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May 15, 2006
The Political Party
Missing ''The West Wing'' already? Reminisce about the just-ended show with the cast and crew, who told Lynette Rice about its beginnings
Entertainment Weekly
Time to pack up the china and ship it to the presidential library — The West Wing has closed its doors forever. The often brilliant political drama never lacked in its ability to generate headlines, and managed to overcome impossible odds — the premature departure of creator Aaron Sorkin, a late-in-the-game critical backlash, and ultracompetitive time slots — to last seven years on NBC. Along the way, it won the best drama Emmy an impressive four times, a feat matched only by L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues. Not bad for a show that relied on the (rapidly) spoken word rather than violence, nudity, explosions, or high concepts to engage its viewers.
Before Josiah ''Jed'' Bartlet (Martin Sheen) ceded the Oval Office on May 14 to the country's first Latino president, Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) — oh, what we wouldn't give to watch his first 100 days! — EW asked the cast and crew to put down the fake policy papers and reflect on how The West Wing came together, from the early negotiations with NBC and the arduous casting calls, to Sorkin's uncanny ability to turn even the most mundane discussion about clean coal power initiatives into an oratorical work of art.
1. THE CAMPAIGN TEAM
In summer 1997, Sorkin — who'd written erudite mainstream hit movies like The American President and A Few Good Men — was readying his first TV script, ABC's Sports Night, when his agent suggested he meet with ER executive producer John Wells to discuss other opportunities.
SORKIN The night before the meeting, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman [A Beautiful Mind] came to my house for dinner and at some point wandered into my office where I had a poster from The American President up on the wall. Akiva said, ''You know what would make an interesting TV series? That.''
WELLS I'm always interested in ideas that sound impossible and haven't worked on the air before.
SORKIN I wanted to do a TV show about senior staffers at the White House. Our leaders are always portrayed as Machiavellian or dolts, so I thought I'd write about government leaders who are trying to do the right thing but who fail sometimes. I thought of it as a workplace drama — in an exciting place. Once I have an idea, it starts going very fast. I probably did The West Wing in about five days.
WELLS [Then-NBC Entertainment president] Warren Littlefield purchased the Wing script in the fall of 1997 under a deal I had with NBC. He had to make it by a certain time or give it back, but then he left.
SCOTT SASSA (NBC ENTERTAINMENT PRESIDENT, 1998-1999) My first day, I had a meeting with John Wells. John told us we've been sitting on [the Wing] script and if we don't do it, we wouldn't get his next project.
WELLS They were prepared to make Wing in exchange for me doing something they wanted: a companion piece for ER. I made it a condition of writing Third Watch that they also make The West Wing.
SORKIN I wanted to beat Akiva up. I couldn't believe what he got me into.
2. PRIMARY SEASON
In January 1999, Sorkin and director-exec producer Thomas Schlamme began casting Wing's fictional White House. Their administration: the Latin-speaking President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen), trusted chief of staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer, who died last year), cantankerous communications director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), sexy deputy chief of staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), poised press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney), feisty assistant Donna Moss (Janel Moloney), and handsome deputy communications director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe, who would not comment for this article).
SORKIN John was the first person we cast. I had to change the character's name, which was originally Leo Jacoby. I pictured Judd Hirsch playing the part, but John was obviously Irish. The role of Toby came down to either Richard Schiff or Eugene Levy.
SCHIFF Eugene told me later that he listened through the door to my audition and since he couldn't hear anything, he thought he was a lock for the role. I started giggling at my own performance. But for some reason I knew I was going to get it.
WHITFORD Aaron told me he wrote Josh for me. Auditioning is hell on earth. Aaron said I hit it out of the park, but then I started hearing that I wasn't funny or sexy. So I auditioned again with Moira Kelly [who was later cast as political consultant Mandy Hampton] and was told she blew me out of the room. I definitely wasn't going to get it.
JANNEY I've always gotten parts who are strong and the glue of the family, so I related to C.J. right away.
SORKIN Allison ended up testing against CCH Pounder, who was fantastic. It was agonizing.
MOLONEY I read for C.J. first, and they said, ''Do you want to read for this smaller role? There's no guarantee or anything.'' I wore gray slacks and a black turtleneck to the audition...which became Donna's outfit for the entire seven years.
