my character on the show, whether she lives or dies and if she gets together with Josh (Lyman, played by Bradley Whitford)," Moloney said.
In the season finale of "The West Wing," Moloney's character was rushed into emergency surgery. She was in a German hospital recovering from an attack while in the Gaza Strip. The characters played by Whitford and Moloney have a loose romantic connection.
Brian Rubick, 27, was on a tour at the brewery when Moloney stopped by. He had his picture taken with the actress, but wasn't sold on the idea of supporting a candidate based on the Hollywood stars who support them
"Just because you like them in a movie or television show doesn't mean they support the Democratic Party for the right reasons," said Rubick, who is a registered Republican leaning toward Kerry.
Others said meeting the Democratic-supporting actress affirmed their support for Kerry and his party.
"It's just nice to talk to people with different lifestyles than mine that are involved," New Belgium employee Brendan Beers, 27, said. "I think it speaks to the general public."
Originally published Friday, October 15, 2004
Posted by Jo at 02:37 PM
October 14, 2004
Will 'The West Wing' go Republican?
With Bartlet term's end in sight, producer thinks of future
CNN.com
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Posted: 12:32 PM EDT (1632 GMT)
Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen, center) should wrap up his second term in the next 18 months -- giving "The West Wing" time to stage a campaign for his successor.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The prospect of a change in the White House tends to draw a strong reaction, pro or con.
Not from "The West Wing" executive producer John Wells, though. He seems unfazed by the coming end of Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet's tenure -- and maybe even a Republican successor.
"We were a year and a half into the administration when we started the show," Wells said of the NBC drama entering its sixth season. "We have term limits in this country and so, on our electoral schedule, Bartlet's second term would end a year from this coming January."
That fact foreshadows a hybrid season when "The West Wing" returns Wednesday (October 20, 9 p.m. EDT). Bartlet (Martin Sheen) grapples with his legacy while others fight for the chance to replace him.
Among them are contenders played by two familiar actors: Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue"), who's a potential Democratic candidate, and Alan Alda ("M*A*S*H") vying for the GOP nomination.
Also in the running is Vice President Russell (Gary Cole), with talented staff member Will Bailey (Josh Malina) at his side.
Could Wells envision "The West Wing," if re-elected by NBC to a seventh season, with a Republican president?
"I really could," he told The Associated Press. "What we've tried to put forward in the Bartlet administration is a Democratic presidency that was a bit of wish-fulfillment of what you'd really want your Democratic president to be.
"I don't think there's any reason you wouldn't want to see that show with a Republican."
Is he concerned that the show, called "The Left Wing" by those who find Bartlet's politics grating, might be seen as making the move to pander to conservatives?
"I think it depends on who the Republican candidate is and how you feel about the candidate by the time he or she is elected," he said.
A complete turnover -- perhaps
Series creator Aaron Sorkin cast Bartlet in the same liberal mold as the leader in his 1995 film "The American President." Sorkin, who left the series in 2003, could not be reached for comment, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Change could reinvigorate the series' ratings, which dropped from a season-high average of 17.2 million viewers in 2001-02 to 11.8 million viewers last season.
Among the presidential possibilities: a congressman from Texas, played by Jimmy Smits (right).
But Wells, whose relationship with NBC is bolstered by the other shows he provides, including longtime linchpin drama "ER," said "The West Wing" ensures an affluent viewership for sponsors and that he's confident of renewal.
A new commander-in-chief, from either party, would mean wholesale changes in the White House staff and the cast. But Wells told a phone news conference Wednesday that he hopes current stars would be able to remain -- although that's less likely with a Republican administration.
He's also hoping that Sheen, whose contract is up this year, decides to come back for another season and maybe for post-presidency appearances.
Before the NBC show wades into the heat of primary contests and before Bartlet gives up power, there are lingering issues to resolve.
At the end of last season, growing violence in the Middle East led to the death of prominent U.S. officials and left an angry Bartlet weighing military action -- and now trying to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The Gaza Strip attack also critically injured Donna Moss (Janel Moloney), who was part of the traveling White House contingent along with her boss, deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).
