The West Wing *Spoilers*

The Black Oil

Reminder. West Wing did this.

kearneybobs

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Just came across this Joshua Malina is doing and episode by episode podcast on the West Wing with cast members joining him.

They are up to season 2 episode 18 as of this week.

http://thewestwingweekly.com/

Is it any use?

dogsears

kearneybobs wrote: »

Is it any use?

Its excellent.

The hosts are fans obviously but they are smart, engaging, funny and insightful. Through Malina they have great access to the cast and crew for interviews and feedback (including Sorkin) as well as calling on others who know about the real life equivalents of things covered on the show. They are not blind to the shows weaknesses and are often surprised at their reactions after rewatching the show for the purposes of each podcast i.e. they may not have watched all the episodes over and over again like many diehard fans.

The second host (Hrishi Hriway) is really professional and probably adds the podcast-making chops that Josh Malina may not have had - he has another also very good podcast called Song Exploder.

It has ads as you might expect and they can be a bit cheesy, especially when the hosts play the over-enthusiastic convert "They're so good I bought one for myself and another for my wife" etc but I can forgive that.

Give them a listen and start from the beginning because one of the things they did really well in the first season was talk about the introduction, purpose and development of each the characters and their contribution to the ethos, teamwork etc that runs through the show.

cjmcork

Hrishi's research is excellent and brings an added dimension to the podcasts, any serious fan should make it required listening - the most recent one with Richard Schiff and Emily P could have lasted for 4 hours and I've have listened to it............really hoping they get Allison J and Martin S - they tend to line up guests to pivotal shows, so Rob Lowe made his first appearance lately for Someone's Going to Emergency.........fingers cross for Martin Sheen for Two Cathedrals!

SarahBM

I absolutely love the podcasts and it's a great way to do a run through with out feeling guilty. Sure you must do your home work before listening to the podcast! I love it too because Josh seems to be watching the show for only the first or second time, whereas Hrishi is a fanatic! He has seen each ep many many times. I just love it!

touts

Have just recently started listening to the podcast. It's great. I watch the episode and then listen to the podcast. My only regret about it is someone posted about it months ago on my Facebook feed and I didn't start back then. Now I'm not sure when I will find the time to go back and catch up on all the podcasts I've missed (especially as to really enjoy them you have to watch the episode). But from here on it'll be a weekly thing. Two Cathedrals coming up in a few weeks.....

hamsterboy

Thank you SOOOOOOOO much for recommending the podcast.....it's absolutely the most perfect accompaniment to the series. Listening to the 17 People one atm.... could listen to Richard Schiff talk all day, Toby was my fav character......Highly recommend this

bnt

For those of us re-watching episodes before listening to The West Wing Weekly, we've reached a point I've been dreading: series 2 episode 21, 18th and Potomac. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that something happens that sets up a dramatic season finale next week. Wish me luck, I'm going in ...

hamsterboy

bnt wrote: »

For those of us re-watching episodes before listening to The West Wing Weekly, we've reached a point I've been dreading: series 2 episode 21, 18th and Potomac. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that something happens that sets up a dramatic season finale next week. Wish me luck, I'm going in ...

Fare well sir.... that and the one that follows have the ability to break a man

HB

bnt

bnt wrote: »

For those of us re-watching episodes before listening to The West Wing Weekly, we've reached a point I've been dreading: series 2 episode 21, 18th and Potomac. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that something happens that sets up a dramatic season finale next week. Wish me luck, I'm going in ...

Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits is already ringing in my ears just reading this post...

hamsterboy

bnt wrote: »

For those of us re-watching episodes before listening to The West Wing Weekly, we've reached a point I've been dreading: series 2 episode 21, 18th and Potomac. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that something happens that sets up a dramatic season finale next week. Wish me luck, I'm going in ...

I'm only at Take Out The Trash Day yet ..... but I am already preparing for the emotional onslaught

kearneybobs

The podcast is excellent. Not watching along but great all the same.

cjmcork

Oliver Platt on this week's one is brilliant - funny story about the Sunday night rehearsal and a debate with Aaron Sorkin about one word in the script!!!

Really hoping they get Martin Sheen on!

every time I think about starting another watch of it, bloody Mandy puts me off :-(

bnt

cjmcork wrote: »

every time I think about starting another watch of it, bloody Mandy puts me off :-(

Why? It's not like she's in it for long. She's the subject of probably my favourite moment of the pilot episode, Josh's "30-second hypothetical" to Leo:

JOSH: 30 second hypothetical: You're Lloyd Russell, newly crowned prince of the White suburban woman, the upper middle class Black man and teacher's union. You're no friend to the sitting President. What do you do?

LEO: Put together an exploratory committee.

JOSH: And who do you get to run it?

LEO: You.

JOSH: I already got a job.

LEO: For the moment.

JOSH: Who do you get?

LEO: Well, if I could get Mandy to leave 900,000 a year at Lennox-Chase, I'd get Mandy.

JOSH: You'd be smart.

LEO: [to Sam] Hey, come to think of it, you think she'd be interested in his job?

