Politics has to be one of the most difficult themes to pull off for any scriptwriter or production team. It’s intense, controversial, and it’s difficult to keep everyone happy with what is portrayed in such a series. Still, The West Wing manages to balance humanity with political severity.
The political drama series was created by Aaron Sorkin and was broadcast from 1999 to 2006. Fans might not be aware just how much the show's narrative has been based on White House dynamics or how starring in the show changed many of the cast members' lives.
Correction (September 10th): An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Larry King instead of Larry David.
Boss-Style
Viewers watching the show might believe Martin Sheen puts on his jacket in a specific way to show his authority and exert some tough masculine energy. However, this is not the case.
The truth is that Sheen suffered an injury during birth, whereby the forceps used to deliver him in the birthing process left his shoulder irrevocably injured. As a result, he never regained full use of his left hand. So when he puts his jacket on in an abrupt, unusual way, it’s not to make some great ‘boss’ statement. Rather, it’s just him using his left hand as best he can.
Characters With A Story
Fans of the show might not realize the extent to which directors did their homework in creating characters for the convincing, compelling series. The character of Josh was modeled after Rahm Emanuel, an adviser to the Clintons, and C.J. Cregg was modeled after Dee Dee Myers, consultant and press secretary for the Clintons.
As such, there’s a lot to be learned from the series and the interactions and relationships which color the narrative. Also, the personalities of the different role players speak volumes about what really goes on in the White House.
Lives Forever Changed
Cast members’ lives were changed in more than one way through being involved in a political drama. Many reported it was hard to become so enmeshed in American politics without the theme of politics and justice forever changing their outlook on life. Melissa Fitzgerald, who played C.J’s assistant, is an example of this.
Following her role in the series, she went on to become the senior director of Justice for Vets. The inner ‘activist’ in her was born through her involvement in the series.
The Story In The Fishbowl
Viewers of The West Wing probably didn’t look too hard inside of the fishbowl which featured in each episode. Ardent fans who watch reruns of the series are encouraged to peek inside the fishbowl during future binge sessions of the show.
This is because directors changed the decorations in C.J’s goldfish bowl in each episode to fully mirror the plot of the episode, and to give sly references to show themes. To give an example, a flag-draped coffin appeared in the bowl during ‘The Stormy President’ episode.
Not All Cheese
It’s true, directors did wax lyrical with certain storylines. Still, there are historical facts in some of the episodes. For example, Andrew Jackson really did have a big block of cheese as Leo McGarry explained in the episode, ‘The Crackpots and These Women.’
Some of the details in this particular episode were wrong, but the White House really did have a cheddar cheese block as big as 1,400 pounds delivered to it, which was a gift from a New York dairy farmer.
Prankster Alert
Show producers have hinted that Josh Malina, who plays Will Bailey in the show, is, in fact, a big prankster, who did many behind-the-scenes pranks which left cast members both laughing and reeling.
According to witness accounts, Malina took great pleasure in changing the language on cast and production team members’ iPods, and would even go so far as to the tear the last pages out of books they were reading! He once even sent Valentine’s Day flowers to Jimmy Smits as a joke.
Doing It Like Kennedy
The man himself, John F. Kennedy, was a huge inspiration in the filming and directing of the show. In the opening credits of the series is a shot of President Bartlet in a specific position which has been modeled after a famous photo of Kennedy, where he's in his office after hearing about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Bartlet speaks of how Kennedy was a huge inspiration for him in conveying the nature and professionalism of a US president to television audiences.
Sorkin’s Secret
Sorkin has never seen the show beyond Season 4 when he made his grand exit. This is because he was advised by Larry David, of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, who contacted him out of the blue to warn against watching the show after his departure from the series.
Larry David had left Seinfeld early and, according to Sorkin, was advising according to personal experience. He told Sorkin it would either depress him, because the show was so good following his departure, or it would be less than good and he would be left miserable.
Two Versions Of One Episode
The show's directors produced two versions of the live debate episode. This was so that a different version could be played, tailormade for each coast of the US. It so happened, however, that only the West Coast version was actually screened.
Still, this is an interesting nugget of information which shows just how much thought went into the making of the series. It's a fact of life that you can't keep everyone happy, but details of this show how far directors would go to try and do so!
Sheen Soars To The Top
Flexibility is essential for directors of any series. As such, one can never say where a series might go. Fans of the West Wing have loved Martin Sheen so much they probably would never have guessed that when he was originally cast in the role, it was for guest appearances only.
President Bartlet was never intended to be such a big brass in the series. However, Sheen pulled off such a convincing president that directors ran with his performances. They realized he was an asset to the story’s progression and should hold more prominence in the series.