Whether Donna survives (and whether she and Josh finally become an item) are obvious cliffhangers. Wells promises other immediate upheaval in "The West Wing."
"There are substantial changes in the White House at the beginning of the season, within the first two episodes," Wells said.
Involving the White House staff that viewers know and love? "In the staff that we know and love, things are happening," Wells says, with vague discretion that would make a bureaucrat proud.
Tapping Clinton, Reagan veterans
The vice president, played by Gary Cole, is also in the running to succeed Bartlet.
After the dust settles, the latter part of the season will focus on the campaign trail with Smits' and Alda's characters and on how Bartlet delivers his swan -- or lame-duck -- song.
"How does the Bartlet administration deal with the remaining time they have in trying to be effective?" Wells said. "What does he really want to accomplish in his remaining year in office?"
Writers for the series, which makes a point of drawing on real-world Washington expertise, asked former Reagan and Clinton administration figures to reminisce about their second-term experiences.
Politicos returning as advisers for the season include former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers and Laurence O'Donnell, who worked for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Two newcomers are former Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling and Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein.
They're all crucial to the series, Wells said.
"The most important thing about writing the show, as far as political issues go, is having arguments. We have to have people in the room to argue both points -- and they do," he said. "It's a load of fun. It's actually my favorite part (of creating the show): You get to sit there and listen to these people harangue each other."
Will the series be affected by the outcome of November's President Bush-Sen. Kerry election?
"I would say a lot of that depends on how the election itself goes," Wells said. "If its as close or contested as the last election, that may have an impact."
For some viewers, he speculated, the desired goal is fantasy rather than reality.
"I think we have a number of viewers who showed up after (the 2000) election because they felt that who they wanted in office wasn't there, so they came to see what Bartlet did."
This is the first season "The West Wing" has returned without a best-drama Emmy in hand. After four consecutive wins, the award went to HBO's "The Sopranos."
Wells said he was pleased with the outcome. The mob drama was overdue for a win, he said, and "The West Wing" can proceed without the question of whether it or any show is worthy of so many laurels.
Some critics argue the political drama fell short of the dramatic heights reached when Sorkin was on board, through the end of the 2002-03 season.
Wells largely disagrees but acknowledges the challenge of shifting from a show written by the prolific Sorkin to one relying on a new staff of writers.
"We had the experience of changing drivers in a race car in the middle of the track doing 200 mph. ... It was as difficult a thing as I have ever been involved in creatively," he said, adding: "A lot of the shows we were very proud of."
Posted by Jo at 04:53 PM
New flight for 'West Wing'
Fall season brings twists and turns to plot of political drama
By MIKE MCDANIEL
Houston Chronicle
Editor's note: The following story contains plot and character developments for the upcoming season of The West Wing. Readers who prefer to be surprised should read no further.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New characters, including a congressman from Houston, will emerge as possible contenders for the presidency on future episodes of The West Wing, and the show is expected to continue beyond this season, its executive producer revealed Wednesday.
Wing returns to the lineup Wednesday (8 p.m., NBC/Channel 2), and Episode 1 will clean up dangling storylines from last season. Donna Moss (Janel Maloney) will recover from wounds suffered following a terrorist bombing in the Middle East, and she and her boss, deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), will return to Washington.
The show then will move in a slightly new direction. A heart attack will strike the president's chief of staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer). The president will ask McGarry to become a trusted adviser and press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) to become his new chief of staff.
"We are moving into what will be an electoral cycle on the show," said Wells. "We came in, six years ago, a year and a half into the Bartlet administration. One of the things we haven't played is the latter part of an administration and, when you no longer have the same political pressures of being re-elected, what you want to accomplish. We want to look at an election campaign. We'll be having our political primaries this year (about a year off the real-life election cycle). During the fall, we're meeting with prospective candidates and watching everyone position themselves for the primaries and the general election."
One of those candidates will be Jimmy Santos, former mayor and congressman from Houston. He'll be played by Jimmy Smits.
Another will be Alan Alda, who'll play a Republican senator from California.
