TV SERIES · 1999–2006 · USA
The West Wing
- Created by
- Aaron Sorkin
- Network
- NBC
- Seasons
- 7
- Episodes
- 154
- Studio
- John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television
188 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.
188 Interesting Facts About The West Wing
Interesting Facts (12)
- #001
- #002
In 2011, Kal Penn told The New York Times that on the first night of his job in the Obama Administration's White House Office of Public Engagement, he was at the office until 11 p.m., and suggested to his colleagues that they order in some Chinese food. When his new co-workers told him that ordering food deliveries is not actually allowed in the White House, Penn's response was "But they do it on West Wing!"
- #003
- #004
- #005
Traditionally, during a Republican administration, a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt is hung in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House and, during a Democratic administration, a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt is hung there (the former Roosevelt being a Republican and the latter a Democrat). In the Roosevelt Room of the Bartlet White House, portraits of both Roosevelts are hung.
- #006
- #007
- #008
Contains a major spoiler — show
The California assembly was adjourned by a San Francisco Democrat for the purposes of mourning the death of Delores Landingham, President Bartlet's secretary in the first two seasons, when she died in a car accident. Kathryn Joosten lived on. In other words, they mourned the death of a fictional character.
- #009
- #010
- #011
- #012
Production Story (68)
- #013
- #014
After leaving the show, Aaron Sorkin claimed that when he began watching the season five premiere (the first episode to be written without him) he turned it off after less than a minute, and never watched another episode. He likened the experience to "Watching someone make out with my girlfriend."
- #015
- #016
- #017
This was the first American drama series to react to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Aaron Sorkin wrote a special episode ("Isaac and Ishmael") that was filmed and broadcast within only a couple of weeks. The episode, which featured the lead characters discussing a terrorist threat upon the U.S., and being locked down inside the White House, due to the name of a man on a Terrorist Watch List matching that of an innocent White House worker, was not considered part of this show's continuity.
- #018
Aaron Sorkin told Entertainment Weekly that the first actor he and the producers wanted to play President Bartlet was Sidney Poitier. That idea was abandoned when Poitier's fee was, in Thomas Schlamme's words, "very high", and John Wells was able to ascertain that Poitier was not interested when his manager asked Wells to stop calling.
- #019
Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 per episode, with Martin Sheen's confirmed salary being $300,000. Rob Lowe left the series in the fourth season reportedly due to not getting a salary increase. Disparities in cast salaries led to very public contract disputes, particularly by Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, and Bradley Whitford. During contract negotiations in 2001, the four were threatened with breach of contract suits by Warner Bros. However, by banding together, they were able to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries. Two years later, the four again demanded a doubling of their salaries, a few months after Warner Bros had signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo.
- #020
- #021
During a 2014 Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview with Roger Rees, moderated by writer Rick Elice, Rees's husband, Elice said that Rees had originally auditioned to play Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, and it eventually came down to a choice between Rees and John Spencer, who won the role. After that process, Aaron Sorkin told Roger Rees that he would write a different part for him, which he did: Rees played the recurring character of British advisor (and eventually ambassador) Lord John Marbury throughout the show's run. Elice also said that Sorkin came to Rees for help with tracking down the composer of a piece of music that Sorkin remembered from the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1982 production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" and wanted to use in the episode "Posse Comitatus"; Rees had played the title character in that production.
- #022
Janel Moloney was never supposed to be a regular. Co-star Bradley Whitford pointed out the obvious chemistry between the characters of Josh and Donna, and Aaron Sorkin agreed. Nevertheless, Moloney was credited as a guest star for the entire first season. The first time her name appears in the opening credits is in season two, episode one, "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I." To the horror of her father, in particular, her last name was misspelled. This was subsequently corrected.
- #023
- #024
Over the course of the series, fifteen different actors and actresses appeared in the main credits: Allison Janney, John Spencer, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill, Rob Lowe, Joshua Malina, Stockard Channing, Mary McCormack, Jimmy Smits, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Alda, and Moira Kelly.
- #025
During an episode of the "West Wing Weekly" podcast hosted by Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway, Aaron Sorkin told the story of how Marlee Matlin came to play the character Joey Lucas on The West Wing: "Actually, it was because of you [Joshua Malina]. After the 'Dear Louise' episode of Sports Night, in which Jeremy [played by Malina] is writing a letter to his sister who's hearing-impaired, Marlee asked if she could meet with me. She'd seen the show the night before and wanted to persuade me to write the sister into a future episode so that she could play the part. Marlee swept me off my feet in the meeting; she's abundantly charming, brainy, and funny, and her signing is like watching a world-class ballerina. I was never able to come up with an idea for a Sports Night story for Jeremy's sister, but a year later I asked her if she wanted to play a campaign manager whose candidate is being treated badly by the DNC. Her character's Deafness would only be incidental to the story. Marlee hit it out of the park, and so I always looked for opportunities to have her on the show." Matlin first appeared as Joey Lucas in the first-season episode "Take this Sabbath Day"; in all, she appeared in 17 episodes over the run of the series.
- #026
- #027
After Aaron Sorkin and Rick Cleveland won an Emmy for writing the episode "In Excelsis Deo", only Sorkin spoke at the awards ceremony. Cleveland published an article in Writers Guild Magazine expressing his disappointment at not being allowed to speak, because the homeless veteran aspect of the episode's plot was based on Cleveland's own father, who was a veteran who died a homeless alcoholic. Sorkin (writing under the user name "Benjamin", his real-life middle name) posted on the television message board mightybigtv.com (later renamed televisionwithoutpity.com) that he had written most of the episode and had only given Cleveland a co-writing credit as a courtesy, because Cleveland had worked on a previous draft that, according to Sorkin, bore no resemblance to the final shooting script. Sorkin also said that this was true of almost all of the The West Wing scripts written up to that point (mid-2001), that he was the true and only writer of nearly all West Wing episodes, and the rest of the writing staff only helped him with research and "kicking ideas around" - so he gave "them each a Story by credit on a rotating basis, by way of a gratuity." This internet posting attracted a great deal of mainstream press attention, which led Sorkin to post again, this time retracting his claim of exclusive writing credit. The "LemonLyman.com" subplot in the season three episode "The U.S. Poet Laureate" (in which Josh posts on a website dedicated to his fans and sees it come back to haunt him) is based on this series of events.
- #028
The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where the Oval Office and offices of presidential senior staff are located, during the fictitious Democratic administration of Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen).
The West Wing (1999): Martin Sheen and a person in uniform on setImage: Wikimedia Commons · U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist Daniel Ross., Public domain - #029
Former Senate aide Lawrence O'Donnell and former White House aide and presidential campaign speechwriter Eli Attie were both longtime writers on the show (O'Donnell for seasons 1-2 and 5-7, Attie for seasons 3-7). Former White House Press Secretaries Dee Dee Myers and Marlin Fitzwater and pollsters Patrick Caddell and Frank Luntz also served as consultants, advising the writing staff for part of the show's run. Other former White House staffers, such as Peggy Noonan and Gene Sperling, served as consultants for brief periods.
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
Following the departure of Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme after season four, Richard Schiff felt that most of the new writers didn't really understand the character of Toby, and would write him just as grumpy, without nuances. Schiff ended up being unhappy with his work on the show, especially disliking Toby's storyline as the leak in the last season.
- #031
Contains a major spoiler — show
The character of Mandy was abandoned after the first season. Aaron Sorkin and Moira Kelly both agreed that the character had run its course. The show never explained what happened to Mandy; the character just disappeared. This gave birth to the term "Mandyville", where characters go when they disappear from a series.
- #032
Contains a major spoiler — show
In a 2006 LA Times article, former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, a consultant on the show, revealed that the relationship between press secretary C.J. Cregg and reporter Danny Concannon was based on her own relationship with, and eventual marriage to, former New York Times White House correspondent Todd Purdum. Unlike C.J. and Danny, Meyers and Purdum never dated until after Myers left the White House. The same article also revealed that Josh and Donna's relationship was also based on real White House staffers who never dated.
- #033
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Rob Lowe announced he would be leaving the show in the fourth season, among the names considered to replace him were Dermot Mulroney, Judd Nelson, Macaulay Culkin, and Jon Cryer. The job eventually went to Joshua Malina, a longtime friend of Aaron Sorkin, who has been in everything Sorkin has written since he appeared as a member of the ensemble in Sorkin's play "A Few Good Men."
- #034
Contains a major spoiler — show
According to an article in The New York Times (October 29, 2008), shortly after then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, The West Wing (1999) writer Eli Attie had several long telephone conversations with David Axelrod, a political consultant who was then working on Obama's U.S. Senate campaign. From those conversations, Attie modeled the character of Matthew Santos after Obama's political and personal life. Like Santos, Obama eventually won his race for the presidency. Likewise, according to an article in The Guardian (November 6, 2008), the character of Josh Lyman was modeled after Representative Rahm Emanuel; on the show, Lyman became President Santos' Chief of Staff, while Obama's first staffing announcement after his 2008 election was to name Emanuel as his Chief of Staff.
- #035
Contains a major spoiler — show
In April 2006, executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell told the New York Times that until the death of John Spencer, the writers had planned to have the Republican candidate, Arnold Vinick, win the election, not the Democratic candidate, Matthew Santos. O'Donnell said that after Spencer's death, the writers decided that it would be too sad for the audience if Santos lost both his running mate and the election at the same time.
- #036
It was the first American drama series to respond to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Aaron Sorkin wrote a special episode ("Isaac and Ishmael") that was filmed and aired within just a few weeks. The episode dealt with the main characters discussing a terrorist threat against the US and being locked down in the White House because a name on a Terror Watch List matched an innocent White House employee, and it was not considered part of the series continuity.
- #037
After Aaron Sorkin and Rick Cleveland won an Emmy for the script of the episode "In Excelsis Deo", only Sorkin spoke at the ceremony. Cleveland published an article in Writers Guild Magazine expressing his frustration at not being allowed to speak, because the part of the episode about the homeless veteran was based on Cleveland's father, who died as a homeless alcoholic. Sorkin (using the username "Benjamin", his real name) wrote on the television message board mightybigtv.com (later renamed televisionwithoutpity.com) that he had written most of the episode himself and had given Cleveland a co-writing credit only as a courtesy, because Cleveland had worked on an earlier draft but that draft bore no resemblance to the final shooting script. Sorkin also said that this had been the case for almost all of the The West Wing scripts written up to that point (mid-2001), that he was the sole and true writer of nearly all the episodes, and that the other writers only helped with research and "discussing ideas". For this reason, he stated, he gave them alternating "Story by" credits as a gesture. This internet post attracted great attention in the mainstream press and led Sorkin to withdraw his claim to sole writing credit by writing again. The "LemonLyman.com" subplot in the third season episode "The U.S. Poet Laureate" (Josh writing for a website dedicated to his fans and it getting him into trouble) is based on this series of events.
- #038
- #039
According to an article published in the New York Times (29 October 2008), shortly after then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, The West Wing (1999) writer Eli Attie had several long phone conversations with political consultant David Axelrod, who was then working on Obama's US Senate campaign. Drawing on these conversations, Attie modeled the character of Matthew Santos on Obama's political and personal life. Like Santos, Obama ultimately won the presidential race. Similarly, according to an article published in The Guardian (6 November 2008), the character of Josh Lyman was inspired by Representative Rahm Emanuel; in the series, Lyman became President Santos's Chief of Staff, while Obama's first staffing announcement after the 2008 election was to appoint Emanuel as his Chief of Staff.
- #040
- #041
- #042
Former Senate aide Lawrence O'Donnell and former White House aide and presidential campaign speechwriter Eli Attie were long-serving writers on the series (O'Donnell in seasons 1-2 and 5-7, Attie in seasons 3-7). Former White House Press Secretaries Dee Dee Myers and Marlin Fitzwater, along with pollsters Patrick Caddell and Frank Luntz, also served as consultants and advised the writers on one episode of the series. Other former White House staffers such as Peggy Noonan and Gene Sperling also served briefly as consultants.
