# Geez, you miss ONE flippin episode of The West Wing... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869 "2004-12-09T03:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/21 "2004-12-09T21:17:16Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > For instance, the Camp David talks episode was really weak, in my opinion. Bartlett seemed not to possess his typical intelligence and insight. He seemed to be stunned and stumped at the intransigence of both sides. No movement towards a resolution was achieved until right at the end, in one Velma from Scooby Doo/Wesley Crusher moment, one of the new characters has an “aha” idea that saves the day. Meanwhile the chief of staff gets fired and wanders off unnoticed and forgotten to have a heart attack in the woods. Bullshit!. Wow, you’d _really_ hate last night’s episode then. Let’s just say Barlett is doing an FDR imitation now, and leave it at that. > [@ivylass](#): > > I think that’s where they’re going with the “Who’s going to run on the Democratic ticket” plotline…Josh is obviously going to jump ship to run someone’s campaign. The only question is who is going to be blessed with Josh’s presence. It’s been pretty much set that Hoynes would have won if Josh hadn’t left to help run Bartlet’s campaign. I agree. Until Josh told Will that he did care about who the next President would be, and he didn’t want it to be Russell, there was the chance that he’d continue with those in power. “There’s no one that can beat him (Vinick).” - Leo to Josh, means that someone else not currently in contention has to emerge - and that’s Santos. Hoynes can’t cut it against a campaign with Josh in it a second time. Of course, all of this is moot if NBC doesn’t renew the series for next season. And if the show does, and Sheen doesn’t (I don’t think he’s yet signed for the necessary shows he’d need to be on to make the transition to the next administration), then Russell _will_ get to be President, if only for a few months. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/22 "2004-12-10T15:20:38Z")
Why all the animosity toward CJ? Josh is talented and effective, But Leo probably perceived that his overt idealism might weigh down the administration’s bipartisan efforts. And I like Toby, I really do, but he’s a basketcase. He has never been onscreen when he didn’t look like he was about to burst into tears. CJ is unfailingly practical, and she’s kept her head on straight in all kinds of crazy situations. She may not have the experience the others do, but they all had pros and cons. I’m just saying I don’t think she was such an implausible choice. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/23 "2004-12-10T15:46:26Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Why all the animosity toward CJ? Josh is talented and effective, But Leo probably perceived that his overt idealism might weigh down the administration’s bipartisan efforts. And I like Toby, I really do, but he’s a basketcase. He has never been onscreen when he didn’t look like he was about to burst into tears. CJ is unfailingly practical, and she’s kept her head on straight in all kinds of crazy situations. **She may not have the experience the others do** , but they all had pros and cons. I’m just saying I don’t think she was such an implausible choice. Bingo. She’s the friggin’ Chief of Staff! A position that requires encyclopedic knowledge of all possible policy aspects, and the ability to communicate them to the President on a daily basis. In other words, \*exactly \* what Josh has been doing for his entire career. CJ was a PR agent for a publicity firm before beginning politics (and Bartlet was her first foray in the field)!! ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/24 "2004-12-10T16:13:31Z")
Why did Leo get fired? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/25 "2004-12-10T16:18:41Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Why did Leo get fired? It was during the mid-east peace talks. He disagreed with the President on his non-use of immediate military force, couldn’t reconcile that difference and was forced to resign. Then he had a heart attack in the woods where nobody saw him. (Is it even possible to get lost in the woods around Camp David? Wouldn’t that place be swarming with Army Rangers at all times during a summit meeting?) ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/26 "2004-12-10T17:18:43Z")
My wife told me that a commercial shown last night for next week’s West Wing hyped something about an asteroid heading for the Earth? WTF? I half expect that Keanu Reeves is going to be a guest star. “Mr. President, we have to get out of here. Now!” Remember when they used to do cool things like have a subplot about some annoying cartographers with a crazy complaint about the way countries are represented on world maps, and in the end it turns out that they have a really good point that is pretty cool to learn about? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/27 "2004-12-10T17:23:20Z")
My wife told me last night that they had a commercial on for next week’s West Wing that hyped an asteroid heading for Earth. WTF? I half expect Keanu Reeves to be a guest star. “Mr. President, we have to get out of here. Now!” Remember when they used to do things like have a subplot about a bunch of annoying cartographers with a crazy complaint about how countries are represented on the world map. In the end, it turns out that they have a point, and you learn some really cool bit of information? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/28 "2004-12-10T17:24:40Z")
