The West Wing Spoilers

Ellian · 29-06-2011 9:48am

maudgonner wrote: »

Did the episosode of Studio 60 where Allison Janney guest starred bother anyone? She played herself, talking about The West Wing to a character (Cal) played by Timothy Busfield, who played Danny in the West Wing. It made my brain hurt!

Those kind of post modern self references are always dangerous IMO. Sometimes (and this is all just a matter of personal taste) they can be quite amsuing - for example in Castle where Nathan Fillions wants to attend the fancy dress party as a "space cowboy". Othertimes, for example in Ocean's 12 or the one you mentioned above, I find them almost unbearably smug.

Ellian · 29-06-2011 10:05am

Another thing I loved about the West Wing was the host of wonderful supporting characters.

Mrs. Landigham
Mrs. Bartlet (adored their relationship)
Ainsley Hayes
Marbury (mostly a caricature but forgive him a lot for the "magnificent breasts" comment)
Hoynes.
Andrea Wyatt ("no hands off girls, I saw him first..")
Donna Moss ( one word - "inflation")
Bruno Gianelli
and my own personal favourite Joey Lucas.

cjmcork · 29-06-2011 10:43am

Ellian wrote: »

Another thing I loved about the West Wing was the host of wonderful supporting characters.

and my own personal favourite Joey Lucas.

"No, you idiot - I'M JOEY LUCAS...............
I've got a very delicate system!!!"

VinLieger · 29-06-2011 1:22pm

maudgonner wrote: »

Did the episosode of Studio 60 where Allison Janney guest starred bother anyone? She played herself, talking about The West Wing to a character (Cal) played by Timothy Busfield, who played Danny in the West Wing. It made my brain hurt!

Didnt mind it that much tbh, what i did mind was the show being canceled

Biggins · 29-06-2011 2:14pm

Ellian wrote: »

Another thing I loved about the West Wing was the host of wonderful supporting characters.

Mrs. Landigham
Mrs. Bartlet (adored their relationship)
Ainsley Hayes
Marbury (mostly a caricature but forgive him a lot for the "magnificent breasts" comment)
Hoynes.
Andrea Wyatt ("no hands off girls, I saw him first..")
Donna Moss ( one word - "inflation")
Bruno Gianelli
and my own personal favourite Joey Lucas.

I miss them all.

maudgonner · 30-06-2011 9:42am

Ellian wrote: »

Another thing I loved about the West Wing was the host of wonderful supporting characters.

Mrs. Landigham
Mrs. Bartlet (adored their relationship)
Ainsley Hayes
Marbury (mostly a caricature but forgive him a lot for the "magnificent breasts" comment)
Hoynes.
Andrea Wyatt ("no hands off girls, I saw him first..")
Donna Moss ( one word - "inflation")
Bruno Gianelli
and my own personal favourite Joey Lucas.

And Margaret, don't forget Margaret!
"We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret vetoing things and sending them back to the Hill"

VinLieger · 30-06-2011 10:52am

Im so happy, im on episode 20 of season 2 and planning on watching at least 4 today(unemployed student)

Theboinkmaster · 30-06-2011 4:14pm

Ellian wrote: »

Another thing I loved about the West Wing was the host of wonderful supporting characters.

Mrs. Landigham
Mrs. Bartlet (adored their relationship)
Ainsley Hayes
Marbury (mostly a caricature but forgive him a lot for the "magnificent breasts" comment)
Hoynes.
Andrea Wyatt ("no hands off girls, I saw him first..")
Donna Moss ( one word - "inflation")
Bruno Gianelli
and my own personal favourite Joey Lucas.

Marbury was a legend!

Biggins · 02-07-2011 10:16am

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

Marbury was a legend!

He was a great character which I would have loved to see more of.

The Black Oil · 02-07-2011 12:12pm

Aren't we forgetting Leo's daughter, Mallory... :pac:

Fitz and Dr. Nancy McNally, too.

Re Toby, mega spoilers ahead for the later years.

the leak storyline, sigh...awful. Here's a question Richard Schiff took on it.

What were your thoughts on the direction the WW writers took with Toby? Would Sorkin's Toby have done the same thing?

RS: Never in ten billion years. Aaron actually wrote me an email when he heard what was being done to Toby and it pretty much broke his heart, as it did my spirit...

tvnutz · 02-07-2011 12:32pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

Aren't we forgetting Leo's daughter, Mallory... :pac:

Fitz and Dr. Nancy McNally, too.

Re Toby, mega spoilers ahead for the later years.
the leak storyline, sigh...awful. Here's a question Richard Schiff took on it.

