The West Wing *Spoilers*

The Black Oil

The show lacked scenes like this in its later years, iirc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9y-Iv-Ud0E

:pac:

Kirby

It's a minor thing but was anyone else mystified at the way Martin Sheen puts on his coats and jackets? It's like, somebody sat down and said "If there is an emergency and you positively must get your coat on as quickly as possible, this is how you do it."

Maybe it was just me but I found the whole thing bizarre. I've never seen somebody do that in real life. So I looked it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFuarTK9Mw

And now I know.

don ramo

Kirby wrote: »

It's a minor thing but was anyone else mystified at the way Martin Sheen puts on his coats and jackets? It's like, somebody sat down and said "If there is an emergency and you positively must get your coat on as quickly as possible, this is how you do it."

Maybe it was just me but I found the whole thing bizarre. I've never seen somebody do that in real life. So I looked it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFuarTK9Mw

And now I know.

surprised it took ya so long, i had to check it out after probably the 3rd or 4th time he done it,

cjmcork

v sad to watch the interview with John Spencer with his fav piece from the show being the napkin - it appeared in the last scene of the show........awww

IvySlayer

Watching Season 1 when they are at the fundraiser in California, Donna sees Matthew Perry and goes off to meet him, then he gets a job at the White House in Season 5 and Donna fancies him

syklops

IvySlayer wrote: »

Watching Season 1 when they are at the fundraiser in California, Donna sees Matthew Perry and goes off to meet him, then he gets a job at the White House in Season 5 and Donna fancies him

Never noticed that before. Well done!

I really liked Matthew Perry in the West Wing. He was only in about 4 episodes but I thought more could be done with him. I wonder if he had looked like Ainsley Hayes would we have seen more of him?

don ramo

syklops wrote: »

Never noticed that before. Well done!

I really liked Matthew Perry in the West Wing. He was only in about 4 episodes but I thought more could be done with him. I wonder if he had looked like Ainsley Hayes would we have seen more of him?

id say if it wasnt for Friends we could have, i think he was in The West Wing directly after friends, it probably would have been a but much jumping from a ten year run straight into another project, same with Emily Proctor, they introduced her and seemed to be trying to develop her character and then she got a lead role on CSI Miami, but TBF to both they were both memorable characters for what little part they played, it was characters like that that made The West Wing what it was

syklops

don ramo wrote: »

id say if it wasnt for Friends we could have, i think he was in The West Wing directly after friends, it probably would have been a but much jumping from a ten year run straight into another project, same with Emily Proctor, they introduced her and seemed to be trying to develop her character and then she got a lead role on CSI Miami, but TBF to both they were both memorable characters for what little part they played, it was characters like that that made The West Wing what it was

That happened a lot in TWW. A character came in for a few episodes and made a great contribution and then left with no apparent reason. I suppose there are so many characters to tell all their stories would have been hard.

That said there were many less interesting characters, whose time on the show was mercifully brief. I didn't care much for Angela Blake and she literally disappeared with no warning. Wasn't sad to see her go. And of course there is Mandy who thankfully left with no warning when Season two returned. I wonder whatever happened to John Paul. What was all that stuff about him being French Royalty?

intellectual dosser

syklops wrote: »

I really liked Matthew Perry in the West Wing. He was only in about 4 episodes but I thought more could be done with him. I wonder if he had looked like Ainsley Hayes would we have seen more of him?

Josh Lyman: "If you're a Republican, you damn well better look like Ainsley Hayes."

ambid

syklops wrote: »

That happened a lot in TWW. A character came in for a few episodes and made a great contribution and then left with no apparent reason. I suppose there are so many characters to tell all their stories would have been hard.

It's a shame the new joint chief Gen. Alexander didn't get more stories as he would have been good. He was played by Terry O'Quinn who got his big gig in Lost at the same time. I wish we'd seen more of Nancy McNally as National Security Advisor too, she was brilliant.

syklops wrote: »

That said there were many less interesting characters, whose time on the show was mercifully brief. I didn't care much for Angela Blake and she literally disappeared with no warning. Wasn't sad to see her go. And of course there is Mandy who thankfully left with no warning when Season two returned. I wonder whatever happened to John Paul. What was all that stuff about him being French Royalty?

I hated the character of Lord John Marbury who was UK ambassador. Such a clichéd and stereotypical character and most unlike the West Wing.

syklops

ambid wrote: »

I hated the character of Lord John Marbury who was UK ambassador. Such a clichéd and stereotypical character and most unlike the West Wing.

