The West Wing in the Media

[halopub]

It's not the most dynamic show, but I think I Am The Ambassador reflected well on the State Department and civil service employees. 

• The Atlantic: Big in Denmark: The U.S. Ambassador
• The Murmur: A most modern ambassador prepares his goodbyes

[SingleMaltBlonde]

Saw this this morning...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-west-wing-character-finally-gets-the-movie-he-deserves_us_58b56eafe4b0a8a9b78613a4

[Artsda]

I loved that.

[Melancholy]

The Decider came up with their Top 10 Jed Bartlet eps. A Herculean task but I really think this Top 10 list makes sense. I think I'd just sub Impact Winter or Shutdown or Hartsfield Landing instead of Night Five. 

[AriAu]

Quote

The Decider came up with their Top 10 Jed Bartlet eps.

Pretty solid list, especially so many of the early ones-not bad for a character that was supposed to be a background player that showed up "from time to time".

I would throw ITSOTG on the list and, hell, now I will spend the rest of the day debating this in my mind

[twinkietwin94]

I'm afraid to even look at the list bc I know just how much time I'd spend thinking about it

[Moose135]

Hard to argue with that list.

[Guest]

I don't think I would put Night Five on that list. I don't really like that episode. I'm not sure what I would replace it with, but it wouldn't make the list at all for me. 

I'm not sure I would put Tomorrow on it either, but I've only seen Tomorrow once, so maybe it was better than I'm remembering.

[Melancholy]

The same publication that did the Top 10 Jed Bartlet list did A top 10 CJ Cregg ep list. Appreciate the effort but I agreed less than with the Jed Bartlet list. I'd definitely replace Six Meetings Before Lunch with The Stackhouse Filibuster. Probably Privateers with The Fall is Gonna Kill You. For her S7 conclusion, I liked Internal Displacement more than Institutional Memory.

The "honorable mentions" listed were also good contenders, especially Galileo and The US Poet Laureate. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Melancholy

[AriAu]

Quote

The same publication that did the Top 10 Jed Bartlet list did A top 10 CJ Cregg ep list. Appreciate the effort but I agreed less than with the Jed Bartlet list. I'd definitely replace Six Meetings Before Lunch with The Stackhouse Filibuster. Probably Privateers with The Fall is Gonna Kill You. For her S7 conclusion, I liked Internal Displacement more than Institutional Memory. 

"and the chemical equation for table salt is NaCl"-made me smile.

Any list that does not include her falling in the pool and telling Toby "avert your eyes" is not a good enough list! But I do agree that The Jackal is over-rated-Leo's reaction to her doing the Jackal-under-rated. YMMV

[betsyboo]

On 4/4/2017 at 6:11 PM, AriAu said:

Pretty solid list, especially so many of the early ones-not bad for a character that was supposed to be a background player that showed up "from time to time".

I would throw ITSOTG on the list and, hell, now I will spend the rest of the day debating this in my mind

Yup - replace Night Five with ITSOTG and it's gold! (HM: Shibboleth)

[Artsda]

‘West Wing’ Alum Dule Hill Gets Engaged to Girlfriend Jazmyn Simon

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/west-wing-alum-dule-hill-gets-engaged-to-girlfriend-jazmyn-simon-w478086

[UYI]

I think you guys will like this. There's not much WW talk here, but there's some, related to her playing a White House Press Secretary, and how she was compared to the current one.

And I never realized until they showed a still of her in her current play--where she has blonde hair--how much she resembles Kathleen Turner (again, of course, when she's actually blonde). Even the voice is similar! 

Edited April 25, 2017 by UYI

[SingleMaltBlonde]

I can't be the only one who heard the news about how the current Administration is trying to kill the Antiquities Act this morning, was I?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Alison Janney brought back C.J. Cregg for Samantha Bee's "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner" last night

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/allison-janney-reprises-c-j-cregg-role-open-samantha-bees-not-white-house-correspondents-dinner-998788

And the writing was classic C.J. -- "teen wearing your father's suit, you must be from Breitbart", "I'll take a Skype question because I guess that's a thing now", and when describing the sketchy/questionable news media represented in the briefing room "you are the dregs of a free society -- we have to let you exist, but we do not have to listen to you".

[betsyboo]

Yes!! Agreed on all counts!!! 

Quote

TVLine:

Why CBS' Madam Secretary Will Fill the West Wing-Shaped Hole in Your Heart

By Kimberly Roots / May 8 2017, 2:12 PM PDT

In college, I used to roll my eyes when my good friend, Courtney, welled up while watching NBC’s critically acclaimed White House drama The West Wing.