What were your thoughts on the direction the WW writers took with Toby? Would Sorkin's Toby have done the same thing?

RS: Never in ten billion years. Aaron actually wrote me an email when he heard what was being done to Toby and it pretty much broke his heart, as it did my spirit...

Ye they took such a great character in Toby and

p!ssed all over him with that storyline.

If I remember correctly he

wasn't even in the final episode.

KnifeWRENCH · 02-07-2011 7:00pm

My favourite ever supporting character - Lionel Tribbey! The cricket bat scene in Season 2 is fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t44eGxGBrNE

Such a shame he only got to appear in one episode. As far as I know, he was supposed to reappear in Season 3 but John Larroquette had other commitments so they had to introduce Oliver Babish as Tribbey's replacement.....oh and spoiler tags added just in case new people to TWW wouldn't wanna know that he's only in one episode!

TheGodBen · 02-07-2011 10:16pm

My earliest memory of The West Wing was seeing an ad for the season 2 finale on Channel 4 that involved that famous President guy in a soaking wet suit being asked at a press conference whether he was going to run for re-election.

I scoffed at it.

I scoffed partly because of how ridiculous it looked to have the US President appear at a press conference with water droplets running down his face, but I mainly scoffed at the very idea that they weren't going to have the main character run for re-election, as that would mean the end of the show. It came across as yet another cheesy American "drama" that was popular because it had some famous guy in it.

A couple of years later, I decided to give the show a chance (towards the end of season 4) and I enjoyed it so I got the first few seasons on DVD to see what I missed. Now, that scene at the end of Two Cathedrals is my favourite television scene of all time. I would even go so far as to call that scene transcendental. It's one of those moments where the writing, the directing, the acting, the lighting, the editing, and especially the music... everything is as close to perfect as can be. There are very few moments of television that can match it. (And a few of those are also in The West Wing.

)

WesternNight · 02-07-2011 10:34pm

TheGodBen wrote: »

My earliest memory of The West Wing was seeing an ad for the season 2 finale on Channel 4 that involved that famous President guy in a soaking wet suit being asked at a press conference whether he was going to run for re-election.

I scoffed at it.

I scoffed partly because of how ridiculous it looked to have the US President appear at a press conference with water droplets running down his face, but I mainly scoffed at the very idea that they weren't going to have the main character run for re-election, as that would mean the end of the show. It came across as yet another cheesy American "drama" that was popular because it had some famous guy in it.

A couple of years later, I decided to give the show a chance (towards the end of season 4) and I enjoyed it so I got the first few seasons on DVD to see what I missed. Now, that scene at the end of Two Cathedrals is my favourite television scene of all time. I would even go so far as to call that scene transcendental. It's one of those moments where the writing, the directing, the acting, the lighting, the editing, and especially the music... everything is as close to perfect as can be. There are very few moments of television that can match it. (And a few of those are also in The West Wing. )

It really is all about the build-up and the context. It works because they didn't rush things like a lot of other shows seem to do. I've seen whole storylines packed into a couple of episodes and it rarely works, I find.

I think that's what I like about The Wire as well.

Einhard · 03-07-2011 3:58am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnxQk8C_-kE

Brilliant show, brilliant parody!

Love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD52OlkKfNs

bucks73 · 03-07-2011 10:56pm

TheGodBen wrote: »

My earliest memory of The West Wing was seeing an ad for the season 2 finale on Channel 4 that involved that famous President guy in a soaking wet suit being asked at a press conference whether he was going to run for re-election.

I scoffed at it.

I scoffed partly because of how ridiculous it looked to have the US President appear at a press conference with water droplets running down his face, but I mainly scoffed at the very idea that they weren't going to have the main character run for re-election, as that would mean the end of the show. It came across as yet another cheesy American "drama" that was popular because it had some famous guy in it.

A couple of years later, I decided to give the show a chance (towards the end of season 4) and I enjoyed it so I got the first few seasons on DVD to see what I missed. Now, that scene at the end of Two Cathedrals is my favourite television scene of all time. I would even go so far as to call that scene transcendental. It's one of those moments where the writing, the directing, the acting, the lighting, the editing, and especially the music... everything is as close to perfect as can be. There are very few moments of television that can match it. (And a few of those are also in The West Wing. )

My favourite TV scene of all time too. Gripping stuff with probably the perfect song playing too.

Think it might be time for another rerun through the DVDs while there isnt much on during the Summer.

johnny_ultimate · 05-07-2011 7:06pm

I'm eight or nine episodes into Season Four now, and I think Joey Lucas may be the greatest supporting character in all of television. She needs more screentime!