JOSH: You're in luck.

LEO: She's in town?

JOSH: Just got here today.

LEO: What she doing?

JOSH: Working for Lloyd Russell.

LEO: MARGARET! Get me Senator Russell's office on the phone!

cjmcork

started back today - skipped the first 8 eps........I've missed most of the Mandy stuff :-)

Rjd2

Thought the first two seasons were immense quality, a few dud episodes in 3 and 4 but overall solid seasons.

Season 5 is very hard work though, is this the worst of the non Sorkin seasons?

dogsears

Rjd2 wrote: »

Thought the first two seasons were immense quality, a few dud episodes in 3 and 4 but overall solid seasons.

Season 5 is very hard work though, is this the worst of the non Sorkin seasons?

YES! (apart from a few highlights e.g. The Supremes, which is very Sorkinesque).

Not sure if this has been discussed before but, did Toby really leak the information on the Space Shuttle? Or was he trying to protect CJ and/or Leo?

My own personal feeling is that Greg Brock found out somehow, not neccessarily by CJ, Toby realised all fingers were pointing at CJ and with Leo due to face the senate investigation, he decided to fall on his sword.

Thoughts?

livedadream

Toby confessed.
but never admitted it was his brother (who was dead) that gave him the classified information.

i did get a feeling after watching the episode for the millionth time that he was covering for CJ but I still think it was his brother told him and he leaked it because he was angry about his brother dying.

bnt

If anyone's rewatching along with The West Wing Weekly, the guys are coming to Dublin to record an episode, next April 11th. No word yet on which episode or whether there'll be any guests, but still: :cool:

cjmcork

I'm defo going - I went to DC during the summer and it was everything I hoped it would be - will go back again for sure - highly recommend it to any TWW fans

Jawgap

cjmcork wrote: »

I'm defo going - I went to DC during the summer and it was everything I hoped it would be - will go back again for sure - highly recommend it to any TWW fans

Excellent!!

Will likewise be going - I only hope if they are going to get 'celebrity' fans for the podcast they don't choose Ryan feckin' Tubridy - if they do someone might get a brilliant deal on my tickets!

cjmcork

they generally try to get someone associated with the show though - so hopefully it'll be someone that had input into the show - they'll possibly be into S5 by then on the show would they?

The Black Oil

Oh deadly.

And yes, please not Tubridy.

Jawgap

cjmcork wrote: »

they generally try to get someone associated with the show though - so hopefully it'll be someone that had input into the show - they'll possibly be into S5 by then on the show would they?

Clearly it should be.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL3vz5oeAfw

bnt

cjmcork wrote: »

they generally try to get someone associated with the show though - so hopefully it'll be someone that had input into the show - they'll possibly be into S5 by then on the show would they?

Well, they've had the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, which has me wondering whether Dr. Varadkar could make an appearance!

The Black Oil

It's in my podcast downloads bundle, but I haven't listened yet. TWW's composer was on Vox recently. https://www.vox.com/2017/11/8/16620524/the-west-wing-theme-song

conor_ie

So buying a ticket for this!

Agent Coulson

Well worth a trip up to the big smoke for.

hollymartins

Got tickets this morning..early Christmas present 😀

Cosmo Kramer

Tickets on sale this morning for the podcast in Dublin. Should be a good night - wonder if the guest might be someone like Lawrence O'Donnell as they'll be into season 5 by then and there may be a bit of an Irish connection there? Although they may not have a guest given the distance involved.

rebel girl 15

London one sold out within 25 minutes of it going on Facebook says check back in case more are released. Disappointed

conor_ie

Got my ticket!! Whoop!!

conor_ie

Possibility of beers before hand?!

The Black Oil

Ticket booked.

Layinghen

Got my tickets for this yesterday. Thought I would burst with excitement

Agent Coulson

Not sure about this myself.


Aaron Sorkin Suggests ‘West Wing’ Reboot With Sterling K Brown as President

Aaron Sorkin says he has a “standing offer” from NBC to reboot “The West Wing,” but the lauded screenwriter and creator of the hit show that aired from 1999 to 2006 says he has no interest in adapting the Trump White House for television.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday, the “Molly’s Game” director called the president “a really dumb guy with an observable psychiatric disorder,” and that’s not a character he’s interested in putting onscreen.


But Sorkin has kicked around ideas for a reboot, and his preferred premise involves Sterling K. Brown, the Emmy-winning star of NBC’s “This Is Us” as president.

https://www.thewrap.com/aaron-sorkin-suggests-west-wing-reboot-with-sterling-k-brown-as-the-president/

Jawgap

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Not sure about this myself.


Aaron Sorkin Suggests ‘West Wing’ Reboot With Sterling K Brown as President





https://www.thewrap.com/aaron-sorkin-suggests-west-wing-reboot-with-sterling-k-brown-as-the-president/

I think it would be perfect timing for a re-boot.

Iirc, Sorkin said previously that he conceived the idea as a 'love letter' to public service in the era of the Bush Whitehouse......

