NYT: 'West Wing' Writers' Novel Way of Picking the President

[liberalpragmatist]

By JACQUES STEINBERG
Published: April 10, 2006

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.

But 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.

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. At the time of 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.

But after Mr. Spencer died, 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. 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. Spencer's character — was undertaken by John Wells, executive producer of "The West Wing" and "E.R."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/arts/television/10wing.html?ex=1144814400&en=23c27ac6837464e8&ei=5087

[BOSSHOG]

1. Interesting way to meld Fact with Fiction

At least they ensured Leo went out a winner. Next week's episode doesn't look likes it one which should be watched by John Spencer and Leo McGarry fans (like me.) Leo's funeral with the president as pall bearer. That'll be a tough one.

[RufusEarl]

3. Here's my prediction for WW,

I'm going to predict that Sen. Arnold Vinick will be picked as VP for Santo's. It's going to be a healing of america if you will. Anyway it's a thought for the writers of WW, if they haven't got a VP pick already.

[BOSSHOG]

5. They've only got six weeks to do it

I might suggest making Vinnick Secretary of Energy and let him work on alternative sources of energy (like Nuclear.)

[Chef]

2. TV

It's TV. I bet Santos picks Vinick as VP.

[onehandle]

6. Nope.

Sam Seaborn is coming back for last episodes of the series.

It is assumed by many that he is a sitting California Congressman.

My money is on Sam as VP.

[librechik]

4. They should make Alda vice president

a magnanimous gesture, and very intriguing, plot-wise--like all those runors that Kerry would pick McCain