F-0278

Title:

The West Wing: 18^th and Potomac

Category:

S

Produced:

TV-Series 1999-2006; 2001 (Episode)

Country:

USA

Released:

TV: May 2001 (USA)
DVD: May 2004 (4-DVD, 8-DVD); Apr 2005 (16-DVD); Dec 2005 (24-DVD); Nov 2006 (45-DVD)

Director:

Robert Berlinger

Writer:

Aaron Sorkin (teleplay); Lawrence O'Donnell (story)

Actors:

Dulé Hill (Charlie Young); Allison Janney (Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg); Rob Lowe (Sam Seaborn); Janel Moloney (Donna Moss); Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler); John Spencer (Leo McGarry); Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman); Martin Sheen (President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet)

Description:

TV-Series:
Inside the lives of staffers in the west wing of the White House.

When the pedantic erudite Democrat Josiah "Jed" Bartlet is elected US president, he installs his administration, including a number of people in the White House, mainly confidants in his electoral campaigns, whose role in the Washington power game -including the chief of staff and his deputy, spokeswoman, speech-writer and lower secretaries- and what passes for personal lives -also involving other regular characters such as the presidents wife and personal servant- make this series, which supposedly follows the political events -often paraphrasing historical reality- almost day by day, more then a political soap as the demands of office on each of them in terms of personal sacrifice and compromising on ideals and principles for tactical necessity allow some insights in many aspects of US society and international politics. Written by KGF Vissers

2^nd Season:
The second season of The West Wing takes up literally where the first season left off and, after a few moments of patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration. The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on lows include "Noel," the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the episodes in which President Bartlet, following a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin.
Other new aspects include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tensions grow between him and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realizes, in the episode "Third State of the Union," that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet that he must go public with his MS, and his staff is forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster, and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drug situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In."
These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are master classes in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. The West Wing is one of the all-time great TV dramas. --David Stubbs

Episode:
With hypothetical polling numbers showing them its political suicide, staffers prepare to announce the President's condition. As they do, a military crisis flares up in Haiti and Josh faces off against two senators who are against the Government's tobacco-industry suit. But as bad as the day seems to be going, a tragedy will come from a car wreck at 18^th and Potomac that will effect everything. (timdalton007)

Language:

English

TT:

42 min / 954 minutes (4-DVD) / 1910 minutes (8-DVD) / 3864 min (16-DVD) / 4810 min (24-DVD)

J.S. Bach's Music:

Air (Mvt. 2) from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Yo-Yo Ma (Cello)

Format:

TV: Color, Dolby
DVD: See below.

Company:

TV: John Wells Productions; Warner Bros. Television; THINKFilm (Washington DC scenes)
DVD: Warner Home Video

Comments:

TV Series "The West Wing": Season 2, Episode 21
4-DVD Set includes: The West Wing - The Complete Second Season
8-DVD Set includes: The West Wing - The Complete First Two Seasons (2-Pack)
16-DVD Set includes: The West Wing - The Complete First Four Seasons (4-Pack)
24-DVD Set includes: The West Wing - The Complete First Five Seasons
45-DVD Set includes: The West Wing - The Complete Series Collection

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

4-DVD: Amazon.com [Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1]
8-DVD: Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Region 1]
16-DVD: Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1]
24-DVD: Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1]
45-DVD: Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen, Region 1]
Video Download: Amazon.com [Season 2, by Episode]

4-DVD>
Download> 8-DVD>
45-DVD>

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)