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1* {{Adorkable}}:
2** Sam may be very smart and very pretty but he's also hilariously awkward. One example would be his rambling about C.J. and her teeth (He's mad about dental healthcare, by his words) or about the route he thinks Mendoza will take when driving from Nova Scotia to D.C.
3--->'''Toby:''' Something really kinda freakish about you, you know that?
4** Sorkin once described Sam as a character who "doesn't realize he looks like Rob Lowe."
5** Barry Haskell is adorably star-struck and nervous as he gets the chance to visit the West Wing for the first time in his life.
6** Donna's quirkiness is very endearing. Examples include spending part of an episode politely but firmly telling a bird tapping on her window to go away, raising her hand to speak the first time she's contributing to a senior staff discussion in the Oval Office, and the way in which she tells C.J. the names of the turkeys she must choose to be pardoned for Thanksgiving.
7** Will, especially during his early days in the White House. He insists on not crossing the "holy line of demarcation" into the West Wing and goes down in incoherent flames the first time he encounters the President.
8* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
9** Regarding Toby's downfall in the final season, (as explained below under FanonDiscontinuity) it is both possible and plausible that he's [[spoiler:covering for CJ. She has a history of turning to the press corps when she feels the rest of the administration is being dishonest, and Toby has always had paternal feelings about CJ - after all, he's the one who brought her on board in the first place.]]
10** Speaking of Toby and CJ, are they in love? Exes? On ''Podcast/TheWestWingWeekly,'' Richard Schiff confessed in the "In Excelsis Deo" episode that, at the end of "Mr. Willis of Ohio," he achieved a blank, neutral facial expression by imagining what it would be like to have sex with Allison Janney. As Joshua Malina later commented, this casts a whole new light on the oddly flirty moments between the two characters.
11** [[https://archive.thinkprogress.org/josiah-bartlet-was-a-mediocre-president-f1532df9185e Some people]] feel that Bartlet is more successful at tearing down his political opponents than meaningfully helping the American people with his power. His list of domestic accomplishments throughout the show is relatively limited for a two-term president.
12* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/TheWestWing Has a sub-page]] now.
13* BaseBreakingCharacter: Sam. Some consider him a core part of the show (and that his absence hurt it), but for others he comes across as too arrogant and blundering.
14* BizarroEpisode:
15** "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS03E01IsaacAndIshmael}} Isaac and Ishmael]]" was written as a preemption of the Season 3 premiere after the September 11th attacks, and opens with the cast members explaining that it's a "storytelling aberration" that doesn't fit into the show's timeline.
16** "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS06E19NinetyMilesAway}} Ninety Miles Away]]" largely splits off from the long-running election storyline in favor of an apologia about how America should have been friends with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro this whole time, complete with a ridiculous shot of him waiting for Leo in the shadows that, despite the episode's theme, makes him look like a Franchise/JamesBond villain.
17* DesignatedVillain: Both of Bartlet's Vice Presidents, in a somewhat nuanced way. Neither Hoynes nor Russell ever seem to do that much wrong to justify the level of contempt and scorn they receive from the main cast, but they have certain flaws that the White House staff tend to focus on. Hoynes is a smart, serious guy and a legitimate politician, but he's a narcissist who feels like he deserved the presidency and so lacks any kind of loyalty or respect for Bartlet. [[spoiler: Plus, [[WhamEpisode he cheated on his wife and lied about secret NASA files to do it]].]] Russell is generally considered a lightweight and a moron, though at various points the show hints that he's a MagnificentBastard engaged in ObfuscatingStupidity. Generally speaking, the two are just outsiders to the close-as-family dynamic of the main cast.
18* DryDockedShip: CJ and Toby are speculated to be exes by not only the fandom but also director Thomas Schlamme said they had a potential ex lovers relationship on podcast The West Wing Weekly.
19* EnsembleDarkHorse: ''The West Wing'' was littered with colorful recurring characters and guest characters that fit in exceedingly well with the main cast. A fair amount were so good that the writers debated bringing them back in for further appearances, and those that didn't return usually couldn't because of either the schedules of the performer or the need to adhere to a specific story arc. Some of these characters include:
20** Ainsley Hayes, an intelligent and even-minded Republican character who was able to have a back-and-forth with Sam. Sorkin would later admit that letting Emily Procter leave the show was his biggest mistake - he had the option when her contract expired to bring her back as a full member of the cast, but decided not to as he wasn't sure he had any stories to write for the character.
21** Lionel Tribbey, a righteous White House Counsel whose existence allows John Larroquette the opportunity to [[LargeHam bathe in a river of ham.]] For bonus points, he even gets to bounce off of Ainsley Hayes, whom he hates, in several scenes.