TV
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Goodbye, 'West Wing'
SHEEN
The role of President Bartlet was originally intended to last no more than six episodes. According to Sorkin, ''I was worried that if Bartlet was the main character in the show, the show would become about him, and I did not want to do what I did with The American President.''
SORKIN The first person we talked about to play the president was Sidney Poitier.
SCHLAMME It got far enough to find out what his fee would be, which was very high.
WELLS It was more than just his fee — he didn't want to do it. His manager told me to stop calling.
SORKIN Another actor we thought would be great was Martin Sheen. As soon as he said he wanted to do it, we called off the search.
SHEEN I signed on immediately, and went off because I [thought I] would be available for other work.
Sheen ended up staying for the duration of the series, and his contract was renegotiated not long after the pilot was shot. According to Wells, however, NBC still wanted another marquee name.
WELLS NBC wanted to know who else was in the cast. If we are going to make something this unappealing to the public, could we get a bit of a star to drive it?
SORKIN I remember coming into the casting session one day and seeing Rob's name on the sheet. We never said we needed a young, sexy guy because we felt John Spencer could fill that role [laughs] . But there was some difficulty making Rob's deal, so we thought it would be easier to find another actor to play Sam.
WHITFORD My agent called and said they were offering me Sam. I called Aaron and said, ''That's not who I am. I want to be Josh.''
JANNEY It was very much supposed to be an ensemble show, which I think Rob ultimately didn't like. But he had the most experience in TV and I was deferential to him. He was responsible for getting us big trailers.
3. ELECTION DAY
Lowe wasn't locked in until the day before production, a development that would ultimately portend bigger problems. (Lowe left the series during season 4 to seek out bigger roles.) Nevertheless, on the morning of March 29, 1999, the cast gathered to begin shooting the pilot on Wing's Burbank set, a gigantic glass maze that best exploited Schlamme's kinetic shooting style and Sorkin's snappy dialogue.
WELLS I remember how much the set cost because it was screamed at me in loud volumes: $1.2 million.
SORKIN Up until the pilot aired, no one knew that the abbreviation for President of the United States was POTUS. Sam says it at the beginning.
WHITFORD I thought it was some sort of sexual euphemism.
SHEEN I said, ''I don't really know how you want me to play this — and who is this guy, Jed Bartlet?'' Aaron said, ''He's you, Martin. You don't have to go anywhere. You just have to go inside.'' That's what I did.
MOLONEY During my first scene, Leo comes in and asks for Josh, so I turn around and scream ''Josh!'' without getting up from my chair. Leo replies, ''I could have done that, Donna.'' We did a couple of takes, and afterwards John said, ''You're going to be here until the curtain comes down. '' He was the first person to say that.
SCHIFF I had to recite all this aeronautical nomenclature to the stewardess on a plane after she told me to shut off my cell phone. It was the beginning of a tradition of both drinking in Allison's trailer and being ambushed with a four-page monologue that you'd have to shoot that day after lunch.
JANNEY Martin was always eating. I think he took the job for craft services, because he always had food in his mouth while they were trying to shoot.
4. THE INAUGURAL BALL
NBC and the producers fretted that nobody would watch Wing's Sept. 22, 1999, premiere — after all, this was a wonky, dialogue-heavy drama about the inner workings of the federal government. Their fears were allayed when Wing grabbed nearly 17 million viewers. The pilot went on to win three Emmys, and Wing soon became one of the most critically acclaimed series of its time.
SCHLAMME When we turned the pilot in, everybody was like, ''It's extraordinary. But can it be on TV?''
SORKIN The first time we screened it for the cast, the [feeling was] ''We did a great pilot, but we're not going to be able to do this every week.'' Yet these guys all came back determined to make every episode as good as our best. And they kept it up for seven years.
SHEEN At our worst, we were better than anything else that was out there. We knew it. We couldn't use the F-word. We weren't allowed any overt sexuality. We had no special effects. We depended on the text, each other, and the intensity of that. It was like Shakespeare.
WELLS All good shows get made accidentally. I'm very proud of The West Wing. It was extremely hard to get on the air and extremely hard to make. Every moment — from beginning to end.
Posted by Jo at May 15, 2006 02:52 PM