C.J. Cregg: Delightful and Delicious

[Bastet]

C.J. was my favorite WW character, and probably my favorite among all Sorkin characters.  Certainly my favorite of his female characters, and I largely credit Allison Janney with that.  Like Katharine Hepburn, she infuses character with innate strength even if it's not there on the page.

I also enjoyed C.J.'s goofy side, like making up her own lyrics to "I'm Too Sexy."

 

[Zalyn]

CJ is so awesome, between "Flamingo" and "paranoid Berkely shiksa feminista."  I have a feeling that her character also started the "camisole + suit" trend for women in the workplace. I am glad that she was able to stay on through the whole run because she just added so much and was a great role model for lots of people. 

I agree that Janney's comedy was great too; completely fearless in being completely dorky. 

Janney also had incredible chemistry with Richard Schiff; my favorite scenes had the two of them together because they played so well.

[Danny Franks]

CJ certainly was delightful and delicious.

I've always liked Alison Janney, but this was such a plum role, and she was amazing in it. Loved the strength and grace she brought to everything she did, while still being genuinely funny. She even managed to pull of slapstick stuff like falling into a swimming pool and talking through dental anaesthesia.

I really enjoyed her scenes with Eric and Troy, and her reluctance to condemn either one of them. On the more human side of things, I thought she worked so well with all of the characters on the show. She seemed to have close relationships with them all, in different ways. Loved her telling Sam, "get on the couch, I'm gonna do you right now." Or was it Carol? Either way... they weren't going to say no.

I recall some people taking exception to some of the digs she took about her intelligence, and I have to say, they never bothered me. Because I never doubted that CJ was a smart, incredibly competent woman who could achieve anything she set her mind to. Just because a character says otherwise, doesn't make it true.

[Dave23]

I'm a big fan of her opening scene in The Midterms. Ah, poor Josh. CJ said psychics at Cal Tech!

"Holy interruptus, Batman!"

[Desiree]

Next to President Barlet, CJ was my favorite character. Some of the best moments were CJ's. Condemning the Saudi's when the girls school was on fire and they let the girls burn, telling Leo she needed to know what was going on with Kumar because she could help and she was the press secretary, not his daughter. Kissing the President when he asked her to weigh in on the inauguration speech. Telling Sam she was his first call if there was a picture of him and a call girl. Her prank feud with Charlie, asking Zoey why she lied and protecting her, the list goes on. I didn't even mind when she became Chief of Staff, as impossible as that would have been. I think the only episode that I didn't like her in, and it's because I hated the episode, was The Long Goodbye. I even liked the silly one where she was followed around having a piece done on her. Alison Janney had such a presence on that show and yes chemistry with every single character that she had a scene with. she is largely why I enjoyed the show as much as I did. 

Edited August 8, 2014 by Desiree

[HyeChaps]

My favorite C.J. scene was when she was sitting beside Big Bird.

She did squick me a bit with her classmate hookup making her late for her high school reunion speech.

[betsyboo]

my fave scene is absolutely picking between the two turkeys - "I tell you what's of some concern to me, that I've been talking out loud this whole time. That's very unsettling."

Edited August 11, 2014 by betsyboo

[marriedaniac]

I like it when CJ addresses her co-workers by different names, either a nick name or some sort of mild insult. I mean, "Phyllis"; "Leopold", "Chippy", etc.

[PeterPirate]

(CJ) did squick me a bit with her classmate hookup making her late for her high school reunion speech.

 

I have no knowledge of what you're talking about.

 

I also have no knowledge of Kate Harper posing as a prostitute.  Or of some "live" episode.  

Edited February 20, 2015 by PeterPirate

[BW Manilowe]

I have no knowledge of what you're talking about.

I also have no knowledge of Kate Harper posing as a prostitute. Or of some "live" episode.

Did you stop watching before/early in S4? Or are you joking?

[AriAu]

I have no knowledge of what you're talking about.

 

I also have no knowledge of Kate Harper posing as a prostitute.  Or of some "live" episode

 

I know what you are talking about-I have blocked out almost all of Season 5 like it never happened!