"We'll meet many other candidates from both sides over the next four or five months," Wells said.
All will have to contend with Vice President Robert "Bingo Bob" Russell (Gary Cole) and his right-hand man, Will Bailey (Joshua Malina).
By midseason, Lyman will leave the White House to work for Santos, and Moss will go to work for Russell. That strange working relationship will free up both to pursue a personal relationship.
"It will definitely be a large part of the season," Wells said. "The thing that has prevented us from proceeding on the Josh and Donna romance is the Moonlighting syndrome (a reference to a poor outcome involving Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis on that ABC series). I'm not really sure how interesting that relationship is once the actors end up in it. Also, it would have been a very bad idea for Josh, as Donna's supervisor, to allow a relationship to develop. It's strictly prohibited within the White House and in most workplaces."
The president's wife, Abby (Stockard Channing), will begin a storyline, shortly before Christmas, that will reintroduce the issue of the president's multiple sclerosis.
It's no secret that the show is in the last season of its contract with NBC, and many of Wing's actors have contracts that expire simultaneously.
Wells acknowledged that the typical White House staffer stays on the job for 18 months before burning out, and that actors grow tired of the same dynamics to their characters. And yet, "I've told everybody on the show that I would love to keep everyone together and am hoping that everyone will stay."
That includes Martin Sheen, Wells said.
"I'm very interested in what happens with the old president," Wells said. "I'd be interested in seeing episodes on what happens when you leave. I don't think there are 22 episodes, but I think there are some interesting things to explore."
But that depends on whether Sheen re-ups.
"It would be our preference to do our election next season (around Christmastime)," Wells said, but if Sheen doesn't agree to a new season, Wells is prepared to move that timeline up, changing the administration sooner.
"While we don't have a contract with NBC for an additional season, I don't believe this will be the last year of the show," he said. "You can look at NBC's schedule and see that losing a show of The West Wing's quality would be a bad thing. Also, I do a lot of other business with them (as executive producer of ER and Third Watch), and I think NBC will respect the quality of the show and show us respect."
Posted by Jo at 04:41 PM
Martin Sheen's West Wing Dilemma
by Daniel R. Coleridge
TV Guide Online
The real-life showdown between Dubya and Kerry happens next month, but The West Wing's timetable for presidential elections is, of course, different. They've got more complicated considerations than Washington politics, like actors' employment contracts!
Just to catch you up: Back in 1999, NBC's White House drama launched almost two years into President Josiah Bartlet's first term. In Season 4, Bartlet (aka Martin Sheen) defeated James Brolin to score himself a second term. Presidential fever heats up again in Season 6 (beginning Oct. 20 at 9 pm/ET) when various guest stars — including Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda — start surfacing as candidates for Sheen's Oval Office digs. The decision as to when Sheen will pass the torch rests entirely in the star's hands, though.
"This is the last year of Martin's contract, and he has to decide what he wants to do next," says executive producer John Wells. "It would be our preference to do the election next season. But if Martin tells me around Christmastime that he doesn't want to do any more beyond this season, we may accelerate that. We may choose to speed up [the election], we may choose to do something else. We haven't made any plans yet for if he doesn't [come back]. We're in full denial!"
Meanwhile, here's what else Wells has in store for your fave West Wingers...
New Job for C.J. Cregg: "In Episode 2, Leo McGarry suffers a major heart attack and is unable to continue as the chief of staff," Wells reveals. "The president, while considering Josh and Toby for the part, comes to the conclusion that the best person for it is C.J. Allison Janney is wonderful. She's so talented and I think she'd reached the point where she'd answered questions in the press-briefing room about as many times as she could. So it's great to see a talented actress having a whole other meal to dig into. She's [also] not too busy for love, but a little too busy right at the beginning of this season...."
Leaving the White House: Just before the holidays, Josh will become so disillusioned with the vice-president's campaign that he'll quit the White House. "Leo talks Josh into finding his own Democratic candidate, the way Leo found Bartlet," Wells explains. "Josh will run a long-shot campaign for [Jimmy Smits' character]." And as for Donna, she'll go to work for the Veep's campaign.
