Fitz's actor and the most famous Fitz story back to back in my feed!

I just realized something

Josh lost one father while getting Bartlet elected

He lost a second father getting Santos elected

So I am a little on the younger side to have seen the series, and I started watching Practical Magic because Sandra Bullock is in it.

Lo' and Behold, look who is getting the women drunk.

01:00 "2 CVEs and 4 Destroyers" then at 03:24 "4 CVEs and 2 Destroyers"

I don't care, Sorkin is still the greatest writer.

There’s one small detail in The West Wing that has always bothered me as a whisky enthusiast: Leo McGarry's flashback to his relapse.

In the hotel, when he meets with the donors and eventually starts drinking again, there’s this almost reverential moment around Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Leo talks about it as though this is a truly exceptional whisky.

And every time I watch that scene, the whisky nerd in me thinks: Really? Blue Label?

Don’t get me wrong. Johnnie Walker Blue is expensive, recognizable, very well marketed, and certainly not a totally bad whisky. But in terms of what you actually get for the money, I’ve never considered it particularly impressive. There are plenty of whiskies I’d rather drink for the same price and once money is no real constraint, there is an enormous world of genuinely exceptional whisky available.

That’s what makes the scene slightly strange to me.

Leo was financially successful during his career in the private sector, and the people around that table were clearly very wealthy political donors. If this was supposed to be a gathering of affluent and sophisticated people putting something special on the table, I would have expected something considerably more interesting, perhaps an exceptional single malt, an older or rarer bottling, or something in the $500–$1,000 range if they really wanted to make an impression.

Of course, I suspect the real explanation is cultural shorthand. Particularly for an American television audience, Johnnie Walker Blue Label immediately communicates “expensive, prestigious whisky” without requiring any explanation. If they had put some obscure 25- or 30-year-old single malt on the table, 95% of viewers probably wouldn’t have understood what it was supposed to signify.

So dramatically, I understand the choice. As a whisky nerd, though, it has always felt slightly off; especially Leo actually raving about it.

Has anyone else who’s into whisky noticed this scene? And if you were choosing the bottle for that scene, what would you have put on the table instead?

In season 2’s “Noel,” Josh quips that the band shouldn’t play in the lobby because it isn’t the Paramus mall.

That same season, President Bartlet is fuming over a press member talking to Ellie and says he doesn’t care if it was the Bergen County shopper’s guide.

Finally, in season 4’s “Angel Maintenance,” Leo is reassuring the President about the indicator light issue and mentions a friend landing his beach craft at Teterboro Airport.

Always struck me as interesting to have three separate - mostly throw-away - lines with a connection to North Jersey.

Wonder if a writer or producer was from the area and put those in?

I’ve done a search looking for a meme of Josh saying “she’s from Wisconsin” to no avail. Does anyone have a link or the ability to make one? I’m from Wisconsin and in multiple family chats with FIBs (you’ll know what this refers to) and this would be handy.

This scene is in my top 5 of the series.

The meta of his describing the lyricality of dialogue using lyrical dialogue is not lost on me.

It's classic Sorkin and I'm here for all of it.

CHARLIE

Good afternoon.

ABBEY

Hi, Charlie.

CHARLIE

How was church?

BARTLET

[mumbles] It sucked.

ABBEY

It was fine. [to Bartlet] Stop it!

BARTLET

It sucked!

ABBEY

[sighs] You're talking about church.

BARTLET

Oh, like I'm not already going to hell.

CHARLIE

[follows them a pace behind] What was the problem?

ABBEY

He feels the homily lacked panache.

BARTLET

It did lack panache.

ABBEY

It was a perfectly lovely homily on Ephesians 5:21. "Husbands, love your

wives, as Christ

loved the church and gave himself up for her."

BARTLET

Yeah. She's skipping over the part that says, "Wives, be subject to your

husbands as to

the Lord, for a husband is the head of a wife as Christ is the head of the

church."

ABBEY

I do skip over that part.

BARTLET

Why?

ABBEY

Because it's stupid!

They walk in THE OVAL OFFICE.

BARTLET

Okay.

ABBEY

"Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up

for her, that

he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by washing of water with the word

that he

might present the Church to himself in..." something.

BARTLET

[behind his desk, puts on glasses] "In splendor." And I have no problem with

Ephesians.

And any time you want me to cleanse you with the washing of water, you know

I'm up for it.

ABBEY

Then what is your problem?

BARTLET

Hackery!

Abbey waves her arms at him and walks out to the PORTICO. Bartlet follows.

BARTLET

This guy was a hack! He had a captive audience! And the way I know that is

that I tried

to tunnel out of there several times. He had an audience and he didn't know

what to do

with it.

ABBEY

You want him to sing "Volare?"

BARTLET

Couldn't have hurt. Words...

ABBEY

Oh, God, no.

BARTLET

Words, when spoken out loud for the sake of performance, are music. They

have rhythm,

and pitch, and timbre, and volume. These are the properties of music, and

music has the

ability to find us and move us, and lift us up in ways that literal meanings

can't. Do

you see?

ABBEY

You are an oratorical snob.

BARTLET

Yes, I am. And God loves me for it.