"You're really going to let him loose in the Whitehouse where there are women and booze?"

I liked Lord John. You have to be cliche'd and stereotypical to get a job in the Foreign service.

IvySlayer

I like Lord John too, but the British Ambassador complimenting the first lady on her breasts and the President within earshot?

Although I think Season 6 and 7 were good, the campaign bits were brilliant. The White House staff bothered me, it was mainly just CJ and Toby. How could they possibly run it without more people? There wasn't even a dedicated Press Secretary most of the time. How did Toby manage to be Communications Director and Press Secretary with no assistant either

Annabeth and Will helped run the campaigns, CJ got that Cliff dude as Deputy, is all I can remember right now.

The Black Oil

I need numbers, Tonto!

Ah, Josh and Joey..

IvySlayer

The Black Oil wrote: »

I need numbers, Tonto!

Ah, Josh and Joey..

Always skip through Josh and Joey scenes now, West Wing romances couldn't give a fcuk about :pac:

The Black Oil

Hah. Well, I think it's a very positive portrayal of a disabled/Deaf person, a competent one at that, which isn't seen very often in fictional TV. At least not back in the day.

syklops

The Black Oil wrote: »

Hah. Well, I think it's a very positive portrayal of a disabled/Deaf person, a competent one at that, which isn't seen very often in fictional TV. At least not back in the day.

Sue Thomas FB Eye and Joey Lucas are the only deaf characters in fictional TV I can think of. I'm trying to think of a blind character and short of Al Pacinos character in Scent of a Woman, I'm coming up short.

The Black Oil

There was a blind character in Early Edition...I think. Kyle Chandler was the lead, but I can't recall much about the other character.

yermandan

I've had the most surreal experience. My buddy lives in LA and he is friends with Kim Webster who played Toby's assistant Ginger in TWW. He got her to send me a birthday message last week and she's been telling me behind the scenes stories ever since!! Here's one:

'hahaha well I love funny stories whether they involve Aaron or not. Off the top of my head, here's kinda of an out of character story about Richard Schiff (Toby). We were filming In Excelesis Deo and it was basically my first real scene as Ginger. I'd done a couple of previous episodes but I hadn't been given a name yet so I had those new girl jitters. I think it's the opening scene (before the teaser) where I flag down Toby, Sam & CJ in the Roosevelt Room to tell Toby the police are on the phone and they wanted to speak to him. Well, it had been a loooooooong shoot day. Probably about 18 hours or more and we're trying to bust out this scene and Richard Schiff, who is pretty similar to Toby in the sense that he's a serious guy - there's not a lot of laughter with him esp when he's working because he's very serious about his craft, well he gets this crazy case of the giggles. The kinda of inappropriate giggles that you get in church or at a funeral....the totally wrong time to laugh. And he's not just cracking up, he's full on giggling like a school girl. And I'm new so I'm trying not to crack up myself because I don't want to cause the production any more money because the crew was exhausted & we were hemorrhaging cash in OT costs. And Rob Lowe & Allison Janney are just looking at Richard like WTF is wrong with you except his laughter is totally contagious. I can't even tell ya how many takes we did of that scene but it was obnoxious but it was something I'd never forget. I don't think I ever saw him like that again but it was pretty cool to see that side of him'

kearneybobs

The Black Oil wrote: »

There was a blind character in Early Edition...I think. Kyle Chandler was the lead, but I can't recall much about the other character.

You're right. Fisher Stephens as his hapless sidekick as well as a blind woman.

syklops

yermandan wrote: »

I've had the most surreal experience. My buddy lives in LA and he is friends with Kim Webster who played Toby's assistant Ginger in TWW. He got her to send me a birthday message last week and she's been telling me behind the scenes stories ever since!! Here's one:

'hahaha well I love funny stories whether they involve Aaron or not. Off the top of my head, here's kinda of an out of character story about Richard Schiff (Toby). We were filming In Excelesis Deo and it was basically my first real scene as Ginger. I'd done a couple of previous episodes but I hadn't been given a name yet so I had those new girl jitters. I think it's the opening scene (before the teaser) where I flag down Toby, Sam & CJ in the Roosevelt Room to tell Toby the police are on the phone and they wanted to speak to him. Well, it had been a loooooooong shoot day. Probably about 18 hours or more and we're trying to bust out this scene and Richard Schiff, who is pretty similar to Toby in the sense that he's a serious guy - there's not a lot of laughter with him esp when he's working because he's very serious about his craft, well he gets this crazy case of the giggles. The kinda of inappropriate giggles that you get in church or at a funeral....the totally wrong time to laugh. And he's not just cracking up, he's full on giggling like a school girl. And I'm new so I'm trying not to crack up myself because I don't want to cause the production any more money because the crew was exhausted & we were hemorrhaging cash in OT costs. And Rob Lowe & Allison Janney are just looking at Richard like WTF is wrong with you except his laughter is totally contagious. I can't even tell ya how many takes we did of that scene but it was obnoxious but it was something I'd never forget. I don't think I ever saw him like that again but it was pretty cool to see that side of him'