Whoa! You know what that means: Since Josh will no longer be Donna's supervisor at the White House — where employee fraternization is verboten — these two will finally be free to date! "They're at odds but could have a relationship if they wanted to," Wells concedes. "We love those two characters and we love their interaction, so people who are interested in that romantic possibility will enjoy this season."
More laughs: "The show needs to be more enjoyable and have the buoyancy it had before 9/11," Wells says, promising "it's going to be funny again."
Posted by Jo at 07:21 AM
October 13, 2004
'The West Wing' eyes GOP successor for Bartlet
by LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
sfgate.com
(10-13) 14:05 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --
The prospect of a change in the White House tends to draw a strong reaction, pro or con.
Not from "The West Wing" executive producer John Wells, though. He seems unfazed by the coming end of Democratic President Josiah "Jeb" Bartlet's tenure -- and maybe even a Republican successor.
"We were a year and a half into the administration when we started the show," Wells said of the NBC drama entering its sixth season. "We have term limits in this country and so, on our electoral schedule, Bartlet's second term would end a year from this coming January."
That fact foreshadows a hybrid season when "The West Wing" returns Wednesday (Oct. 20, 9 p.m. EDT). Bartlet (Martin Sheen) grapples with his legacy while others fight for the chance to replace him.
Among them are contenders played by two familiar actors: Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue"), who's a potential Democratic candidate, and Alan Alda ("M-A-S-H") vying for the GOP nomination.
Also in the running is Vice President Russell (Gary Cole), with talented staff member Will Bailey (Josh Malina) at his side.
Could Wells envision "The West Wing," if re-elected by NBC to a seventh season, with a Republican president?
"I really could," he told The Associated Press. "What we've tried to put forward in the Bartlet administration is a Democratic presidency that was a bit of wish-fulfillment of what you'd really want your Democratic president to be.
"I don't think there's any reason you wouldn't want to see that show with a Republican."
Is he concerned that the show, called "The Left Wing" by those who find Bartlet's politics grating, might be seen as making the move to pander to conservatives?
"I think it depends on who the Republican candidate is and how you feel about the candidate by the time he or she is elected," he said.
Series creator Aaron Sorkin cast Bartlet in the same liberal mold as the leader in his 1995 film "The American President." Sorkin, who left the series in 2003, could not be reached for comment, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Change could reinvigorate the series' ratings, which dropped from a season-high average of 17.2 million viewers in 2001-02 to 11.8 million viewers last season.
But Wells, whose relationship with NBC is bolstered by the other shows he provides, including longtime linchpin drama "ER," said "The West Wing" ensures an affluent viewership for sponsors and that he's confident of renewal.
A new commander-in-chief, from either party, would mean wholesale changes in the White House staff and the cast. But Wells told a phone news conference Wednesday that he hopes current stars would be able to remain -- although that's less likely with a Republican administration.
He's also hoping that Sheen, whose contract is up this year, decides to come back for another season and maybe for post-presidency appearances.
Before the NBC show wades into the heat of primary contests and before Bartlet gives up power, there are lingering issues to resolve.
At the end of last season, growing violence in the Middle East led to the death of prominent U.S. officials and left an angry Bartlet weighing military action -- and now trying to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The Gaza Strip attack also critically injured Donna Moss (Janel Moloney), who was part of the traveling White House contingent along with her boss, deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).
Whether Donna survives (and whether she and Josh finally become an item) are obvious cliffhangers. Wells promises other immediate upheaval in "The West Wing."
"There are substantial changes in the White House at the beginning of the season, within the first two episodes," Wells said.
Involving the White House staff that viewers know and love? "In the staff that we know and love, things are happening," Wells says, with vague discretion that would make a bureaucrat proud.
After the dust settles, the latter part of the season will focus on the campaign trail with Smits' and Alda's characters and on how Bartlet delivers his swan -- or lame-duck -- song.
"How does the Bartlet administration deal with the remaining time they have in trying to be effective?" Wells said. "What does he really want to accomplish in his remaining year in office?"
Writers for the series, which makes a point of drawing on real-world Washington expertise, asked former Reagan and Clinton administration figures to reminisce about their second-term experiences.
Politicos returning as advisers for the season include former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers and Laurence O'Donnell, who worked for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Two newcomers are former Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling and Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein.
They're all crucial to the series, Wells said.
"The most important thing about writing the show, as far as political issues go, is having arguments. We have to have people in the room to argue both points -- and they do," he said. "It's a load of fun. It's actually my favorite part (of creating the show): You get to sit there and listen to these people harangue each other."
Will the series be affected by the outcome of November's President Bush-Sen. Kerry election?
"I would say a lot of that depends on how the election itself goes," Wells said. "If its as close or contested as the last election, that may have an impact."
For some viewers, he speculated, the desired goal is fantasy rather than reality.
"I think we have a number of viewers who showed up after (the 2000) election because they felt that who they wanted in office wasn't there, so they came to see what Bartlet did."
This is the first season "The West Wing" has returned without a best-drama Emmy in hand. After four consecutive wins, the award went to HBO's "The Sopranos."
Wells said he was pleased with the outcome. The mob drama was overdue for a win, he said, and "The West Wing" can proceed without the question of whether it or any show is worthy of so many laurels.
Some critics argue the political drama fell short of the dramatic heights reached when Sorkin was on board, through the end of the 2002-03 season.
Wells largely disagrees but acknowledges the challenge of shifting from a show written by the prolific Sorkin to one relying on a new staff of writers.
"We had the experience of changing drivers in a race car in the middle of the track doing 200 mph. ... It was as difficult a thing as I have ever been involved in creatively," he said, adding: "A lot of the shows we were very proud of."
Posted by Jo at 07:19 PM
October 09, 2004
No Jed Bartlet
Kerry wants to be Martin Sheen’s TV pol, but it’s just not happening for him.
By John J. Pitney Jr.
National Review Online
When The West Wing's President Jed Bartlet debated his Bush-like opponent (James Brolin), his Nobel Prize brilliance carried the day and sealed the election. On Friday night, Senator Kerry was hoping to turn in a similar performance. But while he was aggressive and even eloquent at times, he was no Jed Bartlet.
For one thing, he continued his pattern of self-contradiction. At first, he held himself up as a model of consistency on Iraq: "Well, let me tell you straight up: I've never changed my mind about Iraq. I do believe Saddam Hussein was a threat. I always believed he was a threat." But in discussing Iran a few minutes later, he had a sudden change of heart about the Iraqi threat: "And what's interesting is, it's a threat that has grown while the president has been preoccupied with Iraq, where there wasn't a threat."
Jed Bartlet would at least have the decency to wait for a commercial before executing such a reversal.
In the pilot episode of The West Wing, we learned that Bartlet is a deeply religious Catholic who made a pre-presidential tour around the country to discourage teenage girls from having abortions. But his chief of staff also explained that Bartlet "doesn't believe that it's the government's place to legislate this issue."
During the debate, Kerry tried to toe the Bartlet line. "I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy." He wouldn't outlaw abortion, he said. "But I can counsel people. I can talk reasonably about life and about responsibility. I can talk to people, as my wife Teresa does, about making other choices, and about abstinence, and about all these other things that we ought to do as a responsible society."
Why would he take no legal steps to curb abortion? "I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith." That rationalization does not hold up. In July, he said that he believes "life does begin at conception." If he takes that statement seriously, then he has to believe that it applies to all human life, not just to the babies of his coreligionists.
The more he talked about the issue, the less sense he made. He claimed that "you don't deny a poor person the right to be able to have whatever the constitution affords them if they can't afford it otherwise." So it follows that if the Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms, the government must help poor people buy weapons. I do look forward to his Gun Stamps proposal.
Somewhere in TV land, President Bartlet is shaking his head in disapproval.
