NBC's 'West Wing' Election Is Up for Grabs

[bluestateguy]

My comments on this: While I obviously favor Santos, I am so far lukewarm about his candidacy. His proposals to end teacher tenure and have nationally mandated year round schooling are bad, Bad, BAD!!



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It's shaping up as the biggest political battle ever portrayed on a U.S. television series, but the executive producer of "The West Wing" swears he has no idea whether a Democrat or Republican will be elected the show's next president.

John Wells insists that real-life politics has little bearing on the outcome of the fictional White House race now unfolding on the Emmy-winning NBC series between candidates played by former "M*A*S*H" star Alan Alda (news) (the Republican) and "NYPD Blue" veteran Jimmy Smits (the Democrat).

Instead, Wells says the show's next occupant of the Oval Office, succeeding current star Martin Sheen, will be determined by which character the writers ultimately feel is the "most compelling" to the audience.

"I don't know yet," Wells told a recent gathering of TV critics. "We actually watch what's happening between the cast members, the issues that are being presented ... and try and follow what makes the most story sense, what's giving you the greatest amount of drama."

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=579&e=2&u=/nm/20050205/en_nm/leisure_westwing_dc

[pres2032]

1. i want santos to win

but would wouldn't mind if alda won too. I could watch either as president.

[SharonRB]

2. If Alan Alda wins,

they'll have to change the entire cast. All the Democrats will be gone and he'll have to bring in a whole new slew of Repukes.

[bluestateguy]

3. (This is also a reply to #1) I tend to think next season is the last one

Martin Sheen is being phased out of the show and it would be difficult to credibly transplant over 80% of the cast in the shows 7th season and then expect the show to thrive.

[pres2032]

5. that's what i've heard too

if santos wins, they can at least keep Josh and maybe Donna if they ever get together.

[SharonRB]

7. I think they're finally moving in the direction

of them getting together. I think that's why they had her stop working for him -- so they could finally get it on.

They could also keep CJ and Toby, I think. And maybe a few others. If Alda wins, though, all bets are off.

[pres2032]

10. though i thought we were there at the end of the 5th season

when it ended with Josh over Donna's bed, but then they forgot about it when the 6th season started. I think if Alda wins, he could still take Josh.

[Dr Ron]

15. Could work in many characters

Josh would be the most obvious to continue, perhaps as Chief of Staff, if Smits winds. It would be very easy for him to hire Donna, but would also be believable to hire others from the previous administration.

If Alda wins, the previous characters would only work if shown working for the Democratic opposition in various functions. This would make it hard to be regular characters for a prolonged period.

I guess they could gradually introduce new Republican characters over this and next season so that it wouldn't be an abrupt change, but I think they'd be better off with a situation where they can keep a few old characters around for continuity.

[liberalpragmatist]

6. It might work to have a totally new cast

I'm skeptical, but it would be like a new show and it might create new situations and new drama that wouldn't be possible with the same cast.

But the risk when you have such an overhaul is that you'll lose the audience that you had.

I'm actually sort of hoping for an Alda win. Yeah, I know - West Wing is our left-wing fantasy land, but it might be interesting to have a progressive Republican rather than Santos. Alda's character Vinick seems much more the heir to Bartlet than Santos given that he appears far more principled. It would create some new dynamics and if Vinick is a pretty maverick Republican, maybe he'll retain some of the staff - maybe Josh, for instance? (doubt it, but maybe).

[Not_Giving_Up]

8. The show was originally about the STAFFERS...not the prez

Just because Sheen will be gone, the show can live on. Look at all of the cast changes law and Order has been through...still going strong (and ever expanding!)

[pres2032]

9. right, sheen was only supposed to be in 4 or 5 eps a season

but people loved his performance in the pilot so much that they decided to make him a regular cast member

[Not_Giving_Up]

11. Yep...that little tidbit is revealed in the DVD set of season 1 n/t

[lapfog_1]

4. But on the plus side

the current cast can trash the set and leave "porn bombs" and
remove keys from computer keyboards and stuff on their way out.

[merh]

12. Yeah, that's right!

And another upshot! Sheen can run for governor of Ohio and then the real pres. He would be one hell of a real pres. Martin Sheen in 2016 (if not before!) :bounce:

[Darth_Ole]

13. I have mixed feelings about continuing the show.

While the staff was the original focus of the show, Bartlett (and thus, Martin Sheen) is the driving force of the show. When I think of episodes like "Two Cathedrals," this point seems really apparent. I think they should have ended the show with Bartlett's last day in office. It's still a good show, but it's become more like a soap opera, with the crazy plots and whatnot.

I wish they'd made Alan Alda the Democrat. I think he's the better actor than Jimmy Smits (I think Smits is horrible and can't stand him as president.) Then he could have made Josh chief of staff. Oh well. Maybe that's why I'm not writing for the West Wing.

[elfin]

14. Read somewhere that Smits has signed

on to start a new series. Alda likes character roles - don't see him doing the series - where is Matheson? Is he officially out of the running?

[Borgnine]

16. I'm so conflicted.

I love The West Wing, or rather, I loved the first four seasons. When Sorkin left, the writing lost its sparkle. That said, I'm still a slave to it every Wednesday night.

As far as the election goes, I'm still upset that they skipped over an entire year of the Bartlet Administration just to hurry up and get some ratings with campaign storylines. That's not The West Wing I grew to love, but oh well. Santos does nothing for me, even if he is the Democrat, and Alan Alda as a McCain-style Republican is the most interesting, but I don't want Republicans taking over my liberal fantasyland. I'm really for Hoynes (the original VP on the show), but I know from spoilers that it won't be so.

Nobody will ever be as good as Sheen was. Hell, I wish he'd change his name to Jed Barlet and run for office in 2008.

[bmbmd]

17. The ninety per cent of us in the middle

wish for a real world government where republicans and democrats work together for the common good, who love country more than party, and are able to sacrifice and compromise. I, like John Kerry, was enthralled with the idea of John McCain as a VP candidate. Look for Allen Alda to be elected president, and Jimmy Smits to be his running mate. Art imitating life, almost.