“Are you crying because something happened, or are you just crying because of America?” I’d ask sarcastically. I was a casual viewer, and usually hadn’t paid much attention to what President Bartlet and his team were up to on any given week.

“America!” she’d respond, dabbing at her eyes and laughing. I laughed, too, because — even while in the thrall of a brilliantly written, expertly acted TV series — who gets all sappy over political footballs like healthcare and the national debt ceiling?

Cut to 16 years later. This past Sunday night, in fact. Witness me trying to hold it together while Madam Secretary‘s Elizabeth McCord watched a wrongly imprisoned, recently freed American journalist reconnect with his family for the first time in years.

Who cries at uplifting political dramas? In this age of Muslim bans, Mexican walls and pregnancy as a pre-existing condition, I do.

All I can say is: Thank goodness for the CBS drama, which has picked up The West Wing‘s mantle of believing in the best parts of American exceptionalism. Téa Leoni’s character, the titular government official, is a smart and savvy — and above all, not jaded — believer in the good that her country can do in the world. And she fuels my hope that I can feel that way about the United States, too, even though my national pride has taken a beating in the last year or so.

If you’ve never seen an episode of the series, now in its third season, let me quickly fill you in. Elizabeth is a former CIA analyst and college professor who reluctantly accepted the Secretary of State gig when her former colleague, Conrad Dalton, needed her to. She’s married to Tim Daly’s Henry, himself a religion-and-philosophy professor who now works with the National Security Agency.

As I’ve said before (and as recently as earlier today), I could fill a dossier with how much I love Mr. and Mrs. McCord’s mature, sexy, intelligent, respectful, fun on-screen relationship and the way they raise their three kids. But for the sake of my argument, let’s just focus on this: Elizabeth and Henry are morally and ethically upright creatures who struggle mightily with some of the planet’s toughest problems yet somehow make the right decisions when it matters most.

And when Elizabeth has to deal with a power-hungry Russian president… or figure out who stole uranium in Eastern Europe… or weigh how schooling the newly elected leader of an Asian country for his misogynistic tendencies will affect his participation in an important treaty… or — as she did in Sunday’s episode — track down the country really responsible for an ailing reporter’s unjust incarceration, you can rest easy in the notion that she’s doing so in a way that’s good for the American people as well as forAmerica as a whole.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Elizabeth’s staff, who — like West Wing‘s Sam Seaborn & Co. — frequently do the heavy lifting and detailed legwork for whatever international crisis or diplomatic quandary comes her way. They are sharp, dedicated workaholics (played by Erich Bergen, Patina Miller, Sebastian Arcelus, Geoffrey Arend and Bebe Neuwirth) who are so good at their jobs because they care so damn much. It’s inspiring.

Sec. McCord’s support team also often bears the burden of the primetime drama’s less-believable storylines; Miller’s Daisy, for instance, is now pregnant thanks to a fledgling relationship with an undercover CIA agent who was murdered before their romance really got underway. Absurd? Kinda. But the performances are so good — Elizabeth’s reassuring reaction to her press coordinator’s impending motherhood, for instance — you just kinda roll with it.

One last note: Just in case the words “liberal” and “snowflake” have crossed your mind in the last few minutes, you should know that Madam Secretary has never once declared whether President Dalton’s administration — and Elizabeth, by extension — is Republican or Democrat. The show’s decision not to affiliate with either party was a “kicky idea” in the beginning, Leoni told CBS News in 2015. “It’s become something more interesting than that now, to me, because I think on [Capitol] Hill, there’s such polarization.”

Translation: Madam Secretary is not a Democratic thing or a Republican thing. It is an American thing, a soothing balm when your faith in the country and its leaders is scraped-up and raw.

Somewhere, perhaps in his presidential library, Jed Bartlet is smiling.

 

[BW Manilowe]

From Entertainment Weekly: Aaron Sorkin reflects on his final episode of The West Wing. (He talks about Twenty Five, the S4 finale & the last ep he wrote for the show)

http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/12/the-west-wing-aaron-sorkin-final-episode/?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

[BW Manilowe]

Bradley Whitford gave the commencement speech to this year's graduates of the USC School of Dramatic Arts. It's pretty funny; runs about 23 minutes & change & was posted by USC. Enjoy!

[BW Manilowe]

If you're of the same age group as I am, you may remember the then-recurring TV show Battle of the Network Stars which either aired just on ABC or rotated among the commercial TV networks at the time. It was an athletic-type competition series of specials in which stars from the different networks would compete against each other, & seemed to be connected to the popularity of the Olympics back in the day (the 1970's, if not also the early 1980's).