Sorry about that. I got an “invalid thread specification” error box. I wish I hadn’t wasted all that time rewriting it. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/29 "2004-12-10T17:31:01Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > My wife told me last night that they had a commercial on for next week’s West Wing that hyped an asteroid heading for Earth. WTF? I half expect Keanu Reeves to be a guest star. > > “Mr. President, we have to get out of here. Now!” > > Remember when they used to do things like have a subplot about a bunch of annoying cartographers with a crazy complaint about how countries are represented on the world map. In the end, it turns out that they have a point, and you learn some really cool bit of information? Oh, I forgot all about the asteroid. Maybe that’s how they’re going to end the run of the show. “Well, since the Earth has been smoted by God, the point of an administration after Barlett is now moot.” And I really liked the cartographer epsidoe, on one of the “Big Wedge Of Cheese” days. They definitely need to bring back something like that. Now, as for Josh and Donnatella, why is she chasing him like that? I mean, we’ve seen no evidence that he’s even interested in her now that she’s not in critical condition in a German hospital. He’s treating her like he always has, taking her for granted and ignoring her needs. I say let him go looooooooooove Santos - she’s too good for Josh! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/30 "2004-12-10T17:34:32Z")
A major problem the writers are having is that the characters are supposedly breaking up professionally but the writers still need to bring them together in the series. They’ve had Will having to implausibly drop by every week to say “As you know, I work for the Vice President, and this is what he thinks. Why he keeps sending me here to say these things instead of coming himself is something that will require an increasing suspension of your disbelief.” Now we’ve got Leo who’s retired but still drops by for a visit on a regular basis. Soon we’ll have Josh (and maybe Donna) working in Texas but flying up to Washington every week for some airtime on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/31 "2004-12-10T18:04:38Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > And I really liked the cartographer epsidoe, on one of the “Big Wedge Of Cheese” days. They definitely need to bring back something like that. “Block” of cheese. Big Block of Cheese Day, in a reference to the days of Jefferson and his big block of cheese days. Great episodes those were. > [@](#): > > Oh, I forgot all about the asteroid. Maybe that’s how they’re going to end the run of the show. > “Well, since the Earth has been smoted by God, the point of an administration after Barlett is now moot.” Gotta admit, that’d be a sweet way to do it. Just an ordinary Big Block of Cheese Day episode, with one of the minor plots being some lunatic astronomer (best played by Brent Spiner), ranting and raving about the End of the World[sup]TM[/sup], and being dragged off by MPs. Then, with 10 minutes left to go in the episode, BOOM! ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/32 "2004-12-10T18:10:19Z")
I’d just like to declare right now that I am voting for Alan Alda. 🙂 In fact, I’ll volunteer to be his campaign manager. (Especially when his opponent is going to be Otter, Bobby Simone, or Mr. Brady – although sadly, not Al Bundy). Also, it looked to me from the preview like the asteroid story _was_ going to be another crazy cartographers story. Did you see the guy who was telling Josh about the asteroid? Clearly the same type of expert/scientist that they’ve had fun with in the past (the penny guy, the UFO guy, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/33 "2004-12-10T19:25:40Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > “Block” of cheese. Big Block of Cheese Day, in a reference to the days of Jefferson and his big block of cheese days. Great episodes those were. Actually, that’s Jackson and his big block of cheese. And those were great episodes. The cartographers showed up during “Somebody’s Going to Emergency Somebody’s Going to Jail” and the job Rob Lowe did as Sam coming to terms with some of his basic beliefs being shattered was amazing. Internal conflict vs. asteroids… which makes less cheesy TV. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/34 "2004-12-10T19:50:49Z")
Most likely, some astronomer guy will _try_ to freak out a staffer by announcing the existence of an asteroid which will destroy Earth… possibly, in 2145. He’ll spill a lot of factoids about the dinosaur extinction and whatnot and try to get Federal funding for an asteroid-tracking program. It’ll put all this partisan squabbling in perspective if there’s something out there which could casually wipe out humanity without warning. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/35 "2004-12-10T20:20:56Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > My wife told me last night that they had a commercial on for next week’s West Wing that hyped an asteroid heading for Earth. WTF? Yeah, I did a little :rolleyes: at that too. Didn’t we already cover this, when Donna got a memo from NASA about an impending asteroid and she interrupted CJ’s meeting with Oliver Platt to warn her about it? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/36 "2004-12-10T20:23:14Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > My wife told me last night that they had a commercial on for next week’s West Wing Sorry, one more minor nitpick…what your wife saw was a _promo_, not a commercial. ivylass, who’s worked in broadcasting most of her career ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/37 "2004-12-10T21:07:17Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Sorry, one more minor nitpick…what your wife saw was a _promo_, not a commercial. > > ivylass, who’s worked in broadcasting most of her career Any errors in the description of the events contained within that work are entirely my own. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869/38 "2004-12-10T21:47:20Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Yeah, I did a little :rolleyes: at that too. Didn’t we already cover this, when Donna got a memo from NASA about an impending asteroid and she interrupted CJ’s meeting with Oliver Platt to warn her about it? Nah. That was a satellite, and one of those fall to Earth every week or so. Josh just let her run around like Chicken Little to break up a tense day at the office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-you-miss-one-flippin-episode-of-the-west-wing/278869.md?page=1)