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October 20, 2004
'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 October 20, 2004 07:46 AM