Anyway... ABC is bringing it back this summer (the premiere date is in the article I'm linking) & 3 TWW cast members will be competing on 1 of the 10 episodes. Instead of the stars being grouped by the network which airs/aired their show, it appears the celebs will be grouped this time--at least in most cases--by the "genre" of the show they starred in. I put genre in quotes because some of the ones they used aren't among the usual TV show genres.

The competitors from TWW are Marlee Matlin (pollster Joey Lucas), Joshua Malina (Bartlet Deputy Communications Director/Bingo Bob's Campaign Manager Will Bailey) & Mary McCormack (Deputy National Security Adviser Lt. Cmdr. Kate Harper); they'll be competing in the "White House vs. Lawyers" episode, for which no airdate was given.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/battle-of-the-network-stars-abc-teams-1202462437/

[ProudMary]

Brad Whitford will be one of the guests on Real Time with Bill Maher this coming Friday, June 23rd.

[betsyboo]

This week is White House vs. Lawyers on ABC's Battle of the Network Stars. Check out Josh Malinas, Marlee Matlin and Mary McCormack as they rep the West Wing.  

Thursday, July 13, 9:00 p.m. ET

White House (Cornelius Smith Jr., Marlee Matlin, Joshua Malina, LaMonica Garrett, Mary McCormack) vs. Lawyers (Elisabeth Rohm, Corbin Bernsen, Matt McGorry, Romi Dias, Catherine Bell)

[BW Manilowe]

From EW.com/Entertainment Weekly: (Canadian Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau Reveals How The West Wing Influenced His Career

Canada's current, second generation, Prime Minister (he's 1 of the sons of the late 2-time Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau & his then-, much younger, wife Margaret Trudeau) is the guest on the newest ep of The West Wing Weekly podcast, which discusses the Dead Irish Writers episode of TWW. Presumably this appearance ties into the subplot where Donna is somehow refused admittance to Abbey's gala White House birthday party because it's discovered she was born in Canada instead of the US; but Prime Minister Trudeau is also on because he's apparently a big fan of the show.

Edited July 26, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To change a political job position from being written as initials to being written in complete words

[Driad]

Highways for wolves!  The new NOVA episode "Wild Ways" is about wildlife corridors that offer hope to endangered species. http://www.pbs.org/video/2365717584/

[BW Manilowe]

Stockard Channing is apparently currently appearing in a play, titled Apologia, on London's West End (their Broadway equivalent). Here's a review from Variety.

Edited August 4, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To add a word.

[PeterPirate]

In our little dreams.

If NBC Gets Its Way, ‘The West Wing,’ ‘ER,’ ‘The Office’ And ‘30 Rock’ Will Be Revived

Quote

NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt told Deadline that he’s casually spoken to the creators of “The West Wing,” “The Office,” “ER” and “30 Rock” about bringing their respective series back to the air. “The Office” and “30 Rock” ended a mere four years ago, while “The West Wing” concluded in 2006 and “ER” in 2009. 

Greenblatt said he’s talked to Tina Fey about “30 Rock” (“I don’t know, maybe,” Fey said), Aaron Sorkin about “The West Wing” (“You know I love that show and some day I’d love to revisit it, but it’s not going to happen right now,” Sorkin said), and John Wells about “ER” (“There is nothing concrete,” Greenblatt said).

[BW Manilowe]

3 hours ago, PeterPirate said:

In our little dreams.

If NBC Gets Its Way, ‘The West Wing,’ ‘ER,’ ‘The Office’ And ‘30 Rock’ Will Be Revived

And here's an article on the same subject from Deadline. It mentions that Sorkin is currently working on the live TV play adaptation of A Few Good Men (which NBC is supposed to air next year--I think next spring--with Alec Baldwin playing the character Jack Nicholson played in the film), & (to me, anyway) may be implying that Sorkin currently being busy reworking his theatrical script for the TV version of AFGM might be what's keeping him from doing anything on a possible TWW reunion idea.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 8/4/2017 at 4:02 PM, PeterPirate said:

In our little dreams.

If NBC Gets Its Way, ‘The West Wing,’ ‘ER,’ ‘The Office’ And ‘30 Rock’ Will Be Revived

Speaking of dreams, on the TV show 'Fringe' in the parallel red universe 'The West Wing' never went off the air, and they were up to season 13 or 14 -- an advertisement was spotted on a bus shelter or something similar during one of Olivia's excursions to the parallel universe.

If only it were true.  Sigh.

