العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolLIST OF THE WEST WING EPISODES
The following is an 'episode list' for the NBC serial drama television series '''The West Wing'''. The series ran from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006 airing 154 regular season episodes and two special episodes.
The first season, which begins in the middle of Bartlet's first year in office, is loaded with images of a West Wing "stuck in neutral" and powerless to govern (thought by many to mimic President Clinton's early days in office, when he was forced to compromise on campaign promises such as gays in the military). Several episodes (notably "Five Votes Down" and "Mr. Willis of Ohio") feature the White House desperately digging for a backdoor through which to pass a particular piece of legislation. This powerlessness ends in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" when Leo and the president finally agree to fight any battle they believe to be important, even if they are not sure they can win. The season ends with a cliffhanger assassination attempt with an ominous call over a Secret Service radio: "Who's been hit?! Who's been hit?!"
The second season detailed the period between the end of President Bartlet's second year in office and the middle of his third. It covered a wider legislative array than the first season did, and presented issues including the rights of hate groups and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
The West Wing characters were shown as being more capable of legislating thanks to an increased approval rating (described as a temporary "bubble" due to the shooting that ended the first season). Also vital to this theme is the new doctrine for legislating laid out in the first season episode "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet."
The second season also made consistent use of flashbacks, demonstrating the campaign for the presidency, and the period prior to events covered in the first season. The first two episodes, "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen" parts one and two, showed the fashion in which many of the central characters were introduced to Josiah Bartlet at the time that he was seeking nomination and election.
The Multiple sclerosis thread (also introduced in the first season) became central in the second season as staff members were introduced one-by-one to the president's ailment and the public is made aware. This theme would remain central to the series.
Mrs. Landingham, the long time secretary of President Bartlet, died in the penultimate episode, "18th and Potomac." In the final episode, "Two Cathedrals," Mrs. Landingham's funeral was central as was the question of whether the President would run for re-election.
The season ended with the President having announced his multiple sclerosis. It concludes just moments before he answers a reporter's question: "Mr. President, will you be seeking a second term?" However, due to an obvious clue left earlier in the episode, the viewer is alerted that he very probably will.
The third season, which covers the administration's third and fourth years in office, starts off with Bartlet announcing his intention to run for reelection and is heavily devoted to the upcoming presidential election. Other prominent plotlines include Congressional investigations into whether Bartlet committed electoral fraud by concealing his MS, a death threat against C.J. and the ensuing relationship she develops with a Secret Service agent assigned to her, the Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef plotting terrorist attacks against the US, and a troubling meeting between Toby and the President that leaves Bartlet with a bout of insomnia in "Night Five." The season finale, "Posse Comitatus" closes several of these storylines as Bartlet meets his opponent in the elections and reaffirms his commitment to beat him. The episode ends with the president finally deciding to order Shareef's assassination (a legally questionable act) and C.J.'s agent getting killed just after the man threatening C.J. was caught.
From a critical perspective, series creator Aaron Sorkin acknowledged in October 2002 that the terrorism-related plots designed to keep the series relevant after the real-life 9/11 attacks were awkward at times, saying "from week to week, you felt like you were writing the show handcuffed, a little bit. I didn't know how to write it anymore. It was a constant search for what I wasn't doing that used to make the show work. [...] Maybe there was a way to make it work; there probably was. I wasn't able to find it in twenty-two episodes." [1]
The fourth season covers the end of Bartlet's fourth year and first term in office through the beginning of the first year of his second term. The season begins with the continuation of the election storyline with the president touring the nation and his staff trying to firm up presidential debates. Surprisingly the election is not used as a cliffhanger, but seen as a clear victory for Bartlet, the storyline ending less than halfway through the season in "Election Night." Other plots include Sam leaving the White House to run in a special election in California, Will Bailey taking Sam's position having come from the California campaign's staff, and Vice President Hoynes being forced to resign after a sex scandal is uncovered. The fourth season ends with Bartlet's youngest daughter being taken hostage. Bartlet ends up invoking the 25th Amendment in the final episode, Twenty Five." Since Hoynes had recently resigned, the presidency passes to the Republican Speaker of the House, Glen Allen Walken.
After the difficulties Sorkin encountered in writing Season 3 (see above), he saw Season 4 as a return to the form he and the show had previously enjoyed, saying "[we] came back to work, after the hiatus, and didn't feel any of that, just felt the week-to-week pressure of trying to write well." [2]
The fifth season opens with US forces successfully rescuing Zoey Bartlet from her abductors. Bartlet takes the presidency back from Walken, but is forced back into a Season One level of powerlessness. He comes to terms with his actions at the end of Season Four leading to his daughter's kidnapping, a powerful new Republican Speaker of the House (Walken had to resign in order to assume the presidency) who forces Bartlet into several decisions he didn't want including the nomination of a less-than-stellar Democrat, "Bingo Bob" Russell, for Vice President. This conflict with the new Speaker comes to a head in "Shutdown," when the Speaker tries to force Bartlet into cutting federal spending more than had been agreed to and Bartlet refuses to sign the budget (forcing the federal government into a shutdown). Bartlet regains some minor power, cutting a deal to get a liberal Chief Justice of the United States, and season five ends with a bombing in Gaza leading Bartlet to push for Israeli peace talks and Josh to come closer to Donna. The fifth season begins toward the end of Bartlet's first year of his second term (fifth year overall) in office. By the end of the season, however, significantly over a year has elapsed.
The sixth season starts with the president negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, Leo having a heart attack and leaving the staff, and the president trying to fund peacekeepers for the accord. Josh is pondering whether he will stay with Bartlet or support a presidential candidate. Three events shape his decision: Santos not running again for Congress, Vinick running for president and Donna leaving the White House to work for the Russell campaign (further fraying Josh and Donna's relationship). The later parts of the season center heavily around the primaries for the 2006 presidential election (in which Bartlet cannot run). Josh leaves with Santos, a Congressman from Texas whom Josh convinced to run for President, on the campaign trail. Leo returns near the end of the season to refocus the Bartlet administration (in a similar style to Season One's "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet") in "365 Days." Russell is the consistent leader for the Democratic nomination with former Vice President Hoynes a close second and Santos a distant third. After another sex scandal, Hoynes is forced into the third position, and Santos ends up winning a closely contested Convention (and announces Leo as his running mate). The final episode also features a leak from the White House about a classified military space shuttle to the press (similar to the real-life Plame affair), which is heavily investigated in Season Seven.
The seventh and final season mainly follows Santos and Vinick on the campaign trail, whilst also addressing the aftermath of the shuttle leak investigation. The Bartlet administration's last year in office is featured, but not prominently. Toby admits to leaking the story about a military spacecraft and President Bartlet is forced to fire him. Later, he refuses to name his brother as the source of the classified information. Also, C.J.'s tenure as Chief of Staff becomes more stressful as she deals with the war between Russia and China over Kazakhstan. The presidential race tightens up when Vinick makes a number of mistakes on the campaign trail. Leo suffers a heart attack, and dies on the night of the election, which Santos eventually wins. The last few episodes show the last days of the Bartlet administration and the Santos' transition; in the series finale, Santos is sworn in as President.
★ The West Wing Episode Guide
★ Bartlet4America.org Episode Guide
★ The West Wing Unofficial Continuity Guide Episode Guide
★ Political-Affairs.net Complete transcripts of every Josh & Donna scene throughout the entire series
| Contents |
| DVD releases |
| Season 1: 1999–2000 |
| Season 2: 2000–2001 |
| Season 3: 2001–2002 |
| Special episodes |
| Season 4: 2002–2003 |
| Season 5: 2003–2004 |
| Season 6: 2004–2005 |
| Season 7: 2005–2006 |
| External links |
DVD releases
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 (U.S.) | Region 2 UK Edition (Europe) | |||
| 22 | 1999 – 2000 | November 18, 2003 | April 8, 2002 | |
| 22 | 2000 – 2001 | May 18, 2004 | April 7, 2003 | |
| 21 | 2001 – 2002 | November 2, 2004 | March 29, 2004 | |
| 23 | 2002 – 2003 | April 5, 2005 | September 27, 2004 | |
| 22 | 2003 – 2004 | December 6, 2005 | April 5, 2005 | |
| 22 | 2004 – 2005 | May 9, 2006 | September 26, 2005 | |
| 22 | 2005 – 2006 | November 7, 2006 | September 11, 2006 | |
Season 1: 1999–2000
The first season, which begins in the middle of Bartlet's first year in office, is loaded with images of a West Wing "stuck in neutral" and powerless to govern (thought by many to mimic President Clinton's early days in office, when he was forced to compromise on campaign promises such as gays in the military). Several episodes (notably "Five Votes Down" and "Mr. Willis of Ohio") feature the White House desperately digging for a backdoor through which to pass a particular piece of legislation. This powerlessness ends in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" when Leo and the president finally agree to fight any battle they believe to be important, even if they are not sure they can win. The season ends with a cliffhanger assassination attempt with an ominous call over a Secret Service radio: "Who's been hit?! Who's been hit?!"
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 2: 2000–2001
The second season detailed the period between the end of President Bartlet's second year in office and the middle of his third. It covered a wider legislative array than the first season did, and presented issues including the rights of hate groups and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
The West Wing characters were shown as being more capable of legislating thanks to an increased approval rating (described as a temporary "bubble" due to the shooting that ended the first season). Also vital to this theme is the new doctrine for legislating laid out in the first season episode "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet."
The second season also made consistent use of flashbacks, demonstrating the campaign for the presidency, and the period prior to events covered in the first season. The first two episodes, "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen" parts one and two, showed the fashion in which many of the central characters were introduced to Josiah Bartlet at the time that he was seeking nomination and election.
The Multiple sclerosis thread (also introduced in the first season) became central in the second season as staff members were introduced one-by-one to the president's ailment and the public is made aware. This theme would remain central to the series.
Mrs. Landingham, the long time secretary of President Bartlet, died in the penultimate episode, "18th and Potomac." In the final episode, "Two Cathedrals," Mrs. Landingham's funeral was central as was the question of whether the President would run for re-election.
The season ended with the President having announced his multiple sclerosis. It concludes just moments before he answers a reporter's question: "Mr. President, will you be seeking a second term?" However, due to an obvious clue left earlier in the episode, the viewer is alerted that he very probably will.
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 3: 2001–2002
The third season, which covers the administration's third and fourth years in office, starts off with Bartlet announcing his intention to run for reelection and is heavily devoted to the upcoming presidential election. Other prominent plotlines include Congressional investigations into whether Bartlet committed electoral fraud by concealing his MS, a death threat against C.J. and the ensuing relationship she develops with a Secret Service agent assigned to her, the Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef plotting terrorist attacks against the US, and a troubling meeting between Toby and the President that leaves Bartlet with a bout of insomnia in "Night Five." The season finale, "Posse Comitatus" closes several of these storylines as Bartlet meets his opponent in the elections and reaffirms his commitment to beat him. The episode ends with the president finally deciding to order Shareef's assassination (a legally questionable act) and C.J.'s agent getting killed just after the man threatening C.J. was caught.
From a critical perspective, series creator Aaron Sorkin acknowledged in October 2002 that the terrorism-related plots designed to keep the series relevant after the real-life 9/11 attacks were awkward at times, saying "from week to week, you felt like you were writing the show handcuffed, a little bit. I didn't know how to write it anymore. It was a constant search for what I wasn't doing that used to make the show work. [...] Maybe there was a way to make it work; there probably was. I wasn't able to find it in twenty-two episodes." [1]
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Special episodes
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 4: 2002–2003
The fourth season covers the end of Bartlet's fourth year and first term in office through the beginning of the first year of his second term. The season begins with the continuation of the election storyline with the president touring the nation and his staff trying to firm up presidential debates. Surprisingly the election is not used as a cliffhanger, but seen as a clear victory for Bartlet, the storyline ending less than halfway through the season in "Election Night." Other plots include Sam leaving the White House to run in a special election in California, Will Bailey taking Sam's position having come from the California campaign's staff, and Vice President Hoynes being forced to resign after a sex scandal is uncovered. The fourth season ends with Bartlet's youngest daughter being taken hostage. Bartlet ends up invoking the 25th Amendment in the final episode, Twenty Five." Since Hoynes had recently resigned, the presidency passes to the Republican Speaker of the House, Glen Allen Walken.
After the difficulties Sorkin encountered in writing Season 3 (see above), he saw Season 4 as a return to the form he and the show had previously enjoyed, saying "[we] came back to work, after the hiatus, and didn't feel any of that, just felt the week-to-week pressure of trying to write well." [2]
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 5: 2003–2004
The fifth season opens with US forces successfully rescuing Zoey Bartlet from her abductors. Bartlet takes the presidency back from Walken, but is forced back into a Season One level of powerlessness. He comes to terms with his actions at the end of Season Four leading to his daughter's kidnapping, a powerful new Republican Speaker of the House (Walken had to resign in order to assume the presidency) who forces Bartlet into several decisions he didn't want including the nomination of a less-than-stellar Democrat, "Bingo Bob" Russell, for Vice President. This conflict with the new Speaker comes to a head in "Shutdown," when the Speaker tries to force Bartlet into cutting federal spending more than had been agreed to and Bartlet refuses to sign the budget (forcing the federal government into a shutdown). Bartlet regains some minor power, cutting a deal to get a liberal Chief Justice of the United States, and season five ends with a bombing in Gaza leading Bartlet to push for Israeli peace talks and Josh to come closer to Donna. The fifth season begins toward the end of Bartlet's first year of his second term (fifth year overall) in office. By the end of the season, however, significantly over a year has elapsed.
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 6: 2004–2005
The sixth season starts with the president negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, Leo having a heart attack and leaving the staff, and the president trying to fund peacekeepers for the accord. Josh is pondering whether he will stay with Bartlet or support a presidential candidate. Three events shape his decision: Santos not running again for Congress, Vinick running for president and Donna leaving the White House to work for the Russell campaign (further fraying Josh and Donna's relationship). The later parts of the season center heavily around the primaries for the 2006 presidential election (in which Bartlet cannot run). Josh leaves with Santos, a Congressman from Texas whom Josh convinced to run for President, on the campaign trail. Leo returns near the end of the season to refocus the Bartlet administration (in a similar style to Season One's "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet") in "365 Days." Russell is the consistent leader for the Democratic nomination with former Vice President Hoynes a close second and Santos a distant third. After another sex scandal, Hoynes is forced into the third position, and Santos ends up winning a closely contested Convention (and announces Leo as his running mate). The final episode also features a leak from the White House about a classified military space shuttle to the press (similar to the real-life Plame affair), which is heavily investigated in Season Seven.
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
Season 7: 2005–2006
The seventh and final season mainly follows Santos and Vinick on the campaign trail, whilst also addressing the aftermath of the shuttle leak investigation. The Bartlet administration's last year in office is featured, but not prominently. Toby admits to leaking the story about a military spacecraft and President Bartlet is forced to fire him. Later, he refuses to name his brother as the source of the classified information. Also, C.J.'s tenure as Chief of Staff becomes more stressful as she deals with the war between Russia and China over Kazakhstan. The presidential race tightens up when Vinick makes a number of mistakes on the campaign trail. Leo suffers a heart attack, and dies on the night of the election, which Santos eventually wins. The last few episodes show the last days of the Bartlet administration and the Santos' transition; in the series finale, Santos is sworn in as President.
| # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
|---|
External links
★ The West Wing Episode Guide
★ Bartlet4America.org Episode Guide
★ The West Wing Unofficial Continuity Guide Episode Guide
★ Political-Affairs.net Complete transcripts of every Josh & Donna scene throughout the entire series
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
Featured Companies
| Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel | |
| Aquaworld Cancun | |
| Dancing Moon Travel |
Newest Companies
List of The West Wing episodes Travel Deals
