# The West Wing Remembered **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484 "2007-12-18T18:55:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/1 "2007-12-18T18:55:37Z")
I have been meaning to start this thread for a few days, since somone posted a link to a West Wing episode in reponse to a question of what a “filibuster” was all about (different message board). [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448207) prompted me to go ahead with it. I ended up spending a couple of hours following the links in YouTube and reliving all the greatness of this show. It wasn’t just the dialogue, it was the sets, the locations, the photography, the cast, and the running side stories. I look at what is on broadcast and non-premium TV today and it is hard to believe that only a few years ago we had something of this quality coming to our homes for free every week. Yes, it had its bad moments, and it floundered for a season or two after Sorkin left, and it was preachy-left quite a few times, but it was at the same time patriotic and proud. I’ll post a clip that probably doesn’t rate in the top 50 of great moments on the show, but that just goes to show how good this series really was. [The Presidential Debate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyqzPu5pX6U) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/2 "2007-12-18T19:51:22Z")
I recently finished watching all 7 seasons thru Netflix, and I was sad when it was over. It really was a great show. Thanks for linking that clip - that tie scene was great. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/3 "2007-12-18T19:52:29Z")
How about this: [“In Excelsis Deo”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlPSXuJFDQ) - the best Christmas episode of any series EVER, IMHO. I’ve seen it probably a half dozen times, and get a lump in my throat every time. The way Toby and mrs. Landingham flinch at the gunshots is brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/4 "2007-12-18T19:59:37Z")
It was an okay show. If they had any balls at all, they would have had Alan Alda win. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/5 "2007-12-18T20:02:30Z")
Aw. T’was a fun show. I’ve been remembering bits and pieces of it, recently… one of my fellow WGA Strike Captains was one of their writers. She rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/6 "2007-12-18T20:04:44Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] [“In Excelsis Deo”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlPSXuJFDQ) - the best Christmas episode of any series EVER, IMHO. [/QUOTE] Oh yes. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/7 "2007-12-18T20:12:52Z")
My wife’s been picking them up from work (public library) and we’ve been watching them for the first time over the past couple of months. Sometimes the dialogue can be exhausting-- and a little too “cute,” especially involving Josh. But overall, it’s an enjoyable show. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/8 "2007-12-18T20:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] How about this: [“In Excelsis Deo”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlPSXuJFDQ) - the best Christmas episode of any series EVER, IMHO. I’ve seen it probably a half dozen times, and get a lump in my throat every time. The way Toby and mrs. Landingham flinch at the gunshots is brilliant. [/QUOTE] Yes, but that’s because Christmas episodes are usually bound to be sappy. This is probably the only one that works. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/9 "2007-12-18T20:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] It was an okay show. If they had any balls at all, they would have had Alan Alda win. [/QUOTE] That was the plan, originally, but after John Spencer (Leo) died, the producers decided it would be too mean. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/10 "2007-12-18T20:35:10Z")
[Galileo V](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TkzLnUNeVo&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/11 "2007-12-18T20:54:57Z")
I loved The West Wing-- though I stopped watching after Sorkin left. I have a very close friend who is a recovering alcoholic, and they did a very good job of portraying Leo’s addiction/alcoholism (and the way normies react to it-- the ep about the presidential debate where he gets drunk after having just one with some fundraisers). He has a line about not understanding how you could have a drink and not want more. I also loved the scene where Charlie tells Leo that Mrs. Landingham is dead. I’ve noticed that in most movies/TV shows they tend to do “bad news reaction shots” from a distance-- perhaps because it’s hard to get right as an actor. But they kept the camera still and on John Spencer’s face for like a full minute and you could see it sink in and him realizing what it meant. I remember thinking how awesome John Spencer was. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/12 "2007-12-18T20:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Obsidian] I remember thinking how awesome John Spencer was. [/QUOTE] Yes, he was that. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/13 "2007-12-18T21:05:44Z")
It should be noted that Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay for _Charlie Wilson’s War_, with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (directed by Mike Nichols), so here’s hoping a little of that _WW_ magic is there. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/14 "2007-12-18T21:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] How about this: [“In Excelsis Deo”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlPSXuJFDQ) - the best Christmas episode of any series EVER, IMHO. I’ve seen it probably a half dozen times, and get a lump in my throat every time. The way Toby and mrs. Landingham flinch at the gunshots is brilliant. [/QUOTE] Here’s a longer clip that splices the thread about the veteran into one. Love the scene with Toby and Bartlett. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SfOfUtkbiHQ/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/SfOfUtkbiHQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque One of the better episodes of any show. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/15 "2007-12-18T21:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=Obsidian] I’ve noticed that in most movies/TV shows they tend to do “bad news reaction shots” from a distance-- perhaps because it’s hard to get right as an actor. But they kept the camera still and on John Spencer’s face for like a full minute and you could see it sink in and him realizing what it meant. I remember thinking how awesome John Spencer was. [/QUOTE] I read somewhere that in the West Wing productions they often would “spring” news on actors, to get a better effect. So they said to the Donna character, “Bradley was shot,” [using the actor’s name] without her knowing about the script. I don’t know how true it is, though. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/16 "2007-12-18T21:27:29Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] It should be noted that Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay for _Charlie Wilson’s War_, with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (directed by Mike Nichols), so here’s hoping a little of that _WW_ magic is there. [/QUOTE] I hadn’t realized that. I enjoyed the trailers for that movie and was planning on seeing it, but that just moved it directly to the top of the list with giant stars next to it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/17 "2007-12-18T21:45:06Z")
I knew I was going to like this show from the first episode, when the first time we see President Josiah Bartlett he is entering a room saying, “I am the Lord thy God, thou shall have no other gods before me.” The line was perfectly set up, it established his character\*, and Martin Sheen delivered it with what I can only describe as “casual pomposity”. \*I don’t mean that Bartlett thought he was God, or that anyone in the show thought he was. It was the way he used it to get the attention of everyone in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/18 "2007-12-18T21:45:29Z")
It was by far one of my favorite shows of all time. I loved the optimism as well as the feeling they were doing and could do, something good. A phenomenal cast, great writing and a great ability to make things like religious tolerance, racism, addiction and fear understandable, if not understandable, copable. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/19 "2007-12-18T21:52:05Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] “I am the Lord thy God, thou shall have no other gods before me.” [/QUOTE] I dunno, “Get your fat ass out of my White House” is surely a close second. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484/20 "2007-12-18T21:58:01Z")
I like reading the TWoP recaps. I think the scene where Bartlet curses God in Latin in the cathedral is one of the most chilling moments in dramatic television. You don’t need to know what he’s saying…but you KNOW what he’s saying. :eek: I think TWoP describes it as close as you’re going to get to Shakespeare on network tv. Such good TV…if only Sorkin could have carried on with\*\* Studio 60\*\*… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-west-wing-remembered/430484.md?page=2)