[ProudMary]

Former 'West Wing' star urges people to write 'Harriet Tubman' on $20 bill
 

Quote

Josh Malina, who played a vice president’s chief of staff on the NBC political drama "The West Wing," encouraged his more than 240,000 Twitter followers on Thursday to write the famous abolitionist’s name on $20 bills.
Malina’s Twitter message came on the heels of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s remark Thursday that the Treasury Department could abandon plans to replace President Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill with abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The redesign had been finalized under President Obama.

[caitmcg]

The New York Times has an interview with a young speechwriter in the Obama White House who has written a book about his experience. An excerpt:

Quote

 

What are the differences between your life in the West Wing and the show, “The West Wing”?

Being introduced to politics by “The West Wing” is like being introduced to sex by “Debbie Does Dallas.” The real thing is more satisfying, but also it doesn’t live up to the fantasy in certain ways. The thing about “The West Wing” was that everybody was extraordinarily clever all the time, and everything leads to a satisfying conclusion at the end of every week. And there’s only like five people in the entire building. I wouldn’t have been in the walk and talk.

I was one of the people giving a piece of paper to someone in the walk and talk and then scurrying out of the frame. And I got to the White House and realized that the White House, in addition to being the most important office building in the world, is also an office building. A lot of your day is spent trying to figure out how to get people to stop replying all to every email or how to make sure everyone is on the conference call at the same time. Somehow, this was never in an episode.

[Melancholy]

North Korean diplomats owe NYC over $156,000 in unpaid parking tickets.

THERE ARE BIG SIGNS!!! YOU CAN'T PARK THERE!!! THEY SHOULD GET TOWED. I HOPE THEY GET TOWED TO QUEENS AND THE TRIBORO IS CLOSED AND THERES A BIG CRAFT SHOW AT SHEA, A FLEA MARKET, OR A TRACTOR SHOW. 

[BW Manilowe]

From Twitter: VIDEO: The Parks and Recreation main titles done in the style of TWW's and with the TWW theme music

If you know any P&R fans who don't read this thread, please feel free to post this there too, if you think it's worth it.

[BW Manilowe]

From Twitter: Gary Cole, aka Bartlet's 2nd VP Robert "Bingo Bob" Russell, Will Be on $100,000 Pyramid This Week

It should air at 10PM Eastern/9PM Central on Sunday night, on ABC. But if you wanna watch, double check your local listings to be sure. They play 2 half-hour games in an hour time slot; each game has a different set of celebrities & "civilians", but I don't know (yet) whether his game will be in the first or second half hour.

[BW Manilowe]

Available THIS FRIDAY through the Varèse Sarabande website.

[BW Manilowe]

Just a reminder that the 2-CD original soundtrack recording of the music from The West Wing will be released tomorrow, Friday October 6th, through the Varèse Sarabande website ONLY.

Edited October 5, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To add punctuation.

[BW Manilowe]

Ordering Information for the 2-CD The West Wing Music Soundtrack

It's $21.98 before postage/shipping is added in. Shipping will begin the week of October 9th (this coming Monday). It's a limited edition of 2,000 (two thousand) copies (actually less than that now, because I--at least--placed my order already).

[BW Manilowe]

Has anybody else gotten the TWW Soundtrack CD mentioned in the above posts? I got mine today, but I won't be able to play it for awhile. Are the Main Title Theme & West Wing Suite on this CD too (they're otherwise on Music by... W.G. "Snuffy" Walden, which is a collection of most/all his well-known themes from at least TV)? Just wondering since I don't see them listed as such.

[ProudMary]

Bradley Whitford embraces ObamaCare outreach after Trump cuts

Quote

The actor is partnering with a group founded by former Obama administration officials called Get America Covered, which is seeking to step in after sharp outreach cutbacks from the Trump administration and get the word out about signing up for coverage. 

Whitford says he will be posting to social media, doing interviews and creating videos (perhaps, he says, with other "The West Wing" cast members) to encourage people to sign up in the enrollment period that runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. 

[ProudMary]

Whoa, Richard Schiff's not pulling any punches here.
‘West Wing’ alum’s message to lawmakers: Get Trump out
 

Quote

“I think that’s a mistake that many in Congress have made — there’s no discussion to be had,” the Emmy Award winner continued. “This pretense that we’re moving forward with tax reform and health-care reform, and so on, with someone who’s trying to destroy the very system that you’re working in, makes no sense.”

“All of your work should be in removing this cancer from the body of your country,” Schiff advised lawmakers. “Get him out.”