— John J. Pitney Jr. is professor of government at Claremont McKenna College
Posted by Jo at 10:24 PM
October 08, 2004
Fillmore's on film in 'West Wing' TV scene
Its City Hall offers backdrop for Alda and NBC show
By Brett Johnson
Ventura County Star
"Let me ask you a question: What is public service?" the candidate's voice boomed from a mic-filled podium across the Central Park square in Fillmore late Thursday morning as the adoring throng cheered and waved cardboard campaign signs.
He announced his candidacy for president on a large podium beneath two huge red, white and blue banners that hung from Fillmore City Hall, one draped just below its signature dome at the top and the other resting along the crest of a bank of pillars just below.
The news media shouted out questions. "I'm a lifelong Republican," the man said. "I've always been a Republican!" The crowd cheered again.
With that, Alan Alda picked up a kid, hugged him and then walked through a crowd of supporters toward the fountain near the center of the square; they chanted "Vinick, Vinick, Vinick" after him. "Cut!" someone yelled, and the event was all over.
Alan Alda, actor and longtime liberal, announcing he's running for president of the United States as a Republican? In Fillmore? What's this "Vinick, Vinick" business? Wh-a-a-a-a-t?
The short answer to all this is that "The West Wing" rolled into town Thursday and put Fillmore on celluloid for a scene in its coming season. Alda has signed on to the critically acclaimed NBC show this year to play Republican Sen. Arnold Vinick of California, a man who has White House aspirations to take over for President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen).
"We chose this because it is so beautiful and all-American looking," said Mike Leon, locations manager for Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., which shoots "The West Wing."
Look for the Fillmore scene in a December episode of the show, Leon said. He said it likely will be part of a scene in the White House where Bartlet's staffers are playing back TV news clips and sizing up the competitors in the presidential race.
"The West Wing," a four-time Emmy Award winner for best drama series, begins its sixth season on Oct. 20.
Alda's Sen. Vinick is among those seeking the White House on the show this season. Jimmy Smits, of "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue" fame, has signed on to play Matthew Santos, a congressman from Houston. And there's also the current vice president, Bob Russell, played by Gary Cole.
Thursday's scene, Leon explained, originally was supposed to be shot in a park above the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, but that fell through. The episode's director first saw Fillmore on Monday "and fell in love with it," Leon said as he gestured toward City Hall.
Crews began setting up wires, platforms, podiums, banners and the like on Wednesday. When the scene rolled Thursday morning, it looked authentic. And Alda -- best known to TV aficionados for his role as the wisecracking Capt. "Hawkeye" Pierce on the CBS show "M*A*S*H" -- looked almost presidential, decked out in a natty suit and sporting a regal silver-gray look at age 68.
"He's an old pro," Leon said. "He was holding his smile for the cameras, just like a politician does."
The whole thing was real enough to impress some locals.
"I thought they were going to have a presidential debate there until I found out it was a TV set," said Fillmore Police Sgt. Ralph Zermeno, who visited it on Wednesday. "It looks really neat."
Business as usual
For many residents, though, it was kind of business as usual. The city, with its charming downtown, old-time train station and rustic feel, has long been a Hollywood fave.
Just ask David Adams, an 18-year-old waiter-busboy at the Stone City Cafe, directly across Santa Clara Street from the shoot. In his tender, four-month career at the restaurant, Adams has already seen Hollywood come several times.
"Out of all the movies and stuff I've seen filmed out here, this was the biggest production by far," he said.
Adams likes Hollywood's temporary spotlight.
"It brings life to the town; we don't have too much to do here," he said, before a supervisor beckoned him with a look that said he needed to stop doing interviews and start waiting on folks who had sat down for lunch.
Mike Ford, a lawyer who has lived in Fillmore almost 35 years, wandered by as the shoot was winding down. He's seen it before, too.
"Oh yeah, you can't miss 'em," said Ford, 65. "They are fun to watch."
It's good for the city, Ford said, "because it makes money -- God knows we need it."
Fillmore typically gets about 30 or so shoots -- TV, film, car commercials -- a year, said Steve McClary, a management analyst who helps supervise the city's film permitting process.
'Film-friendly' city
The city is close to Hollywood and all its tentacles, and Fillmore's volunteer film commission