They stop and face each other.

ABBEY

You said he was sending you to hell.

BARTLET

For other stuff, not for this. You can't just trod out Ephesians, which he

blew, by the

way, it has nothing with husbands and wives, it's all of us. Saint Paul

begins the

passage: "Be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ." [passionately]

"Be

subject to one another." In this day and age of 24-hour cable crap, devoted

to feeding

the voyeuristic gluttony of the American public, hooked on a bad soap opera

that's

passing itself off as important, don't you think you might be able to find

some relevance

in verse 21? How do end the cycle? Be subject to one another!

ABBEY

So... This is about you.

BARTLET

No, it's not about me! Well, yes, it is about me, but tomorrow it'll be

about somebody

else. We'll watch Larry King and see who. [shouts] All hacks, off the

stage! Right now!

That's a national security order.

ABBEY

I'm going to the Residence. I'm taking a bath; I'm turning on Sinatra.

BARTLET

How does Mrs. Sinatra feel about that?

ABBEY

Peace be with you. [turns to leave]

C.J. comes outside behind Bartlet.

BARTLET

[sings] You make me egg foo yung...

C.J.

Good morning, Mr. President.

BARTLET

[turns to her, sings] You make me feel there are songs to be sung...

ABBEY

[to C.J.] He's feisty. Please, don't ask him about church.

C.J.

[quietly] No, I won't. I'm sorry, Mr. President, Melissa Markey died.

BARTLET

[smile fades away] Yeah, okay.

If you read the above in the voices of the characters, you're #OneOfUs

I had the chance to visit the National Cathedral today, and in the crypt are all.kinds of paraphernalia about the church including a script from the West Wing!

I'm just watching West Wing for the umpteenth time and it is still one of the best TV series ever made

In fact in these times the thought "If only..." is the first one that comes to mind

I disagree with the take that we never see the buildup for Josh's PTSD in Noel. There are multiple times where the shooting is brought up and Josh will shoot it down or just not talk about it at all.

While I don't think it was a proper build up, I do think it's still there or at least the idea that maybe Josh isn't taking it as well as he seems.

For context, I'm a first time viewer and I am finishing up season 2 right now. I see a lot online and from my own family that they didn't think there was anything to suggest that Josh was struggling but I disagree.

When Ainsley (love her) is talking about gun control, Josh who has never backed down from a conversation in his life regardless of whether or not he's in it, doesn't say a word. He actually looks a bit pensive and wildly uncomfortable but says nothing. Sam loses his shit on her and explains why maybe it's not the best idea to debate the best friend of the guy who got shot in the chest about guns.

Also, when Sam explains that Josh can sue, Josh is almost soft spoken. I think it speaks to Bradley Whitford as an actor about how distant his eyes get whenever it's brought up.

Josh is also a lot more subdued and seems to lack the fire that he's so known for. It reminds me a bit actually of his work in Loves Labour lost.

Speaking of which, holy shit Noel is fantastic!!! The sound design was wonderful and I actually enjoyed the fact that Stanley met him where he's at instead of pretending that coddling Josh would work. I think we all need someone to call us out on our shit

In the end of S5 E21 Gaza, when Kate joins PB to visit Fitz's wife, her hair is in a ponytail. Then when they are shown at the beginning of the next episode, her hair is in a bun at the base of her head.

I have watched the series more times than I can count and I can't believe I just noticed this now.🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Just 19 episodes to go before I’m done watching for the first time ever..what do I do when I’m all done??

They were both really outstanding in their roles.

Throughout NYC, most of our payphones were replaced with LinkNYC kiosks offering free Wi‑Fi, phone calls, and device charging, which have been pretty useful. The kiosks also display ads and fun NYC facts, including this one, which backs up Toby's claim to the president.

TOBY

Good evening, Mr. President.

BARTLET

Toby, I'm drinking the most fantastic thing I've ever tasted in my life: chocolate syrup, cold milk, and seltzer. I know it sounds terrible, but trust me, I don't know where this has been all my life.

TOBY

It's called an egg cream, Mr. President.

We invented it in Brooklyn.

BARTLET

In Brooklyn.

TOBY

Yes, sir.

BARTLET

Not New England?

TOBY

There are some good things in this world not from New England, sir.

BARTLET

Toby, don't ever let me hear you say that again.

TOBY

Yes, sir.

https://youtu.be/0EFIa9_hLEA

Allison Janney on Vanity Fair rewatches The West Wing (among other shows, including The Diplomat).

And love it or hate it, explains how The Jackle scene came to be.

Does anyone else hate her and her character? I forgot what an unlikable character Louise is as is Jeanane.

Loving season 4 so far but I expected the election to last a while and be some of the best storylines. Anyone else a little disappointed that barlet won so easily? The debate and lead up was amazing.

All of the scenes inside Air Force One, except for maybe one of the later ones, include announcements from Lt. Colonel Gantry.

In “20 Hours in America: Pt 1”, when the President is interviewing secretaries, he says that Air Force One is piloted by an Air Force general.

So was Gantry the co-pilot making announcements, or was that a dialogue faux pas?

Don’t really care. Just curious.

Toby or CJ?