[ProudMary]

Savannah Film Fest: Aaron Sorkin on His Accidental Screenwriting Career and Directorial Debut 'Molly's Game'

[ProudMary]

Politico's most recent Off Message podcast features Brad Whitford and Alec Baldwin.
What Jed Bartlet and Jack Donaghy Would Say To Donald Trump Bradley Whitford spent years in ‘The West Wing.’ Alec Baldwin inhabits Donald Trump on ‘SNL.’ Here’s what their time with fake presidents tells them about the real one.
You don't have to listen to the podcast.  They've summarized a good deal of what was broadcast in writing.

[ProudMary]

TWW cast and crew reunited for a book party for Lawrence O'Donnell's new book.

[UYI]

 

[BW Manilowe]

From The Hollywood Reporter: If Sorkin Were to Reboot 'The West Wing', He Imagines Sterling K. Brown As the President

[BW Manilowe]

Bradley posted this to his Twitter. It's a Public Service Announcement with him & Martin Sheen reminding everyone that the deadline to sign up for the Affordable Care Act is December 15th. That's this Friday. Bradley refers to himself as "Josh Lyman" in the video (I don't think he said the more formal "Joshua"); so I guess we can assume he was supposed to have been in character in the video. It's a bit harder with Martin, to tell if he's in or out of character; he isn't referred to as either "(Former) President Bartlet" or "Martin Sheen" in the video.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Binging with Babish made tomate du saltambique from The West Wing:

[BW Manilowe]

Remember awhile back, Red Molotov, a pop culture type merchandise website in the UK had what is popularly called a "names" or a "lineup" T-shirt, for the show (a list of the last names of--in this case some of--the characters; they didn't include [Will] Bailey, [Donna] Moss, or [Charlie] Young... or a few other characters they might've).  I wasn't fond of that shirt for omitting Charlie & Donna, but I thought about buying it.

Well, this site has "names/lineups" T-shirts that include Will (5th shirt down on the left side), Donna & Charlie (most of the other "names" shirts). But they don't have Kate (it could be argued that the character belongs on the shirt because Mary McCormack was in the main title sequence, & she was on--I think--at least a little more often than either Vinick or Santos). And I'm saying "Bartlet" is for either Jed or Abbey, or both.

There's also a "names/lineup" T-shirt for the show, a white with red 1, where it appears the designer thinks CJ's last name is "CRECC". Sigh...

Besides those shirts, there's the usual campaign types & with sayings (some of which I don't think I've seen anywhere else). Just an FYI.

Edited December 22, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To add punctuation.

[BW Manilowe]

From ET Online: My 5: The West Wing Weekly's Co-Host, Hrishikesh Hirway, Lists His 5 Favorite Scenes

[AriAu]

Saw Molly's Game tonite and her lawyer, a Mr. Jaffey (for Sports Night folks) works at, and I am not kidding, Gage Whitney! You see it on his computer screen.

Edited December 26, 2017 by AriAu

[Melancholy]

I also saw Molly’s Game and noted the Gage Whitney screen. Lol. I thought the movie was wonderful. My favorite movie this year. But then, Sorkin material delights me most of the time. 

Also saw I, Tonya. Allison Janney was great, of course. She’s always great. But I dunno, I’ve been far more impressed with her performances elsewhere. Like for white trash AJ, I far preferred her performance as Loretta in Drop Dead Gorgeous. She wasn’t as funny as the reviews indicated. She was more of a straight garbage-person as Tonya Harding’s mother. The movie was ok. Not nearly as good as Molly’s Game even if it has the higher Rotten Tomatoes score. 

Edited January 2, 2018 by Melancholy

[BW Manilowe]

From Broadway World:TWW Cast Members Gather for 1-night Celebrity Reading of the "All The President's Men" Screenplay at Los Angeles City Hall, Saturday, January 27th

Cast members participating include Bradley Whitford; Joshua Malina; Richard Schiff; & Ed Begley, Jr.--he played Senator Seth Gillette in an episode. (I'm almost positive more of the cast is involved--there would have to be, for the female roles, I'd think-- but these apparently were the only actors/cast members whose names & participation were confirmed at press/posting time).

If you're interested in attending, the event is free; any voluntary donations will benefit the organizations named in the linked article. The event starts at 7:30PM, Saturday, January 27th, in the John Ferraro Chamber, Room 340, Los Angeles City Hall. The specific street address for the LA City Hall is in the linked article. A catered reception will follow in the City Hall Rotunda.

However, because of the venue, seating is extremely limited. Seating reservations are being encouraged (see linked article for who to contact about seat reservations); because of that & because of the normal high security measures at LA City Hall, NO WALKUPS WILL BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND.