West Wing Season 1 720p
Elis Riebow
The West Wing is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that aired on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and offices of presidential senior staff are located, during the fictitious Democratic administration of Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen). During the course of the series, 154 episodes of The West Wing aired, including two specials over seven seasons.
The second special interspersed the characters' fictional lives with interviews of real West Wing personnel, including Presidents Ford, Carter and Clinton; press secretaries Marlin Fitzwater and Dee Dee Myers; presidential advisors David Gergen, Paul Begala and incumbent Karl Rove; Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; Chief of Staff Leon Panetta; presidential personal secretary Betty Currie; and speechwriter Peggy Noonan.[155] The documentary won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2002 for "Outstanding Special Class Program".[156] Both episodes ran within the season 3 television season and were included on the season's DVD.[157]
"A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote" is a reunion special that was released on HBO Max on October 15, 2020. The special serves as a stage version of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing". The special intended to raise awareness and support for When We All Vote, a non-profit organization that helps increase participation in United States elections.[167][168]
The West Wing has been ranked among the best television shows of all time in publications such as Time,[2] TV Guide,[3][4] Empire,[5] Rolling Stone,[6] and the New York Daily News.[7] The Writers Guild of America ranked it no. 10 in its "101 Best-Written TV Series" list.[8] It has received praise from critics, political science professors, and former White House staffers and has been the subject of critical analysis. The West Wing received a multitude of accolades, including two Peabody Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it won four consecutive times from 2000 to 2003. The show's ratings waned in later years following the departure of series creator Sorkin after the fourth season (Sorkin wrote or co-wrote 85 of the first 88 episodes), yet it remained popular among high-income viewers, a key demographic for the show and its advertisers,[9] with around 16 million viewers.
A stage version of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing", "A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote", premiered on HBO Max in October 2020, featuring the entire surviving original main cast along with key recurring cast in their original roles.
Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 per episode, with the established Sheen receiving a confirmed salary of $300,000.[11] Rob Lowe left the series in the fourth season reportedly due to not getting a salary increase.[12] Disparities in cast salaries led to very public contract disputes, particularly by Janney, Schiff, Spencer, and Whitford. During contract negotiations in 2001, the four were threatened with breach of contract suits by Warner Bros. However, by banding together, they were able to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries.[11] Two years later, the four again demanded a doubling of their salaries, a few months after Warner Bros had signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo.[13]
In an interview on the first season DVD, Bradley Whitford said that he was originally cast as Sam, even though Aaron Sorkin had created the Josh character specifically for him. In the same interview, Janel Moloney stated she had originally auditioned for the role of C.J. and that Donna, the role for which she was eventually cast, was not meant to be a recurring character. Other actors were seriously considered for other roles, including Alan Alda and Sidney Poitier for the President, Judd Hirsch for Leo, Eugene Levy for Toby, and CCH Pounder for C.J.[15]
The first season proper saw the return of all of the pilot production team along with the addition of Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno as consulting producers and Rick Cleveland as a second co-producer with Robert W. Glass as an associate producer. Glass left the production team after only five episodes. Julie Herlocker joined as Associate Producer beginning with episode six. Osborn and Reno departed after nine episodes. Paul Redford served as a story editor throughout the first season. Lawrence O'Donnell worked as executive story editor for the second half of the season.
With the second season, Kevin Falls became a co-executive producer. Cleveland left the production team and Redford and O'Donnell were promoted to co-producer. Peter Parnell and Patrick Caddell became co-producers and Julie Herlocker and Mindy Kanaskie became associate producers. O'Donnell was promoted again to producer five episodes into the season and Hissrich joined him twelve episodes into the season.
The third season saw the departure of Parnell, Caddell, and Herlocker and the temporary absence of O'Donnell. Director Christopher Misiano became a supervising producer, Patrick Ward joined the series as an associate producer, and Eli Attie joined the writing staff as a staff writer. Redford was promoted to producer. With the thirteenth episode of the third season director Alex Graves became an additional supervising producer and Attie became a story editor.
The fourth season marked the temporary departure of Hissrich. Misiano and Graves became co-executive producers alongside Falls. Attie was promoted to executive story editor and Debora Cahn became a staff writer. The fourteenth episode of the season saw Redford promoted to supervising producer and Kanaskie, Ward and Attie promoted to co-producers.
The fifth season saw the departure of both Sorkin and Schlamme as executive producers. Schlamme remained attached to the series as an executive consultant. John Wells remained the sole executive producer and showrunner. Co-executive producer Kevin Falls also left the show. O'Donnell rejoined the production team as a consulting producer. Wells also added Carol Flint, Alexa Junge, Peter Noah, and John Sacret Young as consulting producers. Andrew Stearn came aboard as a producer and Attie was promoted to producer. Cahn became story editor and Josh Singer replaced her as staff writer. With the tenth episode Flint, Junge, Noah and Sacret Young became supervising producers.
With the sixth season Misiano and Graves were promoted to executive producers. Redford and Junge left the production team and Dylan K. Massin became a co-producer. Cahn was promoted to executive story editor and Singer replaced her as story editor. Lauren Schmidt filled the staff writer role. The fourth episode saw the departure of original crew member Llewellyn Wells. Debora Cahn was promoted to co-producer with the fourteenth episode.
The seventh season saw Noah and O'Donnell promoted again, this time becoming additional executive producers. Attie became a supervising producer. Hissrich returned to his role as producer for the final season.
As with many serial dramas, multiple story arcs on The West Wing span several episodes and entire seasons. In addition to these long-running narratives, each episode contains smaller storylines that usually begin and end within a single episode.
Most episodes follow President Bartlet and his staff through particular legislative or political issues. Plots can range from behind-closed-doors negotiating with Congress to personal problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, from which Josh suffers during the second season. The typical episode loosely follows the President and his staff through their day, generally following several plots connected by some idea or theme. A large, fully connected set of the White House allowed the producers to create shots with very few cuts and long, continuous master shots of staff members conversing as they walk through the hallways. These "walk and talks" became a trademark of the show. The final two seasons presented a narrative change, with the focus of the show divided between plots in the West Wing with President Bartlet and his remaining senior staffers and plots revolving around the rest of the main cast on the campaign trail for the 2006 election.
The series developed following the success of the 1995 theatrical film The American President, for which Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and in which Martin Sheen played the White House Chief of Staff. Unused plot elements from the film and a suggestion from Akiva Goldsman inspired Sorkin to create The West Wing.[17]
According to the DVD commentary, Sorkin intended to center the show on Sam Seaborn and the other senior staff with the President in an unseen or a secondary role. However, Bartlet's screen time gradually increased, and his role expanded as the series progressed. Positive critical and public reaction to Sheen's performance raised his character's profile, decreasing Lowe's perceived significance. In addition, the storylines began to focus less on Sam and more on Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff. This shift was one of the reasons for Lowe's eventual departure from the show in the fourth season.[18]
For the first four seasons, drawing on research materials, scene drafts, and occasionally entire draft scripts from his writing staff, Sorkin wrote almost every episode of the series, occasionally reusing plot elements, episode titles, character names, and actors from his previous work, Sports Night, a sitcom on which he began to develop his signature dialogue style of rhythmic, snappy, and intellectual banter. Fellow executive producer and director Thomas Schlamme championed the walk and talk, a continuous shot tracking in front of the characters as they walk from one place to another that became part of The West Wing's signature visual style. Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips,[19] and he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, following increasing personal problems, including an arrest for possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms.[20] Thomas Schlamme also left the show after the fourth season. John Wells, the remaining executive producer, took the helm after their departure.[21]
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