- #043
In the 2001-2002 season, nine cast members were nominated for Emmys. Allison Janney, John Spencer and Stockard Channing each won an Emmy (for Lead Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress respectively). The other nominees were Martin Sheen (Lead Actor), Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill and Bradley Whitford (Supporting Actor), and Janel Moloney and Mary-Louise Parker (Supporting Actress). That same year, Mark Harmon, Tim Matheson and Ron Silver were also nominated in the Guest Actor category (though none of them won). This earned the series the record for the most acting nominations in a single year (including the guest actor category): 12 acting nominations. A total of twenty-one individual Emmys were awarded to writers, cast members and crew. Allison Janney holds the record for the most wins by an actor, with four Emmys in total. The West Wing won at least one Emmy in every season except the sixth.
- #044
- #045
Once, while the series was filming at Georgetown around three in the morning, an angry woman in a bathrobe came outside with a group of men. "What's going on? I have work at the State Department early in the morning, and by the way, your show doesn't even have a Secretary of State, it should, and it should be a woman," she said. The woman was Madeleine Albright.
- #046
- #047
The set was the largest ever built up to that time for both a pilot and a television series. It was so large that in the first season it had to be placed on two separate stages, each with the same yellow corridor for continuity. During the break between the first and second seasons, the set was moved to a larger stage and combined; it has stood there ever since.
- #048
The Oval Office set, designed by Michael J. Taylor, was first built for the film Dave (1993), then used in The American President (1995), written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Martin Sheen, Joshua Malina and Anna Deavere Smith. It was also used during the filming of Contact (1997), and the carpet made by the original firm had to be replaced at a cost of $28,000.
- #049
- #050
At the start of the series' sixth season, the Israeli ambassador flew from Washington to Los Angeles to visit the set. He met much of the crew and told them details of Israel's relations with the United States. This helped the crew during filming because the sixth season focused on Middle East relations.
- #051
The 'West Wing' entrance most frequently filmed in the series is actually a set used to cover the large door of one of the two soundstages the production company used. It is located at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, and can be seen from the street when looking from Forest Lawn Drive (though it is usually hidden by the many trailers used by the cast).
- #052
- #053
- #054
Lily Tomlin (Deborah Fiderer) joined the series in the 22nd episode of the third season, but her character had been mentioned in the third episode of the first season as Debbie DiLaguardia. This discrepancy in names is explained when she tells Charlie that she is no longer married to DiLaguardia and that her surname is Fiderer.
- #055
- #056
- #057
- #058
In an article published in the LA Times in 2006, former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers revealed that the relationship between C.J. Cregg and journalist Danny Concannon was based on her own relationship. Myers and Todd Purdum began dating after Myers left the White House. The same article noted that Josh and Donna's relationship was also based on real White House staffers who never dated.
- #059
On the West Wing Weekly podcast, Aaron Sorkin explained how Marlee Matlin got the role of Joey Lucas: 'Actually, it's thanks to you (Joshua Malina). After the 'Dear Louise' episode of Sports Night, Marlee wanted to meet with me. She had seen the episode and was so impressed by me that I wanted to write a role for her. I couldn't come up with an idea for Sports Night, but a year later I asked her if she wanted to play the campaign manager of a candidate who had been mistreated by the DNC. Her character's deafness would only be incidentally part of the story. Marlee played her role wonderfully, and so I looked for opportunities to include her in the show.' Matlin first appeared in the first-season episode 'Take this Sabbath Day' and appeared in a total of 17 episodes.
- #060
When Rob Lowe announced he would leave the show in the fourth season, the names considered to replace him included Dermot Mulroney, Judd Nelson, Macaulay Culkin and Jon Cryer. The role ultimately went to Aaron Sorkin's close friend Joshua Malina; Malina had appeared in everything Sorkin had written since his play 'A Few Good Men'.
- #061
One of the show's early storylines was that Charlie (Dulé Hill) and Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) began dating and received threatening letters because they were an interracial couple. In an interview with the New York Times in September 2021, Dulé Hill said that while he was a young actor on The West Wing, he received a large number of racist hate letters for playing a black man in a relationship with a white woman. Hill asked for these letters and hung them on the wall of his trailer as inspiration.
- #062
In the series' version of American history, Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) is described as the first Hispanic president, whereas Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet, is half Hispanic (his father was a Cuban Spanish immigrant). The West Wing writers never stated that Bartlet shared Sheen's Hispanic heritage.
- #063
- #064
After Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme left following the fourth season, Richard Schiff felt that most of the new writers did not really understand the character of Toby and wrote him merely as a grumpy person. Schiff was unhappy with his work on the series and particularly disliked the leak storyline in the final season.
- #065
Each of the lead actors earned approximately $75,000 per episode, while Martin Sheen's salary was $300,000. Rob Lowe left the series because he did not receive a pay increase in the fourth season. Inequalities in actor salaries led to public contract disputes, particularly involving Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer and Bradley Whitford. During the 2001 contract negotiations, the four actors were threatened by Warner Bros with a breach-of-contract lawsuit. However, by banding together they persuaded the studio to more than double their salaries. Two years later, a few months after Warner Bros signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo, the four actors again demanded that their salaries be doubled.
- #066
After Aaron Sorkin and Rick Cleveland won an Emmy for the script of the episode "In Excelsis Deo", only Sorkin spoke at the ceremony. Cleveland published an article in Writers Guild Magazine expressing his frustration at not being allowed to speak, because the part of the episode concerning the homeless veteran was based on Cleveland's father, who died as a homeless alcoholic. Sorkin (using the username "Benjamin", his real name) wrote on the television message board mightybigtv.com (later renamed televisionwithoutpity.com) that he had written most of the episode himself and had given Cleveland a co-writing credit only as a courtesy, because Cleveland had worked on an earlier draft but that draft bore no resemblance to the final shooting script. Sorkin also said that this had been the case for almost all of the The West Wing scripts written up to that point (mid-2001), that he was the sole and true author of nearly all the episodes, and that the other writers only helped with research and "discussing ideas". For this reason, he stated, he gave them alternating "Story by" credits as a gesture. This internet post attracted great attention in the mainstream press and led Sorkin to retract his claim of sole writing credit by writing again. The "LemonLyman.com" subplot in the third-season episode "The U.S. Poet Laureate" (Josh writing on a website dedicated to his fans and it getting him into trouble) is based on this chain of events.
- #067
In April 2006, producer Lawrence O'Donnell told the New York Times that until John Spencer's death, the writers had planned for Republican candidate Arnold Vinick to win the election, not Democratic candidate Matthew Santos. O'Donnell said that after Spencer's death, the writers decided that Santos losing both his running mate and the election at the same time would be too sad for viewers.
- #068
- #069
According to an article published in the New York Times (29 October 2008), shortly after then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, The West Wing (1999) writer Eli Attie had several long phone conversations with political consultant David Axelrod, who was at that time working on Obama's US Senate campaign. Drawing on these conversations, Attie modeled the character of Matthew Santos on Obama's political and personal life. Like Santos, Obama eventually won the presidential race. Similarly, according to an article published in The Guardian (6 November 2008), the character of Josh Lyman was inspired by Representative Rahm Emanuel; in the series Lyman became President Santos's Chief of Staff, while Obama's first staffing announcement after the 2008 election was to appoint Emanuel as his Chief of Staff.
- #070
- #071
Traditionally, a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt hangs in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House during a Republican administration, while a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt hangs there during a Democratic administration (the first a Republican, the second a Democrat). In the Roosevelt Room in Bartlet's White House, portraits of both Roosevelts hang.
- #072
In a 2011 interview with The New York Times, Kal Penn said that on his first day of work in the White House Office of Public Engagement under the Obama administration, he stayed in the office until 11:00 p.m. and suggested ordering Chinese food for his colleagues. When his new co-workers told him that ordering food to the White House was in fact not allowed, Penn's response was, "But they do it on The West Wing!"
- #073
When Josh says that C.J. Cregg likes "goldfish," Danny Concannon mistakenly brings her a live goldfish instead of a snack. The goldfish and its bowl become a permanent part of C.J.'s office decor, and whenever the bowl appears on camera, the ornament inside is always changed to match that episode's theme or the relevant holiday season — for example, a turkey, a Christmas tree, a space shuttle, a podium, and so on.
- #074
In the opening credits there is a still photograph of President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, leaning on a desk with his head bowed. We see him from behind. This was a direct homage to the famous photograph of President John F. Kennedy taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The only difference was that JFK was holding a cigar.
- #075
- #076
- #077
- #078
Although critics generally praised The West Wing for its writing, others criticized the series for being unrealistically optimistic and sentimental. Much of this criticism stemmed from the characters' perceived purity. Television critic Heather Havrilesky asked, "Which rock did these morally pure creatures crawl out from under, and more to the point, how do you go from innocent millipede to White House staffer without becoming soiled or disillusioned by the dirty realities of politics along the way?"
- #079
In the season 4 episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen," Will Bailey (Joshua Malina) stops by a staff poker game before heading out on a military assignment. His assignment is to investigate an Air Force crew that failed to launch its missiles when ordered. In an odd coincidence, John Spencer (Leo McGarry) played an Air Force missile silo commander in the 1983 film "WarGames" who had failed to launch his missiles during a test.
- #080
Behind the Scenes (17)
- #081
- #082
Once, while the show was filming in Georgetown at about three o'clock in the morning, an irate lady reportedly came out in a bathrobe with a bunch of guys. She said, "What the hell's going on? I have an early morning at the State Department, and, by the way, you people don't even have a Secretary of State on your show, and I think you should have one, and it should be a woman." The woman was Madeleine Albright.
- #083
One day on the set of the series, Allison Janney entertained the cast and crew by lip-syncing to an obscure spoken jazz piece called "The Jackal" by Ronny Jordan. Aaron Sorkin liked it so much that he wrote it into the next episode of the show, "Six Meetings Before Lunch", as a ritual of C.J.'s.
- #084
At the beginning of the show's sixth season, Israel's ambassador flew from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles to visit the set of the show. He met with most of the crew, and explained to them the details of Israel's relations with the U.S. This helped the crew while filming, as the sixth season of the show is dedicated to Middle Eastern relations.
- #085
During the sixth season, NiCole Robinson (Margaret) became pregnant. Although the show did choose to acknowledge Margaret as also being pregnant, there was never any clue given about the identity of the baby's father, whether or not Margaret was married or partnered, or even whether Margaret kept the baby herself, or gave it up for adoption. Since these things were never addressed on the show itself, they were the subject of rampant fan speculation, and when Robinson was interviewed by TV Guide after the show's finale, she said that her two best guesses for the baby's father were either Bruno Gianelli (Ron Silver) or "the UPS guy."
- #086
The set was the largest constructed for both a pilot and a television series to date. It was so large that during the first season, it had to be housed on two stages, each with an identical yellow corridor for continuity. During the hiatus between the first and second seasons, the set was moved to a larger stage, and put together, where it has remained ever since.
- #087
The drive-up "West Wing" entrance most often filmed for the show is actually a set used to cover a large door to one of the two sound stages used by the production company. It's located at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, and can be seen from the street by looking in off Forest Lawn Drive (although often obscured by the many trailers used by the show's cast members).
- #088
- #089
After being advised by Josh that "she (C.J. Cregg) likes goldfish", Danny Concannon mistakenly gives C.J. a live goldfish in a bowl, as opposed to the snack-food variety. The goldfish and goldfish bowl then become permanent parts of C.J.'s office decor, and whenever the bowl appears on camera, the centerpiece decoration is always changed to match a popular theme from that episode, or the relevant holiday season, for example, a turkey, a Christmas tree, a space shuttle, a podium, and so on.
- #090
The Oval Office set originally designed by Michael J. Taylor was constructed for Dave (1993) and then subsequently used for The American President (1995), which was also written by Aaron Sorkin and included Martin Sheen, Joshua Malina, and Anna Deavere Smith in its cast. It was also used during the filming of Contact (1997), when the carpet, made by the original company, had to be replaced for $28,000.
- #091
Once, while the series was filming at Georgetown around three in the morning, an angry woman in a bathrobe came outside with a group of men. "What's going on? I have business at the State Department early in the morning, and by the way, your show doesn't even have a Secretary of State — it should, and it should be a woman," she said. The woman was Madeleine Albright.
- #092
- #093
At the start of the series' sixth season, the Israeli ambassador flew from Washington to Los Angeles to visit the set. He met much of the crew and told them details of Israel's relations with the United States. This helped the crew during filming, as the sixth season focused on Middle East relations.
- #094
The most frequently filmed 'West Wing' entrance in the series is actually a set used to cover the large door of one of the two soundstages the production company used. It is located at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, and can be seen from the street when looking from Forest Lawn Drive (though it is usually hidden by the many trailers used by the cast).
- #095
- #096
- #097
Characters & Cast (56)
- #098
- #099
- #100
When Danny asks C.J. out on a date, he says "I enjoy movies, I enjoy music, I'm not wild about ice-skating, but what the hell, I'll do it." Allison Janney trained throughout her childhood to be an Olympic figure skater. She would also go on to win an Academy Award playing the mother of figure skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya (2017).
- #101
In the DVD extras for season four, John Spencer and Stockard Channing both say that in the Abbey-Jed-Leo relationship dynamic, Abbey is (of course) Jed's wife, and Leo is Jed's mistress. Spencer hastened to add that he meant "political mistress", but Channing did not qualify the assessment.
- #102
- #103
- #104
- #105
Martin Sheen has played the U.S. President many times throughout his career, most notably as John F. Kennedy in a 1983 miniseries. He has also played Robert F. Kennedy, John Dean (White House counsel under Richard Nixon) and Confederate General Robert E. Lee (in Gettysburg (1993)). In addition, he played the White House Chief of Staff in Aaron Sorkin's film The American President (1995).
- #106
Contains a major spoiler — show
When President Bartlet's longtime secretary and friend, Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) died, her character was replaced by a new secretary, Deborah Fiderer (Lily Tomlin). Joosten's next long-term recurring role on a television show was on Desperate Housewives (2004). When the producers introduced a sister for Joosten's character, they cast Lily Tomlin in the role.
- #107
- #108
Each of the lead actors earned roughly $75,000 per episode, while Martin Sheen's salary was confirmed at $300,000. Rob Lowe reportedly left the series in the fourth season after failing to receive a raise. Pay disparities among the actors led to public contract disputes, particularly among Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer and Bradley Whitford. During the 2001 contract negotiations, the four were threatened by Warner Bros with breach-of-contract lawsuits. They banded together, however, and managed to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries. Two years later, a few months after Warner Bros signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo, the four again demanded that their salaries be doubled.
- #109
- #110
- #111
Lily Tomlin (Deborah Fiderer) joined the show in the 22nd episode of the third season, but her character had been mentioned in the third episode of the first season as Debbie DiLaguardia. This discrepancy in names is explained when she tells Charlie that she is no longer married to DiLaguardia and that her surname is Fiderer.
- #112
- #113
- #114
Janel Moloney was never planned to be in the main cast. Her co-star Bradley Whitford noticed the obvious chemistry between the characters Josh and Donna, and Aaron Sorkin agreed. Despite this, Moloney was credited as a guest star throughout the first season. Her name first appeared in the credits in the first episode of the second season, but her surname was misspelled. This was later corrected.
- #115
On the West Wing Weekly podcast, Aaron Sorkin explained how Marlee Matlin got the role of Joey Lucas: 'It was actually thanks to you (Joshua Malina). After the 'Dear Louise' episode of Sports Night, Marlee wanted to meet me. She had seen the episode and was so impressed by me that I wanted to write a role for her. I couldn't come up with an idea for Sports Night, but a year later I asked her if she wanted to play the campaign manager of a candidate who was mistreated by the DNC. Her character's deafness would only be incidentally part of the story. Marlee played her role wonderfully, and so I kept looking for opportunities to include her in the show.' Matlin first appeared in the first season's 'Take this Sabbath Day' episode and appeared in a total of 17 episodes.
- #116
- #117
One of the show's early storylines was Charlie (Dulé Hill) and Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) starting to date and receiving threatening letters because they were an interracial couple. In an interview with the New York Times in September 2021, Dulé Hill said that while he was a young actor on The West Wing, he received a large number of racist hate letters for playing a Black man in a relationship with a white woman. Hill requested these letters and hung them on the wall of his trailer as inspiration.
- #118
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- #121
In a 2014 Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview, Roger Rees's wife Rick Elice said that Rees had actually auditioned for the role of Leo McGarry and that it ultimately came down to John Spencer and Rees, with Spencer winning the part. Aaron Sorkin told Rees he would write him a different role and created the character Lord John Marbury. Elice also noted that Sorkin asked for Rees's help in finding the composer of a piece of music he wanted to use in the episode 'Posse Comitatus'; Rees had starred in that production.
- #122
- #123
In the series' version of American history, Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) is described as the first Hispanic president, whereas Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet, is part Hispanic (his father was a Cuban Spanish immigrant). The West Wing writers never stated that Bartlet shared Sheen's Hispanic ancestry.
- #124
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- #126
Leo's "Big Block of Cheese" story is real. Andrew Jackson received a giant block of cheese as a gift from the people of New York. After leaving it untouched for two years, he gave the cheese to the people of Washington, D.C. to celebrate Washington's birthday. The public finished the cheese in two hours.
- #127
- #128
By tradition, during a Republican administration the portrait of Theodore Roosevelt hangs in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House, while during a Democratic administration the portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt hangs there (the first a Republican, the second a Democrat). In the Roosevelt Room of Bartlet's White House, portraits of both Roosevelts hang.
- #129
In a 2011 interview with The New York Times, Kal Penn said that on his first day of work in the White House Office of Public Engagement under the Obama administration, he stayed in the office until 11:00 p.m. and suggested ordering Chinese food for his colleagues. When his new co-workers told him that ordering food to the White House was in fact not allowed, Penn's response was "But they do it on West Wing!"
- #130
When Josh says that C.J. Cregg likes "goldfish," Danny Concannon mistakenly brings her a live goldfish rather than the snack. The goldfish and its bowl become a permanent part of C.J.'s office decor, and whenever the bowl appears on camera, the decoration inside it is always changed to match that episode's theme or the relevant holiday season; for example, a turkey, a Christmas tree, a space shuttle, a podium, and so on.
- #131
On January 24, 2014, the Obama administration announced, in honor of both the spirit of Andrew Jackson and this series, that they would hold a real "Big Block of Cheese Day." At the event, White House officials would answer questions from ordinary Americans (online, not face-to-face as in the series). The announcement was launched with a video posted on the official White House website featuring the series' stars Bradley Whitford and Joshua Malina along with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. The first real Big Block of Cheese Day took place on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. On January 16, 2015, the White House once again announced that they would hold a Big Block of Cheese Day. This time the video announcement (titled "Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back and Whiter Than Ever") featured White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and West Wing cast members Bradley Whitford, Joshua Malina, Mary McCormack, Dulé Hill, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney and Martin Sheen. The video described the event as "like Reddit, but without the weird stuff." The third real "Big Block of Cheese Day" took place on January 13, 2016, a day after President Obama delivered the final State of the Union address of his presidency. Vice President Joe Biden, Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Senator Cory Booker and many more senior White House staff, cabinet members and members of Congress answered the public's questions online throughout the day.
- #132
In the opening credits there is a still frame in which President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, leans on a desk with his head bowed. We see him from behind. This was a direct tribute to the famous photograph of President John F. Kennedy taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The only difference was that JFK was holding a cigar in his hand.
- #133
In the sixth and seventh seasons, Toby's storyline concerns the leaking to the press of a previously secret U.S. military space shuttle. Seven years after these episodes aired, in 2012, the U.S. Air Force acknowledged that the previously secret, unmanned, Boeing-built, reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle had completed a 469-day classified military mission. In other words, a secret U.S. military space shuttle.
- #134
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- #136
In 2012, actors Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Melissa Fitzgerald, Joshua Malina, Lily Tomlin, Mary McCormack and Martin Sheen appeared as their "West Wing" characters in a video supporting Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack (and also raised awareness about the nonpartisan section of the ballot in Michigan and many other states). Bridget Mary McCormack won the election. She is Mary McCormack's sister.
- #137
During the sixth season, NiCole Robinson (Margaret) became pregnant. Although the series acknowledged that Margaret was also pregnant, it gave no hint about the identity of the baby's father, whether Margaret was married or in a relationship, or even whether she kept the baby or gave it up for adoption. Because the show never addressed these questions, they became the subject of fan speculation, and in an interview with TV Guide after the series finale, Robinson said her two best guesses for the baby's father were either Bruno Gianelli (Ron Silver) or "the UPS guy."
- #138
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election (and also during a global pandemic), many of The West Wing's cast members came together to stage a reading of the episode "Hartsfield's Landing" to benefit When We All Vote, a non-profit, non-partisan organization aimed at increasing voter turnout and closing the race and age gap in elections. The West Wing regulars who reprised their roles included Dulé Hill (Charlie Young), Allison Janney (C. J. Cregg), Rob Lowe (Sam Seaborn), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler), Martin Sheen (President Bartlet) and Bradley Whitford (Joshua Lyman). Because John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry on the series, died in 2005, Sterling K. Brown took over his role. The benefit event also featured When We All Vote co-founders Lin-Manuel Miranda (a West Wing superfan) and Michelle Obama as interstitial guests.
- #139
In "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet," the nineteenth episode of the first season, during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room about gay soldiers, Toby drives the point home by asking sarcastically, "What's going on at Lackland Air Force Base?" This is a reference to the famous line in the 1992 film A Few Good Men in which Jack Nicholson says to Kiefer Sutherland, "What's going on in Bravo company, Matthew?" Both the series and A Few Good Men were written by Aaron Sorkin.
- #140
The theme music for the news program "Capitol Beat," anchored by Mark Gottfried (Ted McGinley), is actually the theme music for the United Kingdom's Independent Television News (ITN) bulletins News At Ten and Night Time News, a real and award-winning news program. The theme is a short segment taken from Johnny Pearson's piece "The Awakening," which is itself part of a longer composition titled "20th Century Portrait."
- #141
In an interview with New York Magazine in July 2015, Lin-Manuel Miranda said the TV series The West Wing (1999) had a "huge" influence on the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton: "Like Hamilton, [The West Wing] pulls back the curtain on how decision-making happens at the highest level, or at least how you hope it would. The amount of information Aaron Sorkin packs into a scene gave me the courage to trust the audience to keep up." Many lyrics in Hamilton are quotes from or rephrasings of West Wing scenes. In "The Schuyler Sisters," Angelica sings, "Eliza, I'm looking for a mind at work!" a reference to Sam Seaborn telling Ainsley Hayes, "Before I look for anything, I look for a mind at work." In "That Would Be Enough," Eliza sings, "As long as you come home at the end of the day, that would be enough," a reference to President Bartlet telling his daughter Ellie, "The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was come home at the end of the day." After his final Hamilton performance on Broadway, Miranda took his bow as The West Wing theme played.
- #142
The series frequently reused the same names for different characters throughout its run. Josh went to two different psychiatrists named "Stanley"; a Senator named "Gianelli" is mentioned (but never seen), and later Ron Silver's character Bruno Gianelli became a regular in the third season. Two regular characters, played by Renée Estevez and Anna Deavere Smith, were both named "Nancy." In the second-season episode "Bartlet's Third State of the Union," the (unseen) President of Colombia is named Santos, and the Congressman and eventual President later played by Jimmy Smits is named Matt Santos. The Secretary of Agriculture played by Harry Groener is named Roger Tribbey, and the White House Counsel played by John Larroquette is named Lionel Tribbey. Both Donna's and C.J.'s memorable high school English teachers are named "Molly," and after a Secret Service Agent killed in the line of duty while protecting Zoey Bartlet is named "Molly," Toby names his baby daughter after her.
- #143
- #144
Two characters on the show share the same distinctive names as two figures from the Nixon administration. Ronald L. Ziegler was Nixon's Press Secretary, while the Communications Director on the show is named Toby Ziegler. Alexander Butterfield was Nixon's Deputy, while the Secret Service agent assigned to President Bartlet is named "Ron Butterfield."
- #145
- #146
Real-world issues addressed on The West Wing include: the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran, tense relations between India and Pakistan and being on the brink of war, the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the formation of the Minuteman Project, peacemaking and terrorism in Palestine and Israel, genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Northern Ireland peace process, the War on Drugs and conflict in Colombia, the debate over Intelligent Design in schools, being on the brink of war and potential conflict between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China over Taiwan's political status, the federal government shutdown, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the anthrax attacks on the Bush administration, federal funding for the arts, peak oil and the consequences of declining global oil production, federal subsidies for ethanol fuel for corn growers, student loan forgiveness for teachers, and the invocation of the 25th Amendment for an Acting President while the President is preoccupied with personal problems.
- #147
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In the season 4 episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen," Will Bailey (Joshua Malina) stops by a staff poker game before heading out on a military assignment. His assignment is to investigate an Air Force crew that failed to launch its missiles when ordered. In a strange coincidence, John Spencer (Leo McGarry) played an Air Force missile silo commander in the 1983 film "War Games" who had failed to launch his missiles during a test.
- #149
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- #152
The threat letters in the episode "Six Meetings Before Lunch" are said, according to one of the characters, to have been sent by the band Graveland's young fans because of a phrase that matched the band's "first record." Graveland is indeed an ambient/black metal band from Poland, but the record in question was actually the band's eleventh album, not its first.
- #153
Throughout the series, when the President enters the Situation Room, someone among those inside — most of them military personnel and staff — calls them to attention. The President's next words vary, but they are always inappropriate. When it comes to the military in particular, he should say "As you were," since he wants them to relax and get on with their work. This releases them from attention and orders them to return to whatever they were doing just before the call to attention — whether "idle chatter" or serious business.
Easter Eggs & References (24)
- #154
In a July 2015 interview with New York Magazine, Lin-Manuel Miranda says that the TV series The West Wing (1999) was a "huge" influence on his 2015 Broadway musical, Hamilton: "Like Hamilton, [The West Wing] pulls back the curtain on how decision-making happens at the highest level, or at least how you hope it would be. The amount of information Aaron Sorkin packs into a scene gave me this courage to trust the audience to keep up." Several song lyrics in Hamilton are quotations or paraphrases of West Wing scenes. In the song "The Schuyler Sisters," Angelica sings, "Eliza, I'm looking for a mind at work!," a reference to Sam Seaborn telling Ainsley Hayes, " before I look for anything, I look for a mind at work." In "That Would Be Enough," Eilza sings, "So long as you come home at the end of the day. That would be enough," a reference to President Bartlet telling his daughter Ellie, "The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was come home at the end of the day." When Miranda took his curtain call after his final Broadway performance as Hamilton, the West Wing theme played for his bow.
- #155
Although Lily Tomlin (Deborah Fiderer) did not join the cast until season three, episode twenty-two in 2002, her character was mentioned all the way back in season one, episode three ("A Proportional Response") as Debbie DiLaguardia, the White House personnel employee who first sent Charlie's resumé to Josh's attention. The name discrepancy is explained when she corrects Charlie (who has warmly greeted her as Mrs. DiLaguardia) by pointing out that she is no longer married to Mr. DiLaguardia, and she's plain old Ms. Fiderer now.
- #156
Traditionally, during a Republican administration, a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt is hung in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House, and during a Democratic administration, a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt is hung there (the former Roosevelt being a Republican and the latter a Democrat). In the Roosevelt Room of the Bartlet White House, portraits of both Roosevelts are hung.
- #157
The theme music for "Capitol Beat", the news show hosted by Mark Gottfried (Ted McGinley), is actually the theme music for the UK's Independent Television News (ITN)'s News At Ten and Night Time News bulletin, a genuine and award winning news program. The theme is a short passage taken from a piece by Johnny Pearson, called "The Awakening", itself part of a longer composition called "20th Century Portrait".
- #158
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- #160
On January 24, 2014, the Obama White House announced that in the spirit of both Andrew Jackson and this show, they would host a real version of the show's "Big Block of Cheese Day", in which White House officials would be available to answer questions from ordinary Americans (albeit online instead of in person, as the "cheese day" meetings were on the show). This announcement was kicked off by a video, posted on the White House's official website, that featured this show's stars Bradley Whitford and Joshua Malina, and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. The first real Big Block of Cheese Day took place on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. On January 16, 2015, the White House announced that they would again be holding a Big Block of Cheese Day. This time, the video announcement (titled "Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back, and It's Feta Than Ever") featured White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and West Wing cast members Bradley Whitford, Joshua Malina, Mary McCormack, Dulé Hill, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, and Martin Sheen. The video described the event as "like Reddit, but without the weird stuff." The third real "Big Block of Cheese Day" took place on January 13, 2016, the day after President Obama delivered the last State of the Union address of his Presidency. Various Senior White House staff, Cabinet officials, and members of Congress were available to answer public questions online at various times during the day, including such people as Vice President Joe Biden, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, First Lady Michelle Obama, HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Senator Cory Booker, and many others.
- #161
- #162
Annabeth Schott's (Kristin Chenoweth's) résumé says that she was a valedictorian at Barwood High School, got a B.A. from Business Administration University, and a political science degree from Georgetown University. Her résumé also says she served as the secretary to a Senator, Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State, and Assistant to the President of Cultural Affairs at Maryland University.
- #163
- #164
Two characters on this show share the same distinctive names as two people involved with the Nixon Presidency. Ronald L. Ziegler was Nixon's Press Secretary, while the Director of Communications in this show is called Toby Ziegler. Alexander Butterfield was a Deputy Assistant to Nixon, while the Secret Service Agent assigned to President Bartlet is named "Ron Butterfield".
- #165
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- #167
In the opening credits, there is a still shot of Martin Sheen's character, President Bartlet, leaning on a desk with his head bowed, seen from the back. This was a direct tribute to the famous photograph of President John F. Kennedy taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The only difference is that JFK was holding a cigar in his hand.