[PeterPirate]

Did you stop watching before/early in S4? Or are you joking?

 

Yes, sorry, just using some tongue-in-cheek humor there. 

 

I know what you are talking about-I have blocked out almost all of Season 5 like it never happened!

 

S5 is my favorite of the post-Sorkin seasons.  I very much like the 4-episode arc starting with Gaza (although the Kate-Harper-has-an-inspiration thing was a letdown).  That said, I have no knowledge of a "follow the press secretary documentary" episode.  Or of a "Toby saves Social Security" episode.  

Edited February 21, 2015 by PeterPirate

[BizBuzz]

That said, I have no knowledge of a "follow the press secretary documentary" episode.  Or of a "Toby saves Social Security" episode.

The documentary episode is listed as 03.19 on Netflix, entitled "The West Wing Special Episode".  It's really 03.19, but Netflix calls Isaac and Ishmael #1.

 

When Toby saves Social Security, it's Slow News Day, episode 05.12.

[BW Manilowe]

The documentary episode is listed as 03.19 on Netflix, entitled "The West Wing Special Episode". It's really 03.19, but Netflix calls Isaac and Ishmael #1.

When Toby saves Social Security, it's Slow News Day, episode 05.12.

With all due respect, you're a little confused.

The episode you refer to as West Wing Special Episode is an *actual* "documentary", of sorts, where real-life former Presidents & former White House staffers were interviewed about their experiences living/working in the real White House, with their comments "illustrated" (if you will) with mostly appropriate (for the comments) clips from different eps of the show. Chronologically, I think it comes before the episode Stirred, where (as I remember) Jed learns about then-Vice President Hoynes' alcoholism.

The original poster was talking about the Season 4 episode Access, in which a TV show that sounded as if it would air on PBS--I think based on their Frontline series, maybe--followed then-Press Secretary CJ around, for a "Day in the Life of" style documentary.

We the viewers watched the documentary as if it was the ep, as it aired on whatever network it was filmed for--a "show within a show" thing. It was a documentary which was, they stated in the episode, apparently held for airing, at CJ's request, until the Bartlet Administration left office. So we technically did a "time jump" watching it.

And it was a documentary which said, in its narration, that CJ was the only woman to have served 2 terms as White House Press Secretary. This is a comment which would come up for debate as an (inadvertent) error once the show was retooled, or whatever you choose to call it, & CJ was named White House Chief of Staff during Bartlet's second term, since CJ didn't serve 2 full terms as Press Secretary & the original interpretation of the documentary's comment was that CJ served 2 full terms as Press Secretary (which she later ended up not doing).

As for Isaac & Ishmael, even though it was filmed at the last minute, in sort of response to the events of 9/11/01, it technically IS the 1st episode of S3, as it's called in many/most/all sources. This is simply because it WAS the 1st episode of the series to actually air in S3, superceding the ep that was actually filmed--& intended to air--as the 1st ep of S3.

You're accurate regarding the ep where Toby "saves" Social Security (or at least attempts to) though.

Edited February 21, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[BizBuzz]

My bad, I stand corrected.

I read too fast, and before coffee.

[twinkietwin94]

CJ has been one of my all time favorite characters on this show since the beginning, coming in right at the top with President Bartlet. I found it improbable that she would become Chief of Staff but she seems to grow into the role and I love that.

[BW Manilowe]

Allison Janney was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday. There's video of the ceremony embedded at this link:

http://variety.com/2016/scene/features/walk-of-fame-honoree-allison-janney-1201888337/

It's in the top box. But there's a couple of things you should know before watching it, if you're so inclined:

1. Live events being how they are/can be, the ceremony doesn't actually start until about the 15:25 mark in the video (when you hear Hooray for Hollywood playing). You might as well miss the boring parts (laughs).

2. Mary McCormack & a bunch of the other cast members--Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill, Josh Malina, Bradley Whitford, & Melissa Fitzgerald (CJ's Assistant as Press Secretary, Carol)--attended (basically everyone who just campaigned together for Secretary Clinton in Ohio); I'm pretty sure there's pics up on their social media feeds. Also, before the ceremony starts, you can see Mary McCormack (in gray & black) on the right side of the screen, near a guy in a blue jacket & white shirt; Allison goes over & talks to them at 1 point in the video before things start.

3. Hrishikesh Hirway, the guy Josh Malina does the The West Wing Weekly podcast with, was also there (& there are pics on the podcast's Twitter feed). But I don't know if it means the ceremony will end up in a future podcast or not.

4. Richard Schiff is 1 of 2 speakers on Allison's behalf before the star is actually unveiled (the other is Chuck Lorre, who produces her current TV show, Mom). While going on about how he only has 2 minutes to speak on Allison's behalf, Richard then does an hilarious around 11 minute speech on how Allison called him to speak on her behalf, what he said when he accepted, how he contacted the rest of the cast & his fans in the Twitterverse for what to say about Allison (& what they responded), & singing her praises as a fellow actor & human being. Richard's presentation starts around 22:00 minutes into the video; he's introduced by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, who hosts all of the star ceremonies, after Allison's brought on stage. Richard's part lasts until about 33:00 minutes in, maybe a little longer, maybe a little less.

Edited October 18, 2016 by BW Manilowe
To fix a spacing issue.

[BizBuzz]

Thanks so much for posting that link @BW Manilowe ... and thanks for the breakdown, that really helped conserve my time this morning!  I loved TOBY!!!

[Zola]

Much love to CJ/Janey.

She was a figurehead/standard bearer for me many years ago; and one particular episode struck an even more personal chord for me. Season 6 and "Faith Based Initiative" and press speculation that CJ might be a lesbian!

CJ was even asked "Are you homosexual?" She replied in a very short-thrift manner "It's none of your damned business!"

The first time I watched that episode in 2007 I think, I punched the air with joy after she said that! Which was timely because during an admissions interview at a university I had shortlisted in 2011, a panel member threw me a curve ball question "Are you gay?"

Yes, that's right. "Are you gay?"

Took me a few seconds to absorb the question; and then out of nowhere I recalled that very same West Wing scene and that very same question.

After a short pause to recollect my thoughts,  I actually said to all 3 panel members "That is absolutely none of your business!"

That was the only university of the 4 I applied for that asked me that rather intrusive, personal question (am not sure if they were running some kind of "equal opportunities" policy, but they certainly didn't give me a prior heads-up for their need to know my sexual orientation!)

Anyway, thank you, CJ :)

Edited April 23, 2017 by Only Zola

[Melancholy]

CJ was a role-model for me, as well. I agree that the lesbian storyline was a favorite as well. Interestingly, Allison Janney is actually starting her performance in the Broadway revival of Six Degrees of Separation. Stockard Channing played that same role in the film version. I'm sure it's very hard to match Stockard Channing's magnificent performance, but I bet Allison Janney does it. 

[Guest]

@Melancholy and @Only Zola

Continuing the conversation from the elimination game- I don't think CJ as CoS is to blame for the administration's problems when she took over. At least not primarily. Bigger factors, in my eyes, were:

1) Turnover- in short order, she lost the strong staff people of Leo, Josh, Toby, and to a lesser degree Donna.

2) The President's health was failing. He did not/could not work the way he had. Coupled with this, he was focusing on his legacy and made a few critical missteps that combined with his health, weakened his standing as a world leader.

3) He was a lame duck President, which is traditionally a harder time for President's to get their agendas through.

For most of her "reign," senior staff was severely weakened and even party resources would be spread out between governing and campaigning. 

[Melancholy]

 I'm not sure how it works internally but I think CJ should have questioned her closest colleagues about the space shuttle leak or gotten ahead of it in some way instead of trying to avoid the subject as it snowballed. It also indicates bad priorities that Greg Brock showed up so much on her call log. There were other points where it felt like she was micro-managing the press role because that's where she came from.

Generally, I agree, though. Most of the second term's problems weren't her fault. To add, her biggest problems were external. China and Russia became increasingly assertive powers in the 2000s and continuing to today. I think the US is seeing less dramatically that it can't control them. No one, including, Leo had better ideas to stop the war. Santos was trying something new with Jed with the Good Cop, Bad Cop routine but we didn't see if that worked and to be honest, it seemed silly and likely fruitless to me. 

It did feel like the Israel Palestine deal would explode with the assassination of the PLO leader and then how the region wasn't safe enough for world leaders to go to the funeral. But then, it didn't explode and the fact that such a deal was brokered (sucking up US troops before Kazakhstan) pre-dated CJ's tenure. 

I tended to agree with Josh that the administration didn't do enough to help Matt Santos once he got the nomination. And then, it was really a failure for Jed, as the leader of his party, to promote Bingo Bob to VP and as a candidate for president. But the Bingo Bob promotion also predated CJ as COS and in fact, IIRC, it's really a Leo McGarry failure because he advised Jed to take the easy way out and not fight for a good VP. And generally, CJ seemed like the friendliest to the Santos campaign compared to Jed and Toby who had their own petty, personal reasons for resenting newcomers. 

[Guest]

I'm not trying to come off as a CJ apologist, because I feel like she was a weak choice overall for CoS.  Just so it's clear that I didn't write my above post with CJ blinders on. :)

And I totally agree with 

Quote

 it's really a Leo McGarry failure because he advised Jed to take the easy way out and not fight for a good VP. 

That was a huge mistake, in my mind, on the part of Leo and Jed.  With a physically weak POTUS, the VP should have been a strong one.  By the end of Jed's 2nd term, it would have been reasonable for him to resign for health reasons. However, because of the choice they had made, that wasn't a realistic option.

[Melancholy]

No, I agreed with your general thesis that CJ not at fault for the second term problems, at not primarily. And actually, I think she was temperamentally best suited for the second term problems compared to Josh and Toby. She was great at handling Jed, even at his crankiest. She was inexperienced in foreign policy but she was humble and eager to learn which could have worked for the unprecedented conflicts. She's idealistic but also above the need for flashy credit so she made inroads into stopping the Darfur genocide or raising the gas tax precisely because she'd give up the credit to get the job done. She had some great out-of-the-box triumphs like nipping an England v. Iran conflict in the bud by threatening to expose Iranian incompetence at distinguishing between a military and civilian plane because she acutely understands public perception and fragile masculine egos. She suffers compared to some unknown gifted experienced COS candidate who we don't even know exists. Lol, no need to apologize for sounding like a CJ apologist with me. 

But yes, CJ was naive and easily left out of the loop. She was so disappointed that her job became defined by scandal and handicaps that she'd check out of getting ahead of it or sulk about if. 

That VP thing is such a joke. They didn't even try fighting it. Generally, presidents get their way on staffing their cabinet. I don't see why the VP would be that different. Even when the opposite party controls Congress, there's resistance to being obstructionist. I'd imagine the public was left scratching their head on why a president with MS who just came back from a constitutional crisis involving invoking the 25th amendment would pick some small Coloradan congressman who nobody ever heard of. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Melancholy

[Zola]

There was another fine CJ scene that I really quite adored. It takes place in "And It's Surely to their Credit" (S2, 5), and CJ is confronting a retiring army general, whom is threatening to reveal all sorts of damning news about Bartlet's current military policy in a news interview with Tim Russert. But CJ tries to head him off at the pass.

Quote

General Ed Barrie - I've ordered many men on assignment, Ms. Cregg. I've sent them to Hue City, Khe Sahn village, Danang...

CJ - Sir...

Barrie - Don't interrupt me, lady. I've sent them to Grenada, I've sent them to Haiti, and I've sent them to Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. All acts of cowardice?

CJ - Sir...

Barrie - You think sending my aide here was an act of cowardice? You think I have the time and inclination...

CJ - Sir, due respect, that wasn't what I was referring to. I think jumping up and down on the Commander in Chief and then beating a path out of town is an act of cowardice.

Barrie - I think alerting the public to staggeringly dangerous vulnerabilities of the current state of the military is an act of conscience.

CJ - And I would too, sir, except, and again, I say this with all due respect...

Barrie - Shove your respect! I don't want it!

CJ - I say this with all due respect: I think your motives are personal, and I'd like to discuss that, sir.

Barrie - Sure! How about we discuss new defense spending being down to three hundred billion from four hundred billion ten years ago. Is that personal?

CJ - No, sir, I think that's about the cold war ending ten years ago and America not needing to spend quite so much money defending itself against a country that can't bake bread.

Barrie - Kitten! Op-Tempo is up, which is fine, but the problem is Pers-Tempo is up too. Do you know what that is? It's the rate of turnover in individual jobs.

CJ - Yes, sir. Pers-Tempo is up because higher paying civilian jobs are luring men and women trained in high tech. We're more than happy to take the rap for a booming economy, sir.

Barrie - Two divisions, the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum and the 1st Infantry in Germany, have been rated C4. That's the lowest of four possible readiness grades. It means, "Unfit for service."

CJ - No sir. Again, with all respect, I hate to disagree, but it means unfit for service based on the Pentagon's "two war" doctrine. It's based on how fast these divisions would be able to extract themselves from their peacekeeping mission, retrain on home bases, and ship off to a second of two, full-scale Gulf-War-sized conflicts. There are also some both inside and outside the Pentagon who question whether the C4 ratings might not be a political manoeuvre on the part of the DOD to help Republican allies in Congress secure more defence money. 

Barrie - Well, I'll be telling my story to Tim Russert.

CJ - No, I don't think you will, General! 

Barrie - I'm sorry?

CJ - I said, "I don't think you will." I notice among your many decorations is the Distinguished Combat Service Medal. You're wearing it now, as well as in numerous photographs, including some taken with enlisted men in the field. You won it while on temporary duty with the Navy's U.S.S. Brooke. The thing is, the Brooke was never fired on, and it never shot its guns. Right now, and in photographs, you're wearing a medal you never won. How does that usually go over with the boys? 

Barrie - He never served in uniform, not once... 

CJ - Is there anything else, sir?
 

 ...and all that coming from a gal who didn't know how the Census worked, lol

 

(But she's still delicious)

Edited July 20, 2017 by Only Zola

[Melancholy]

Actually, CJ is morally grey in that scene. I think generals who claim medals that they didn't earn should be made accountable, but CJ wasn't threatening to expose the general for that. She was threatening to expose him because he was criticizing the president. That's not right. I also disagree with her that the general was being particularly egregious by criticizing Jed as he retired. It's natural and typical- you keep your mouth shut and try to enact your worldview from the inside but once you can't change things from the inside, you go public. Also, CJ's "Defense spending according to the Two War Doctrine is crazy" is a very pre-9/11 statement. This series had an abrupt tone change on the military and foreign policy in S3, right after 9/11. 

I mean, I appreciate how CJ was so strong and intellectually two steps ahead of that sexist, arrogant, preening, nasty liar. But she was wrong about stuff. Which I think the series gets since Jed ultimately said that the general has the right to criticize the administration. 

[Zola]

Good points, and I would agree that CJ's faux outrage was way off a times, but I admired her for her steadfast refusal to back down in her defence of the president despite of all the hardware the general regaled himself with.

CJ does take to the moral high ground when it comes to "protecting" the president from bad news; the "Mandy Memo" in particular, she became irrational bordering on hysterical at both Mandy and Danny, who was about to publish it because it was in the public interest (just not hers!).

Edited July 20, 2017 by Only Zola

[Melancholy]

Mandy's memo is great example of CJ falsely making a self-righteous crusade of the UN-righteous task of silencing critics of the president. Also punishing Danny for the Washington Post's anti-Bartlet editorials. This exchange feels so relevant now as CJ actually uses the Trump administration argument of "The media is inferior to the president because it wasn't elected":

Quote

CJ Mr. President, the Post would like access for Danny Concannon to do a three part feature inside the Oval Office.

BARTLET Yeah, let's do it.

C.J. No, I don't think it's a good idea, sir.

BARTLET Why not?

C.J. Sir, after the Editorials they've run...