Thats awesome. I always liked Ginger. And not just because of the way she looks.

cjmcork

with sweet FA on the TV for the past few months, I started back a few months ago - on the second half of the last season now, I honestly think S5 & S6 don't actually deserve the bad press they got (including from myself) -

Leo has just been found unconscious in his hotel room - makes me sad every single time

I've watched The Wire and lots of other 'best tv shows ever' over the past 2 or 3 years and honest to god, I think Breaking Bad is the only one that comes close and I've not had the urge to re-watch that at all yet, I must be on re-watch 9 or 10 at this stage of TWW..........sad or what!

Kirby

cjmcork wrote: »

I've watched The Wire and lots of other 'best tv shows ever' over the past 2 or 3 years and honest to god, I think Breaking Bad is the only one that comes close and I've not had the urge to re-watch that at all yet, I must be on re-watch 9 or 10 at this stage of TWW..........sad or what!

I've rewatched Breaking Bad recently. It's just as good the second time round. There are very few duds there.....everything is done for a reason.

Conversely, I rewatched the Walking Dead with my parents as they were both getting into it and it doesn't stand up nearly as well upon second viewing. The Walking Dead relies a lot more on tension because it's not as clever. And when you know what happens....the tension is gone. Some parts are torturous. Most of season 1 is fine but a lot of season 2 is very dull to watch again. Knowing that

Sophia is in the barn

doesn't make you appreciate the twist......it makes all the fooling around they do even worse.

As somebody who watched the west wing fairly recently, within the last six months, I'm not sure how I'd feel watching it again. There was a lot of storylines that went nowhere, especially relationship stuff. I think I'd have to wait a few years. For now, I more enjoy watching clips of the shows best bits on youtube. :P

I found season 5 a bit of a drag....but I'd also echo your sentiments regarding season 6 and 7. There were excellent in my eyes. The election stuff was very interesting to me and I'd always be irritated when they would cut away from the campaign trail and go back to CJ sitting in the white house.

IvySlayer

CJ was meh in the later seasons. Much better as press secretary. Josh, Santos and Vinick made 6 and 7.

Tipsy McSwagger

I'm fast forwarding any scenes with Mary Louise Parker in them, a truly horrible character/actress.

Uriel.

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I'm fast forwarding any scenes with Mary Louise Parker in them, a truly horrible character/actress.

Admittedly her character was a bitch but I like MLP and she's well hot

Uriel.

Uriel. wrote: »

Admittedly her character was a bitch but I like MLP and she's well hot

Any one ever seen weeds? Hate her character in that!

SarahBM

I actually liked her in the West Wing, cant stand her in anything else really.

Sam was my fav character. was gutted when he left.

Uriel.

Van Millions Vent wrote: »

Any one ever seen weeds? Hate her character in that!

i saw a couple of episodes but don't remember it well enough to have an opinion on the character. I liked her very weird character though in "Angels in America" which was a great show.

ambid

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I'm fast forwarding any scenes with Mary Louise Parker in them, a truly horrible character/actress.

I'd have preferred her to replace Sam Seabourne instead of Will Bailey, as I thought he was a very dull character indeed.

SarahBM

ambid wrote: »

I'd have preferred her to replace Sam Seabourne instead of Will Bailey, as I thought he was a very dull character indeed.

Will was a bit boring until he started going out with Kate. I really liked Kate's character, felt like she didnt have enough time to develop properly. if only we could have had more episodes in each series to explore all the guest characters we loved so much. Oliver Platt's character was gas, loved him too.

The Black Oil

I don't mind Kate, or Will, but iirc, they started having Kate weigh in on more political decisions when that wasn't really her role and just didn't make much sense.

I don't mind Amy, either. Weeds...I didn't care for at all.

IvySlayer

SarahBM wrote: »

Will was a bit boring until he started going out with Kate. I really liked Kate's character, felt like she didnt have enough time to develop properly. if only we could have had more episodes in each series to explore all the guest characters we loved so much. Oliver Platt's character was gas, loved him too.