I'm a bit bored of Leo. They should make Joey Chief of Staff :P

doomed · 05-07-2011 7:17pm

Fantastic series, great dialogue and one big (if somewhat dysfunctional) family of memorable characters. Politics as you would like it to be.

Then there is the way we do it here. Lets see how many funerals we can get in this weekend before phoning in to that reality TV show.

maudgonner · 05-07-2011 8:47pm

I'm going to see the president on Sunday:
http://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/programme.php?ct=special-events&cid=13&t=an-afternoon-with-martin-sheen&id=61

Bet he's better craic than Obama too!

spank_inferno · 05-07-2011 10:42pm

maudgonner wrote: »

I'm going to see the president on Sunday:
http://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/programme.php?ct=special-events&cid=13&t=an-afternoon-with-martin-sheen&id=61

Bet he's better craic than Obama too!

Bring this sign!

bartlet4america.jpg?w=480

G_R · 06-07-2011 3:12am

no no, you should bring this one:

pickarooney · 06-07-2011 12:22pm

I could never understand the appeal of this show. I forced myself to watch 4 episodes but it was dire. The dialogue is terribly fake and the show just seems to love itself so much.

Otacon · 06-07-2011 1:22pm

pickarooney wrote: »

I could never understand the appeal of this show. I forced myself to watch 4 episodes but it was dire. The dialogue is terribly fake and the show just seems to love itself so much.

Watch the first season. If you are not hooked by the end, I will be shocked.

Fair enough, people have differing opinions. But the quality of the writing and acting should remove any doubt that the show is 'fake'.

pickarooney · 06-07-2011 2:00pm

I'll probably not bother. I can't see myself ever warming to it.

Biggins · 06-07-2011 2:24pm

pickarooney wrote: »

I'll probably not bother. I can't see myself ever warming to it.

Thats fair enough - not everyone likes the same thing.
To be fair to it though, the writing gets exceptionally good more and more as lonf as Sorkin was at the helm.
...And I know your a fan of good writing. So for that alone, maybe you could concentrate on a few later episodes and see how sentence structure, dialogue and other aspects are brought into being and carried out.

(The show won a load of awards including for its writing)

ManwitaPlan · 06-07-2011 3:58pm

pickarooney wrote: »

I could never understand the appeal of this show. I forced myself to watch 4 episodes but it was dire. The dialogue is terribly fake and the show just seems to love itself so much.

Having an interest in American politics and good television I both the box set without seeing an episode...think I watched about 8 episodes and never bothered to watch anymore.

I find the dialogue incredibly fake and contrived...its like everything everybody says to each other is witty in a putdown sort of way and it just gets old. I never forgot I was watching a television show. At best the writing is unrealistic at worst it is reminiscent of a cheap daytime television show.

I realise Im going against the grain on this one but just could not see the appeal (and thats not even mentioning the over blown sentimentality, ridiculous idealism and annoying one sidedness of the show).

Martin Sheen is fantastic in it Ill say that but find the rest of the characters annoying.

pickarooney · 06-07-2011 4:20pm

ManwitaPlan wrote: »

I find the dialogue incredibly fake and contrived...its like everything everybody says to each other is witty in a putdown sort of way and it just gets old. I never forgot I was watching a television show.

Exactly. Studio 60 was the same but at least you could reconcile that with the fact the characters were supposed to be TV comedians and writers.

TheGodBen · 06-07-2011 5:18pm

It should be noted that when the series began it was considered something of a dramedy and the comedic angle was given more emphasis, probably because Aaron Sorkin's only other TV show was the comedy series Sports Night. Over the course of the first season the show transitioned into being more of a drama series and, though it was still present, the comedic element wasn't as intrusive.

I began rewatching the series earlier this year and I must admit that I found some of the early episodes obnoxious as they were trying too hard to be funny, the most noticeable of which was the scene where Bartlet was high on painkillers, which I found myself cringing through. But somewhere around the middle of the season it stopped being noticable, by the end of the season I was hooked again, and by the second season it really is something else.

mikemac · 06-07-2011 7:08pm

As I understand when it started Rob Lowe (Sam Seabourn) was supposed to be the main character, the show was meant to be about the staffers.

The President was only supposed to be a cameo actor, always in the background but rarely appearing.

That all changed.
Though Rob Lowe remained the highest paid actor due to his contract

cjmcork · 06-07-2011 8:40pm

cjmcork wrote: »

"No, you idiot - I'M JOEY LUCAS...............
I've got a very delicate system!!!"

aw man - started back watching this a few weeks back................Take this, the Sabbath day just came on..........oh happy day!

The West Wing *Spoilers*

Comments

The West Wing Spoilers