THE WEST WING

[DrPusey]

Who are everyone's favorite characters? I'm a fan of C.J. (duh), Josh, Toby, and Leo in particular, though there really aren't many that I dislike (coughMANDYcough).

Yeah, it's easier to single out characters that you dislike. I would second Mandy - what the hell was her purpose supposed to be, anyway?

Although I like Will generally, I get annoyed by the way that he was written while he was on the Vice President's staff but before the presidential campaign. They kept writing scenes in which he was basically the nosy sitcom neighbor, poking his head round Josh's or C. J's door pontificating about what the Vice President could or could not support.

[Lillybee]

I wonder why we can not have candidates like Santos or Vinick these days. What a concept, a republican who is rational. I do think most of this election storyline was influenced by Lawrence O'Donnell who was a supervising producer for many season 6 episodes and wrote a few. But then I am a regular watcher of his show on MSNBC and agree with him on many things.

[Irishy]

Tagged for spoilers in case anyone doesn't want to know about the overall course of "The West Wing," if you haven't gotten around to seeing this excellent series yet.

"The Birnam Wood" is the episode in which Bartlet and Leo have a massive fight about the Middle East. Bartlet fires Leo. Leo starts wandering aimlessly through the woods at Camp David and then has a massive heart attack. And no one finds him for several hours!

The scene in which Leo is stumbling through the trees always gets me. It's not just that he has a heart attack in an isolated place, but that you've seen this extremely close relationship between him and Bartlet just get utterly destroyed over a political issue. And Leo's just blindsided by it, and you can read the crumbling of his world in John Spencer's [the actor's] face.

I agree. It's hard to watch. As I recall, I was rooting so much for Toby and his ex missus. Give him a chance congresswoman!!!!!

[Irishy]

The West Wing also has the honor of having my favorite ever Christmas episode, "In Excelsis Deo". Gets me every time.

Who are everyone's favorite characters? I'm a fan of C.J. (duh), Josh, Toby, and Leo in particular, though there really aren't many that I dislike (coughMANDYcough).

My all time favourite was Sam. I also loved Amy Gardner. She was hilarious.

[Lillybee]

I just watched the debate between Santos and Vineck and thought that it was bril

[smokeonthewater]

I would second Mandy - what the hell was her purpose supposed to be, anyway?

The writers clearly realised that and put her on a bus at the end of the first season - I love the fact that no one ever mentions her again, even in flashback episodes. Or does she get mentioned? Certainly never seen.

My favourite characters depend on the episodes I've watched most recently. I adore CJ, I loved Donna's character development over the seven years, and I always had a soft spot for the secret service agent Ron Butterfield.

I still don't believe Toby was the source of the leak in S7. Denial? Possibly.

[terranova]

I can't remember the episode, but the one with the judge who's arrested. Toby and Sam trying to find the police station, Sam's description of the route the judge would take, Josh speaking in the auditorium and his "secret plan to fight inflation", and Charlie having to wake the president up. GOLD.

[ceg045]

I think initially the plan was for Josh and Mandy to be the Great Love Story of the show, but relatively early on they realized she just wasn't gelling with the rest of the cast...she didn't really seem to fit in anywhere, especially since she was brought on as a consultant and not as a regular/official staffer.

Also, I can't see Moira Kelly in anything and not think of The Cutting Edge, which I love in all its corny glory. So every time I see Mandy I'm all, "KATE!! TOE PICK!!"

[Lillybee]

I think initially the plan was for Josh and Mandy to be the Great Love Story of the show, but relatively early on they realized she just wasn't gelling with the rest of the cast...she didn't really seem to fit in anywhere, especially since she was brought on as a consultant and not as a regular/official staffer.

Also, I can't see Moira Kelly in anything and not think of The Cutting Edge, which I love in all its corny glory. So every time I see Mandy I'm all, "KATE!! TOE PICK!!"

I loved her in the Cutting Edge, it is one of my all time sappy movies. I read somewhere that she was to be Sam's great love but it turned out that she had absolutely no chemistry with Rob Lowe so they tried to hook her up with Josh. That didn't work maybe because Josh and Donna's chemistry was off the charts. But it thought that there had to be a reason why Rob Lowe and Moira Kelly were first and second in the credits the first season.

The other thing that I want to note is that originally it was planned that the president was only to be an occasional guest but that NBC really loved Martin Sheen in that role and history was made.

[CrankyCatLady]

I love Toby's quote from the re-election episode: "Do you want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?" So fitting for so many situations!

That's my favorite quote from the show, too.

I've been re-watching since they started running it on Netflix. Such a great show. And yeah, I think Mandy is the only character I really hated. Big girl-crush on CJ and I love Toby for his crankiness, but it's hard to pick just one favorite.

[AnywhereButHere]

I can't remember the episode, but the one with the judge who's arrested. Toby and Sam trying to find the police station, Sam's description of the route the judge would take, Josh speaking in the auditorium and his "secret plan to fight inflation", and Charlie having to wake the president up. GOLD.

"Celestial Navigation" Great episode! I refused to watch the show for a while because my husband was really into politics, and I was just, well, not. But this episode made me a fan. "We were navigating by the North Star, which turned out to be the Delta shuttle from La Guardia. It's a miracle we're not in Nantucket right now." Love Sorkin's dialogue! :D

[DrPusey]

We just watched the episode with Ellie's wedding. I have to say that I'm bugged by a continuity error of sorts in that episode. Seriously, Ellie's sisters aren't at the wedding, which seems out of character for the Bartlet clan. Zoey gets kidnapped and Liz and Ellie are there within hours, but for something with more advance notice like Ellie's wedding, Zoey and Liz can't be bothered?

[Lillybee]

We just watched the episode with Ellie's wedding. I have to say that I'm bugged by a continuity error of sorts in that episode. Seriously, Ellie's sisters aren't at the wedding, which seems out of character for the Bartlet clan. Zoey gets kidnapped and Liz and Ellie are there within hours, but for something with more advance notice like Ellie's wedding, Zoey and Liz can't be bothered?

One thing that bothered me is what happened to Zoey and Charlie. Did they break up?

[ceg045]

One thing that bothered me is what happened to Zoey and Charlie. Did they break up?

It was never shown on the show, but it was implied that they broke up, since both Zoey and Charlie were shown with love interests after they had dated. In one of the final seasons, there was a scene in which Bartlet ran into Charlie sneaking out of Zoey's room, but the way it was presented it was more of a one-time hookup. When they showed the "flash-forward" to three years later, the way Bartlet and Charlie interacted made it seem like they hadn't seen each other in a while--it didn't have that genial father-in-law/son-in-law closeness to it.

God, I know way too much about this show.

[CrankyCatLady]

There were a lot of continuity errors after Sorkin left the show.

[DrPusey]

There were a lot of continuity errors after Sorkin left the show.

We just found another pretty obvious one tonight. Both the exterior and interior shots of the Santos house are different than they are in all other episodes!

[AnywhereButHere]

There were a lot of continuity errors after Sorkin left the show.

The writing didn't seem as crisp either. I still really enjoyed the show, but there was something missing after Sorkin.

[CrankyCatLady]

And it all got very dark. Literally. Like they couldn't afford to buy light bulbs. It was hard to see who was speaking.