![]() O'Donnell, who is also a political analyst on MSNBC. "Political talk on TV has degenerated so much," said Mr. As it became tougher to learn much of any substance from programs like "Crossfire" on CNN, now defunct, "The West Wing" seemed to delve deeper into real issues like health care and education, as exemplified by the raw, one-hour live debate last fall between Matt Santos and Arnold Vinick. O'Donnell, a onetime adviser to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, said he was especially proud of the show's response to the increasingly shrill political debate in the real world, particularly on cable news. "You're mistaking celebrity for credibility." Though he would have had little trouble drafting a campaign platform - he is a fierce opponent of nuclear power and the war in Iraq, and a champion of human rights - he turned them down. Not long ago, he said, he was approached by Democratic Party representatives from his native state, Ohio, to see if he would be interested in running for the United States Senate after he left the show. Sheen was offered an opportunity to see how his character's appeal would play in a real-life campaign. Cregg, said Bradley Whitford, who portrays Josh Lyman, most recently manager of the Santos campaign. Appropriately, it shows the president striding around the White House for final goodbyes to the applause of his staff members, in a scene filmed on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, Calif.Īn impromptu cast party followed shortly thereafter in and around the trailer of Allison Janney, who plays Bartlet's chief of staff, C. The final episode of "The West Wing" is not be broadcast until May 14, but the show effectively ended for Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet, and for his fellow cast members on March 31, when they filmed their last scene together. NBC announced in January that primarily because of falling ratings, it was not renewing the series for next season. Spencer, who had been on "The West Wing" since its inception seven years ago, imposed a layer of grief on the sadness and nostalgia the cast would feel in the weeks leading to the final day of production. Spencer's character - was undertaken by John Wells, executive producer of "The West Wing" and "E.R." Smits's character lose both his running mate and the election? The writers decided that such an outcome would prove too lopsided, in terms of taxing viewers' emotions, so a script with the new, bittersweet ending - including the election-night death of Mr. ![]() O'Donnell said in a recent interview, he and his colleagues began to confront a creative dilemma: would viewers be saddened to see Mr. Spencer's death, the plot for last night's episode had been set: the election was to be won by Alan Alda's Arnold Vinick, a maverick Republican (modeled a bit on Senator John McCain), whom many Democrats (including the Democrats who write the show) could learn to love.īut after Mr. Instead, Lawrence O'Donnell, an executive producer of the show, said he and his fellow writers had declared Santos the winner only after the death, in mid-December, of John Spencer, who portrayed Santos's running mate, Leo McGarry. Ironically the missing line would have made Matt smile.Like many political campaigns, the presidential election depicted last night on "The West Wing" on NBC would have had a different ending had it been held four months ago.īut the reversal of fortune for Matt Santos - the Democratic nominee, played by Jimmy Smits, who was the victor - had nothing to do with any shift in opinion among voters. They must have filmed Matt's scene before Jed's and he added to the letter covering up the existing signature. Interestingly, in the scene where Santos opens the letter, the last line is missing and it's signed Best Wishes, Jed Bartlet, which he did not have time to write when he was finishing it with Debbie. Remember we can't always do great things but we can do the things with great luck! May your wisdom and experience guide you through the next four years. It's hard to make out, but the site says it reads:Ĭongratulations to you and your family. The two letters are not the same as the one Santos opens is missing a line and never completely visible on screen. The first image is the letter as Santos reads it, the second two are when Bartlet was writing it. These are the best screenshots I've been able to get of the letter.
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