- #168
During Season 4, in the episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen", Will Bailey (Joshua Malina) stops in at a staff poker game before leaving on a military assignment. He is headed to investigate an Air Force crew who failed to launch their missiles when ordered to. In a strange coincidence, John Spencer (Leo McGarry), while playing an Air Force missile silo commander in the 1983 movie WarGames, failed to launch his missiles during a test.
- #169
The threatening letters from "Six Meetings before Lunch" are said to have been sent by teenage fans of the band "Graveland", due to the presence of a phrase which matched the band's "first record", according to one of the characters. "Graveland" are, indeed, an ambient/black metal group from Poland, although the record in question was actually the group's eleventh release, rather than first.
- #170
In season one, episode nineteen, "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", during the meeting in the Roosevelt room about gay soldiers in the military, Toby makes his point by sarcastically asking "What the hell is going on at Lackland Air Force Base?" This is a reference to the famous quote from A Few Good Men (1992), when Jack Nicholson asks Kiefer Sutherland "What the hell is going on in Bravo company, Matthew?" This show and A Few Good Men were written by Aaron Sorkin.
- #171
- #172
Several times throughout the series someone uses the phrase, "column inches above the fold." The fold refers to the outer fold of a newspaper. Everything above the fold (the banner, the headline, and the main three or four stories) are the most important parts of the newspaper. Column inches refer to the vertical length of a column of text in a newspaper. The term "column inches" usually refers to the length of an article in its entirety, including where it is continued on another page. The correct term they should use is simply "inches above the fold". With the Internet, the "fold" refers to the bottom of the screen when viewing to top of a web page, which is analogous to the front page of a newspaper before it is unfolded.
- #173
In several episodes, we see Sam wearing monogrammed shirts. The initials are embroidered on his chest are "sNs". The characters full name is Samuel Norman Seaborn, so his initials in order are SNS, but a monogram should have the last name in the center. It should have been embroidered "sSn".
- #174
- #175
Throughout the series, when the President enters the Situation Room, someone calls those assembled, many of whom are military officers and members, to attention. The President's next words vary, but are always improper. Certainly in the case of the military, since he evidently wants them to relax and get down to the business at hand, he should say "As you were." This releases them from the position of attention and instructs them to return to whatever activities they were engaged in immediately prior to being called to attention, whether it be "shooting the bull" or serious business.
- #176
Contains a major spoiler — show
This show often reused the same names for different characters over the course of the series. Josh visited two different psychiatrists named "Stanley;" A Senator named "Gianelli" is mentioned (but never seen) before Ron Silver's character Bruno Gianelli becomes a regular character in season three;. Both the regular characters played by Renée Estevez and Anna Deavere Smith are named "Nancy". In the season two episode, "Bartlet's Third State of the Union", the (unseen) President of Colombia is named Santos, and later in the series, the U. S. Representative, and eventual President, played by Jimmy Smits, is named Matt Santos. The Secretary of Agriculture, played by Harry Groener, is named Roger Tribbey, and the White House Counsel, played by John Larroquette, is named Lionel Tribbey. Both Donna and C.J. had memorable high school English teachers named "Molly", and after a Secret Service Agent named "Molly" is killed in the line of duty, while guarding Zoey Bartlet, Toby names his baby daughter "Molly", after her.
- #177
Contains a major spoiler — show
During the sixth and seventh seasons, Toby's storyline concerns a leak to the press about the existence of a previously secret U.S. military space shuttle. In 2012, seven years after those episodes first aired, the U.S. Air Force admitted to having completed a classified 469-day military mission of a previously secret, unmanned, Boeing-built, reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. In other words, a secret U.S. military space shuttle.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #178
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the show's version of American history, Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) is identified as the first Hispanic president, even though the actor who plays President Bartlet, Martin Sheen, is half Hispanic (his father was an immigrant from Cuba of Spanish extraction). The West Wing writers never indicated that Bartlet shared any of Sheen's Hispanic ancestry.
Career & Awards (7)
- #179
- #180
During the run-up to the 2020 presidential election (and also during a global pandemic), many members of the West Wing cast reunited in person to perform a staged reading of the episode "Hartsfield's Landing" as a benefit for When We All Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that aims to increase voter participation and close the race and age gap in elections. West Wing regulars reprising their roles included Dulé Hill (Charlie Young), Allison Janney (C. J. Cregg), Rob Lowe (Sam Seaborn), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler), Martin Sheen (President Bartlet), and Bradley Whitford (Joshua Lyman). Because John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry on the series, died in 2005, Sterling K. Brown stepped into his role. The benefit also featured interstitial guest appearances from When We All Vote co-founders Lin-Manuel Miranda (a West Wing superfan) and Michelle Obama.
The West Wing (1999): Bradley Whitford speaking into a microphoneImage: Wikimedia Commons · Jay Murdock, CC BY-SA 4.0 - #181
In 2012, cast members Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Melissa Fitzgerald, Joshua Malina, Lily Tomlin, Mary McCormack, and Martin Sheen appeared as their "West Wing" characters in a video supporting Michigan State Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack (as well as raising awareness of the non-partisan section of the ballots in Michigan and many other states). Bridget Mary McCormack won her election. She is the sister of Mary McCormack.
- #182
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Life & Family (3)
- #186
- #187
An early storyline in the series involves Charlie (Dulé Hill) and Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) starting to date and then receiving hate mail and threats because they are an interracial couple. In a September 2021 New York Times interview with Alexis Soloski, Dulé Hill said that he himself also received a lot of racist hate mail while a young actor on The West Wing just because he was a Black man playing a role in which he was in a relationship with a white woman. "It was shocking to me," Hill recalled. "I said, 'Wow. It runs deep in this country. It runs deep.'" Hill requested those letters and taped them up in his West Wing trailer as a peculiar kind of inspiration.
- #188
Contains a major spoiler — show
John Spencer (Leo McGarry) died of a heart attack on December 16, 2005, about a year after his character experienced a nearly fatal heart attack on the show. Martin Sheen gave a brief memorial message before "Running Mates (2006)", the first new episode that aired after Spencer's death. The loss of John Spencer's character was addressed beginning with the episode "Election Day: Part 1 (2006)", which aired on April 2, 2006.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
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