But then, they wouldn't of had time to develop Ryan Pierce, a far important character :pac:

I liked Will at first but then he started to annoy me, he was very whiney and not really very funny with his comments.

Kate was good but I doubt a deputy national security advisor would have much input into politics at the White House.

I just wanted to shout things at Amy. She says men should have no opinions on abortion cos they have no reproduction systems....err they do She also thinks only men are violent and abuse children...she' so...urgh....:mad:

Faith

I've already started rewatching The West Wing. The minute I finished it the first time, I just wanted to start again. I made myself wait a couple of months, and it's SO good to be watching it again

WesternNight

Faith wrote: »

I've already started rewatching The West Wing. The minute I finished it the first time, I just wanted to start again. I made myself wait a couple of months, and it's SO good to be watching it again

If you want something to distract you in between re-watches, try ER. There's loads of West Wing people who guest starred in that. Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Alan Alda, Kathryn Joosten, Marlee Matlin, Mary McCormack... loads!

Faith

WesternNight wrote: »

If you want something to distract you in between re-watches, try ER. There's loads of West Wing people who guest starred in that. Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Alan Alda, Kathryn Joosten, Marlee Matlin, Mary McCormack... loads!

Not a bad idea! I did watch The Good Wife between it, but I got distracted halfway through season 3 when we moved house and I never got back to it.

WesternNight

WesternNight wrote: »

If you want something to distract you in between re-watches, try ER. There's loads of West Wing people who guest starred in that. Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Alan Alda, Kathryn Joosten, Marlee Matlin, Mary McCormack... loads!

I've started that from the start recently actually, it's so so good, il have to skip the parts where mark gets sick as I don't think I can go through that again

I rewatch west wing every nov, it's a depressing month so ww fits in perfectly!!! I think I get more upset bout Leo with every watch!

kerry4sam

WesternNight wrote: »

If you want something to distract you in between re-watches, try ER. There's loads of West Wing people who guest starred in that. Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Alan Alda, Kathryn Joosten, Marlee Matlin, Mary McCormack... loads!

I actually caught a few episodes recently with the young Anthony Edwards; Noah Wyles & George Clooney; yes it passed my evening quite nicely with a cuppa tae!

Enjoyable watching auld classics like them again.

IvySlayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYUGAXwMuA4

Oh god.....

Singer73

Send him to hell just for that....jeebusss

WesternNight

Jesus. Desperate is right. Had to stop at 45 seconds, or Josh would be ruined for me forever.

SarahBM

ya, and Tom Cruise can join him there. I could only watch about 40 seconds of that clip. awful!
It amazes me that they never bother to get Irish actors with real Irish accents to play these parts.

The Black Oil

Tempted to start watching it again, but I know how addictive it is...

cjmcork

Give Scandal a bash - am just watching now - it's like a WW recycling centre!

don ramo

The Black Oil wrote: »

Tempted to start watching it again, but I know how addictive it is...

i keep wanting to re-watch it, but there is just to much stuff out there to watch, i just dont have time to get through that and re-watch TWW even though it is my favorite show ever, one day ill get back to it and sure the longer i wait the better it will be:)

kerry4sam

The Black Oil wrote: »

Tempted to start watching it again, but I know how addictive it is...

For the umpteenth time I am re-watching and back on Season #3 again

The Black Oil

don ramo wrote: »

i keep wanting to re-watch it, but there is just to much stuff out there to watch, i just dont have time to get through that and re-watch TWW even though it is my favorite show ever, one day ill get back to it and sure the longer i wait the better it will be:)

Same, really. I've to finish Twin Peaks and watch some more Spiral. Keeping Homeland, NCIS and Supernatural ticking over, too. I miss tWW folks, though.

intellectual dosser

I find that once you've watched it, it's a show where you can put on a random episode and enjoy. The intro at the start will bring you up to speed on where the story is at. I always find myself leaning towards Series 1-4 (Sorkin).

Faith

I'm rewatching it. I raced through seasons 1 and 2, but since about the start of September I was incredibly busy so I'm only watching an episode a fortnight or so at the moment. I miss it! I think I'll watch another episode today.

IvySlayer

The episode about AIDS and pharmaceutical companies

Toby: A drug they gotta buy from us for four dollars a unit they can get generic in Pakistan for forty cents
CJ: That's not the only bargain in Pakistan, Toby, My girlfriends and I go for the spring fashions!
Toby: It shows

OHHH SNAPPPP

The Black Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbx5SbJqsSc

A favourite scene due to Josh's reaction to the coffee. :pac: