Line Items: West Wing Quotes

[BW Manilowe]

Is Game On the episode where Abby cuts his tie in half moments before he goes out to the debate? I love that whole exchange: "I feel I haven't done enough to help you prepare this time around..." "Why are you telling me this NOW?!" And then she pulls out the scissors.

As I remember (sadly, I haven't been able to watch my DVDs in awhile), Game On is the ep where Abbey (not Abby) cuts Jed's tie before he debates Governor Rob Ritchie (R-FL), as played by James Brolin (aka Mr. Barbra Streisand). I'm pretty sure 1 of her lines in that scene even includes the phrase "game on". As I remember, she says "Game on, Boyfriend!" I think as she cuts the tie, or afterwards as everyone's scrambling for a replacement tie & they're calling Jed & Governor Ritchie to the stage to start the debate.

[PeterPirate]

I'm an Amy Gardner fan. I love the snarky lines that Aaron Sorkin wrote and the dry delivery style of Mary Louise Parker.  

 

For example, from Dead Irish Writers:

   Josh - You went over my head, and you did it behind my back.

   Amy - Quite the contortionist am I.

Edited January 13, 2015 by PeterPirate

[marriedaniac]

As I remember (sadly, I haven't been able to watch my DVDs in awhile), Game On is the ep where Abbey (not Abby) cuts Jed's tie before he debates Governor Rob Ritchie (R-FL), as played by James Brolin (aka Mr. Barbra Streisand). I'm pretty sure 1 of her lines in that scene even includes the phrase "game on". As I remember, she says "Game on, Boyfriend!" I think as she cuts the tie, or afterwards as everyone's scrambling for a replacement tie & they're calling Jed & Governor Ritchie to the stage to start the debate.

 

As soon as she cuts the tie off and everyone starts scrambling and getting to the debate, they put Josh's ties on Jed and CJ (I think?) says "we haven't done camera tests on this one!" and Toby, calm as whatever despite all the panicking, just says "Let's run some." Cracks me up! 

And then a bunch of them fall through the door and Jed slaps Abbey on the ass.

[PeterPirate]

"A torrential downpour in the Pacific Northwest".

 

Not that this is a great line, but it comes to mind every time I hear about rain up there.  

 

Like today, when it's raining in Seattle just before today's NFC championship game.  

[Driad]

 

The State of the Union is coming up, so here's this from "He Shall from Time to Time" --

Bartlet: "And how do we make the American dream of opportunity a reality for all? I came to this hallowed chamber one year ago" - and I see we're spelling 'hallowed' with a pound sign in the middle of it.
Sam: We'll fix that.
Bartlet: The pound sign's silent?
Leo: Move on, Mr. President.
Bartlet: "I came to this hallowed chamber one year ago on a mission: to restore the American dream for all our people, as we gaze at the vast horizon of possibilities open to us in the 321st century." - Wow, that was ambitious of me, wasn't it?
Sam: Leo.
Leo: Let's take a break.
Bartlet: We meant 'stronger' here, right?
Sam: What's it say?
Bartlet: "I'm proud to report our country's stranger than it was a year ago?"
Sam: That's a typo.
Bartlet: Could go either way.

 

 

[BizBuzz]

^LOVE that episode ... one of my fave lines is the very end ...

 

BARTLET
You have a best friend?

ROGER
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
Is he smarter than you?

ROGER
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
Would you trust him with your life?

ROGER
Yes, sir.

BARTLET
That's your chief of staff.

[ProudMary]

BizBuzz, that exchange gets me teary each time I watch it.

 

I loved our introduction to Ainsley Hayes :D
Josh: Toby, come quick. Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl.

Toby: Ginger, get the popcorn.

Edited January 19, 2015 by ProudMary

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

The Two Bartlets

Josh: I'm saying When I walk out that door I'm buying tickets

Amy: I'm saying When I walk out that door I'm buying a bikini

Josh: I'm going faster.

 

One of my favorite exchanges. And Josh decorating his apt. like Tahiti was all kinds of awesome.

[eyebleach]

The Two Bartlets

Josh: I'm saying When I walk out that door I'm buying tickets

Amy: I'm saying When I walk out that door I'm buying a bikini

Josh: I'm going faster.

 

One of my favorite exchanges. And Josh decorating his apt. like Tahiti was all kinds of awesome.

 

This is why in my mind I am married to Josh.

[eyebleach]

Josh: "I'm so sick of congress, I could vomit"

 

Amen, dear Josh! :)

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

Stand in line eyebleach. We may have to become sister wives.

[PeterPirate]

"I heard the clank and the ow. I figured it must be Sam Seaborn."

 

Rob Lowe is doing a series of commercials for Direct TV.  In one of them he plays an alter ego of himself that's a weightlifter.  

[eyebleach]

"I heard the clank and the ow. I figured it must be Sam Seaborn."

 

Rob Lowe is doing a series of commercials for Direct TV.  In one of them he plays an alter ego of himself that's a weightlifter.  

 

I love the Rob Lowe commercials!  I love that they end them with the love theme from St. Elmo's Fire :)

[Crs97]

It's not a funny line, but every time I hear about someone doing something horrible, I come back to "They weren't born wanting to do this."

[marriedaniac]

Josh Lyman: Uh, long story short - you're going to be reading a bit today about your secret plan to fight inflation.

President Josiah Bartlet: I have a secret plan to fight inflation?

Josh Lyman: No.

President Josiah Bartlet: Why am I going to be reading that I do?

Josh Lyman: It was suggested in the press room that you did.

President Josiah Bartlet: By who?

Josh Lyman: By me.

President Josiah Bartlet: You told the press I have a secret plan to fight inflation?

Josh Lyman: No, I did not. Let me be absolutely clear I did not do that. Except yes, I did that.

President Josiah Bartlet: Josh, I'm a little confused.

 

LOVE

 

 

Josh: If anyone asks you, you quit smoking years ago, and the cigarette you bummed on Air Force One was for a friend.

 

Bartlet: GET. OUT.

[Diane]

THE CRACKPOTS AND THESE WOMEN

 

BARTLET [cont.]
I understand that today was another one of Leo's 'big block of cheese' days!
You all start out so cynical, but it never fails. By the end of the day,
there's
always one or two converts, right? And today was no exception. C.J. Cregg
is gonna
be up all night writing a position paper for the interior department on the
necessity of wildlife protection. [C.J. laughs.] C.J., I don't mind the cost
of
this wolves-only highway. It's the segregation. The ACLU is gonna file a
petition
on behalf of some reindeer and then we're all screwed.

Everyone laughs.

BARTLET [cont.]
Sam Seaborn had a guy who spotted a UFO today, am I right? Sam laughed him
out of
his office, but you've been thinking about it ever since. But you can rest
assured,
Sam. It was not a spaceship from another planet, just another time. A long
since
abandoned Soviet satellite, one of its booster rockets didn't fire and it
couldn't
escape the earth's orbit--a sad reminder of a time when two powerful nations
challenged each other and then boldly raced into outer space. [beat]
What will be the next thing that challenges us, Toby? [looks at Toby] That
makes
us work harder and go farther? You know, when smallpox was eradicated, it was
considered the single greatest humanitarian achievement of this
century. Surely,
we can do it again. As we did in the time when our eyes looked towards the
heavens,
and with outstretched fingers, we touched the face of God. [beat] Here's to
absent
friends, and the ones that are here now. [holds up his glass of wine]

 

Love it, he really does do the best speeches.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

Prior to the Republican Primary

 

President Bartlett about Gov Richey

 

"A 22 caliber mind in a 357 magnum world"

 

out of character but it is one of those things that frequently runs thru my mind during meetings at work

[PeterPirate]

"The Secretary of State, while riding a bicycle on his vacation in Geneva, came to a sudden arboreal stop".  Or something like that.  

[BW Manilowe]

"The Secretary of State, while riding a bicycle on his vacation in Geneva, came to a sudden arboreal stop". Or something like that.

Considering this isn't his first biking accident (he's had at least 1 more, resulting in a broken nose & 2 black eyes), I was thinking more along the lines of, "Mrs. Landingham, your President is a klutz." (I'm pretty sure that's the line--the 1 Leo says in the Pilot after they find out about POTUS' biking accident, to which Mrs. L requests he not speak that way about POTUS, at least not in the Oval Office, which is where they were at the time). By the way, someone on my Twitter said Secretary Kerry actually had a "curboreal" stop (& he ended up worse off than Jed--a broken leg/thigh for which he's returning to the US for treatment, vs. Jed's sprain).

Edited June 1, 2015 by BW Manilowe

[Crs97]

I find in discussions with my children I use "I have no new information since the last time you asked me that question" a lot.

[PeterPirate]

With the Trumpster making waves, I am reminded of this line from 20HIA:  

 

TOBY - That's because we're coming to the line and we're seeing a hairdo from Florida in pass coverage and so that's where we want to put the ball.

 

That has me wondering how much we'll be allowed to connect The West Wing with the upcoming campaign. I remember that during the primary season eight years ago there was some pretty heavy discussion between the pro-Obama and pro-Clinton camps.  One of the mods stepped in and deleted a number of posts.  After that, I just started posting lines from the show without providing any context. 

 

Remember how amazed we all were about the parallels between the Santos campaign and the Obama campaign?  Great times.  

 

 

[St. Claire]

My boss had to have an emergency root canal this morning. If she comes into work, I will just thanking my lucky stars that there is no need for her to refer to a "secret plan to fight inflation," since laughing hysterically at my boss would be a bad career move.

[PeterPirate]

I had a meeting scheduled for 9 o'clock on a Saturday and the other person didn't show up. Since I have other meetings scheduled I can't just leave. I mentioned to other people that I had nothing to do, like a writer on a movie set.  

Edited October 10, 2015 by PeterPirate

[Moose135]

I hope someone got the reference, Peter.

[BizBuzz]

I had a meeting scheduled for 9 o'clock on a Saturday and the other person didn't show up. Since I have other meetings scheduled I can't just leave. I mentioned to other people that I had nothing to do, like a writer on a movie set.  

 

 

I hope someone got the reference, Peter.

 

I did ... gotta love Josh ...

 

::giggle::

 

Oh wait, you meant the group to whom he spoke too, didn't you?  HA!

[PeterPirate]

No, nobody at work got the reference. Everyone there is pretty young. Just today I had to explain that before there was Tupac, there was Jimmy Hoffa.  That's why I come here.  

 

A couple days ago in the discussion of another show I used "J'accuse, mon petite fromage!"  Then someone pointed out an error in my use of French.  Hey, I learned French from the President of the United States, thank you very much.  

[Guest]

Toby to Sam "are you really going to give me a lecture on call girl etiquette?"

[AriAu]

Was just talking with one of our new employees and told him that we bring in breakfast every Friday and he asked what we get and I, of course, said... "the finest muffins and bagels in all the land". I left out that "victory is mine" part, but still

[Moose135]

Do you drink from the keg of glory?

[Driad]

 

The "Wrath of the Whatever" scene is one of my (many) favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1tyiWP9MSk

 

[Moose135]

I've been known to use the "Tempt the wrath" line a time or two.  No one ever understands...

[AriAu]

Do you drink from the keg of glory?

 

Nah, we do it every Friday. Victory was not mine today

[SingleMaltBlonde]

 Victory was not mine today

 

I need this on a t-shirt or maybe a coffee mug.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

It's not a funny line, but every time I hear about someone doing something horrible, I come back to "They weren't born wanting to do this."

This keeps running thru my head as I watch coverage of Paris.

[AriAu]

When I walked by the television in our lobby and saw the story about Turkey shooting down a Russian plane that was conducting a bombing run into Syria, on top of the slaughter of the innocent people in Paris and the American minding his own business in Israel, and Jed popped into my head.... "we are one bad bottle of tequila away from all out war in West Asia".

Edited November 25, 2015 by AriAu

[betsyboo]

sorrynotsorry that I'm posting this again:

 

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/9680-line-items-west-wing-quotes/?p=604700

[PeterPirate]

"Mr. President, Christianity is not demonstrated through a recitation of facts. You're seeking evidence of faith, a wholehearted acceptance of God's promise for a better world. 'For we hold that man is justified by faith alone' is what St. Paul said. 'Justified
by faith alone.' Faith is the true...shibboleth."

[SingleMaltBlonde]

"Mr. President, Christianity is not demonstrated through a recitation of facts. You're seeking evidence of faith, a wholehearted acceptance of God's promise for a better world. 'For we hold that man is justified by faith alone' is what St. Paul said. 'Justified

by faith alone.' Faith is the true...shibboleth."

I have been saying "Shibboleth" to the TV news for a week.

[Kohola3]

One I use a lot....

 

BARTLET

Oh, hey - do you know when we passed the Clean Water Act?

LEO
No.

BARTLET
How could you not know that?

LEO
My water's clean, I don't ask questions.

[Melancholy]

That quote is great and I could see how someone could try use the quoted section, but the entire context just SLAYS me. 

 

BARTLET
So we've got frightened parents, rising food prices, public panic, massive layoffs, and something we've never had to worry about before, we're wondering when the next case is gonna happen. The most costly disruptions...

 

LEO
Yeah?

 

BARTLET
Always happen when something we take completely for granted stops working for a minute.

 

LEO
Yeah.

 

BARTLET
[sighs] Okay.

 

LEO
[as they both get up and he starts to leave] Thank you, Mr. President.

 

BARTLET
Oh, hey - do you know when we passed the Clean Water Act?

 

LEO
No.

 

BARTLET
How could you not know that?

 

LEO
My water's clean, I don't ask questions.

 

BARTLET
What'd I just say?

 

LEO
I wasn't really listening.

[Guest]

Excuse me, Congressmen. It's just that Josh is diabetic and I haven't had any lunch.

I love CJ.

[Melancholy]

I love that bit. CJ had terrific Josh-burns. "You know what, do me a favor, 'cause I'd like to see you live past the age of twelve. Stay off junk for the rest of the week."

[Guest]

Toby "hey, how do you get women? Smart and funny?"

Josh "that and I've got that boyish thing."

Toby "yeah, I don't have that."

[betsyboo]

Toby "hey, how do you get women? Smart and funny?"

Josh "that and I've got that boyish thing."

Toby "yeah, I don't have that."

THIS!!! Thank you! One of my all time favorites! (Yes, let's count the number of times in the WW forum where I have pegged something an "all time favorite." Is there a limit???)

 

Josh's delivery still makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. As does Toby's defeated reply. HA!

[Melancholy]

This is one of my absolute favorite exchanges. I've thought it randomly for the two hundredth time and I still chuckle out loud. 

 

IVANOVICH: Sam, it is freezing too cold in Reykjavik, it is freezing too cold in Helsinki, it is freezing too cold in Staad, why must every American president bound out of an automobile like he's at a yacht club, while in... excuse me, compare?

KOZLOWSKI: Comparison.

IVANOVICH: Comparison. While in comparison, our leader looks like... I don't even know what word is.

SAM: Frumpy?

IVANOVICH: I don't know what 'frumpy' is, but onomatopoetically, sounds right.

SAM: It's hard not to like a guy who doesn't know 'frumpy' but knows onomatopoeia.

[St. Claire]

I just applaud any script writer who can effectively put "onomatopoetically" on my television. It's a fantastic word. 

[betsyboo]

I just applaud any script writer who can effectively put "onomatopoetically" on my television. It's a fantastic word. 

correctly, no less!

[jaytee1812]

Possibly my favourite post Sorkin quote:

From The Supremes

After Ryan sends condolence flowers to someone who is still alive.

Ryan: ... I'm more of a big picture kinda guy, we should leave the details to Donna.

Josh: She's here because she's invaluable, you're here because your uncle is so powerful I can fire you. Big picture.

[Guest]

"We're trying to turn public opinion, so no roughhousing no tearing down signs, no excessive flapping of the wings."

"You don't engage a chicken! Didn't you teach that girl not to engage a chicken?"

[Guest]

"Josh is here. Can you warn me if you're going to go after him again. I want to put some money on it."