......Trump is off-the-charts in comparison to the Bush administration and the 'reaction' to that was Seasons 1-4 of the West Wing......I can only imagine what a Trump administration would trigger :D:D

It's an interesting idea - I wonder if they could do a "Newsroom" type series - in other words a West Wing responding to real events? Only not as Trump did but how a cleverer occupant of the Oval Office might have responded.

TheIrishGrover

Jawgap wrote: »

I think it would be perfect timing for a re-boot.

Iirc, Sorkin said previously that he conceived the idea as a 'love letter' to public service in the era of the Bush Whitehouse......

......Trump is off-the-charts in comparison to the Bush administration and the 'reaction' to that was Seasons 1-4 of the West Wing......I can only imagine what a Trump administration would trigger :D:D

It's an interesting idea - I wonder if they could do a "Newsroom" type series - in other words a West Wing responding to real events? Only not as Trump did but how a cleverer occupant of the Oval Office might have responded.

Not to play politics but I believe that the problem here would be that if they were to base their characters on the Trump era the characters would be very unlikeable. It would be a totally different show. More similar to The Thick of it rather than the idealised West Wing. Instead of CJ and Josh and Sam and Bartlett you would have a Spicer/Huckabee clone, multi millionaires brought in specifically to wind down/de-fang their departments. You would have to represent the back-stabbing and infighting and you would have a very polarising Trump clone.

I love The West Wing but you got to admit, it was pretty idealised version of a Democratic White House: The Democrats were all nice and pleasant and eager to do the right thing. The Republicans were mean, petty and uncaring. I was only really in the last season with Arnie that we saw another side to the Republican Party (And this was because they originally had intended Vinnick to win if they got another season. However after the show was cancelled and John Spenser died they said they may as well have Santos win. Hence the dramatic shift in the middle to let Vinnick lose support)

Jawgap

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Not to play politics but I believe that the problem here would be that if they were to base their characters on the Trump era the characters would be very unlikeable. It would be a totally different show. More similar to The Thick of it rather than the idealised West Wing. Instead of CJ and Josh and Sam and Bartlett you would have a Spicer/Huckabee clone, multi millionaires brought in specifically to wind down/de-fang their departments. You would have to represent the back-stabbing and infighting and you would have a very polarising Trump clone.

I love The West Wing but you got to admit, it was pretty idealised version of a Democratic White House: The Democrats were all nice and pleasant and eager to do the right thing. The Republicans were mean, petty and uncaring. I was only really in the last season with Arnie that we saw another side to the Republican Party (And this was because they originally had intended Vinnick to win if they got another season. However after the show was cancelled and John Spenser died they said they may as well have Santos win. Hence the dramatic shift in the middle to let Vinnick lose support)

I agree - but the point I was making was that the original WW was a reaction to the Bush administration, and yes it was very idealised.

following the logic that the Bush administration 'yielded' the initial WW series, and as matters turned out he wasn't a patch on Trump - then a Sorkhin written reaction to Trump could be epic!!!

It might be interesting to perhaps have a moderate Republican or Blue-dog Democrat in the White House - with a Democratic controlled HoC (Sam as Speaker? Charlie as 'left wing radical' in the Democratic Black Caucus? if they could be lured back).....guest appearances from CJ (talking head on some news show).....Donna (heading up some liberal think tank)......Josh chair of the DNC.....the idea is replete with possibilities......

.....but I'd imagine the chances of it happening are negligible.

TheIrishGrover

We can dream...... Maybe
https://www.theonion.com/aaron-sorkin-announces-new-west-wing-animated-series-at-1819570030

killbillvol2

Jawgap wrote: »

I agree - but the point I was making was that the original WW was a reaction to the Bush administration, and yes it was very idealised.

.

Bush didn't become president until 2001 so I'd love to know how it was a reaction? The West Wing premiered in 1999.

Jawgap

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Bush didn't become president until 2001 so I'd love to know how it was a reaction? The West Wing premiered in 1999.

Yep that's true.

I must've mis-remembered!

Agent Coulson

There was two Bush's

Bush Sr. would have been President about the time Sorkin started screenwriting his college days and after would have been under two Republican Presidents Reagan and Bush.

killbillvol2

Agent Coulson wrote: »

There was two Bush's

Bush Sr. would have been President about the time Sorkin started screenwriting his college days and after would have been under two Republican Presidents Reagan and Bush.

I've never heard it suggested that the elder Bush's presidency inspired the West Wing. I remember it - it inspired pretty much nothing.

Uriel.

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I've never heard it suggested that the elder Bush's presidency inspired the West Wing. I remember it - it inspired pretty much nothing.

It inspired desert strike

exaisle

cjmcork wrote: »

<snip> but Mary Louise Parker got on my wick........

I wish she'd get on mine....

killbillvol2

Uriel. wrote: »

It inspired desert strike

Haha. True. I was using "inspire" in a positive sense.

conor_ie

https://twitter.com/WhitfordBradley/status/936362618876436480

touts

****!!!!!!!!

I've fallen a bit behind on the podcast and didn't hear about the show in Dublin until the tickets were all gone.

Off to mass to give out and stub a cigarette into the floor!