BARTLET Yeah, they've been way off base.

BARTLET Not so much the second one. But the first, third and fourth were silly. And the fourth was mean spirited.

C.J. Exactly, so let's send them a message.

BARTLET Nah.

C.J Sir.

BARTLET First of all, it wasn't Danny.

C.J. Danny is their representative. We have to stop being a punching bag and they need a wake up call.

BARTLET Nah. It's going to look petty and petulant. You know why?

C.J. Sir?

BARTLET Because it's petty and petulant.

C.J. Nobody elected this newspaper, certainly not the 48 million people who chose you to be President.

 BARTLET Yeah, but not having to run for anything tends to help with honesty and decisiveness  

Also, still punishing Corey Sykes for making a racist cop joke. 

Quote

C.J. You made the joke, and inoffensive as you think it may have been, there was enormous pressure on the candidate to disavow your remarks and he did not.

COREY And I'm supposed to be...

C.J. Corey...

COREY And I'm supposed to feel good about that? That he didn't disavow me? That I wasn't disavowed?

C.J. We were courting law enforcement, Corey. Don't be naive.

COREY You were also courting the black vote, C.J.. I'm not naive.

[Melancholy]

Allison Janney is getting a ton of buzz for a scene stealing turn as Tonya Harding's mother in I, Tonya. Critics are already estimating that she'll get a supporting actress Oscar nom for it. I always thought it was a matter of time before AJ got an Oscar nom, given her talent and eye for quality movie projects. 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Melancholy

[ProudMary]

I hope this links properly.   The Hollywood Reporter has done a pre-Oscar interview with Allison Janney.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155120975042750&id=14425952749

[AriAu]

So, the other day, I saw a tweet with the picture of Lin Manuel's new child lying on his chest with a little hat and the obvious quote "I didn't know babies came with hats", which meant I had to go to Youtube for that clip from Twenty-Five. Before I found it, I saw the great scene where Toby talks about trying to get back into the White House and then tells the gang that Andi had the babies. Yes, Richard Schiff is amazing, but AJ has a moment where she steals the scene-her joy is so evident and then she puts her hand over her midsection-not her heart, which would have been obvious and over the top, but what she did was so genuine and perfect that, as I said, she actually stole the scene. And you just know that she did it on her own without direction!

[BW Manilowe]

Allison Janney's another step closer to being able to be introduced as, among other things, "Oscar & Emmy winner Allison Janney." 

From USA Today: Allison won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in I, Tonya.

Though presented by the British Academy of Film & Television, this is another of the awards in the entertainment industry which is considered a good predictor of who will win in the corresponding categories at the Oscars. The Academy Awards (Oscars) air March 4th on ABC.

[BW Manilowe]

Hopefully by the end of tonight, we--& the world--will be able to refer to Allison Janney as "Oscar & Emmy winner Allison Janney", & she'll be halfway to an "EGOT", the acronym for the major awards in the entertainment industry (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, & Tony Award), having won 7 Emmys previously (for TWW, Masters of Sex, & Mom) plus the Oscar (crossing everything I can cross, for good luck).

That looks even more likely since Allison won as Best Supporting Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards, which were held last night in the LA area. To finish the EGOT, all she has to do is win a Grammy (which could be possible if she does anymore Broadway musicals & they release a Cast Album, or if she does something as simple as reading a book for its Audiobook version) & a Tony (she's been nominated at least twice, I think, but hasn't won yet).

According to this, from The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress will be presented 9th, following the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

GO GET 'EM ALLISON!

Edited March 5, 2018 by BW Manilowe
To add some info & a link.

[Zola]

Am almost through Season 1 (not for the first time either), and I am really amazed at how Allison has evolved from her early CJ appearances to her Oscar winning roles of today! 

I finally got round to watching "I, Tonya", and although I wasn't overly impressed with the film as a whole, I was truly taken by Janey's excellent role - and I could still see a few CJ'isms in her character.

She is an amazing actress, and hugely underrated. I wish her well in future film projects; but to my mind she will always be CJ - the Press Secretary :-)