22** A particularly meaningful example comes from Senator Howard Stackhouse from Minnesota, a 78-year-old who stands there and filibusters for ''at least nine hours,'' all in an ultimately successful attempt to secure funding for research into Autism Spectrum Disorder, as his grandson has it. He's unsurprisingly a favorite among families of autistic people.
23** Oliver Babish, Tribbey's successor, who adheres to a strict moral code and projects a confidence that allows him to speak candidly with both the President and the First Lady over their respective obstacles during the multiple sclerosis scandal.
24** Bruno Gianelli, a campaign manager with a high success rate, who - while not deferring to a particular political party - professes himself as someone who listens intently to the wants of the American people, preferring that to telling them what they should want. As a result, he coolly and calmly probing the Bartlet staff on how to function during Seasons 3 and 4, even calling out the President for not giving him proper flexibility to do his job.
25** Joe Quincy, a male version of Ainsley Hayes that offered Creator/MatthewPerry the chance to successfully [[PlayingAgainstType play against type.]]
26** Staff assistants Margaret and Carol are two of the longest-lasting assistants and supporting cast members throughout the series, and are often hilarious when they show up.
27** [[AssInAmbassador Lord John Marbury]] is often cited as one of the more memorable side characters, being a British UpperClassTwit [[ObfuscatingStupidity hiding a profound intellect]].
28** [[GentlemanSnarker Bernard Thatch]] only appears in two episodes for minor subplots, but is instantly memorable for having a British accent so posh he could curdle milk, and being a massive sarcastic asshole ([[JerkWithAHeartOfGold who has his moments of kindness]]).
29* FanNickname: "Mandyville" is the fandom's name for ChuckCunninghamSyndrome and PutOnABus, after main character Mandy Hampton vanishes between seasons, never to be spoken of again... even though the President and Josh were shot in the last episode she appeared in.[[note]]In technical terms, the first trope is for characters who vanish ''permanently'' without explanation; the second if the absence is temporary or explained. Mandyville is used for both instances.[[/note]]
30* {{Fanon}}:
31** The unanimously-accepted fact that Josh is called on a regular basis "mi amore" by CJ (she does it only once or twice on the actual show.) and "pumpkin patch" by Donna (happened once on the show).
32** Sam becomes President in all future-fics that mention him. Exceptions are rare and do not occur without a very significant and compelling reason. This, at least, has its roots in President Bartlet's remark, "You're going to run for President one day. Don't be scared. You can do it."
33** Fandom seems to unanimously agree that Josh and Donna will have a son together whose name will be Noah (after Josh' father). According to the characters' twitter accounts their kids are named Leo, Jackie and Noah, though Noah is a girl.
34** A popular theory about the show's AlternateHistory is that UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was impeached and removed from office as a result of the Watergate scandal, resulting in a Special Election in 1974. This would explain why the show's cycle of elections is off by two years (with Presidential elections in 1998, 2002 and 2006), and also why the cast's general attitude towards politics is so [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealistic]].
35* FanonDiscontinuity:
36** For some, the entire post-Sorkin run is something they refuse to acknowledge and instead only watch the first four seasons.
37** Toby [[spoiler:leaking the information about the military shuttle]] in the last season. Even Richard Schiff said that it was out of character, and acted the episodes [[spoiler:as though Toby was taking the fall for someone else]].
38* FanonWelding: Some fans of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and ''The West Wing'' consider Mike Casper to be Phil Coulson given that they are played by [[Creator/ClarkGregg the same actor]] and share the same role as government agents, as well as the having the same personality. There are even entire fanfics that have Casper and Coulson to be one and the same. Amusingly, Clark Gregg ''loves'' this theory and totally encourages it.
39* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}.'' It helps that Creator/LinManuelMiranda is a big ''West Wing'' fan and sprinkled references to it throughout the libretto. Miranda even wrote a set of lyrics set to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TTD5-3fuZE the show's theme tune]] for ''Podcast/TheWestWingWeekly''. Miranda also appeared in the HBO Max Benefit for When We Vote for a segment about voting, getting mocked by Janel Moloney while he did so.
40* GeniusBonus:
41** In one episode, Sam takes it upon himself to cut government spending by eliminating pointless reports. One of the "pointless" reports they decide to scrap is about "some mussel in the Great Lakes". This is a real issue RippedFromTheHeadlines, as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_mussel#North_American_invasion zebra mussel]] is an invasive species (akin to the rabbits of Australia) that's causing significant problems in North American waterways.
42** When [[spoiler: Simon Donovan is gunned down]], the convenience store owner knocks over a display of red and white roses. Simultaneously, the main cast is at a performance of a play about the ''UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses'', so called because the two sides each had roses as the symbol for their houses- the rose of York was white, the rose of Lancaster was red. UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor - born out of the end of the war - combined these two symbols to signify the alliance of the two houses.
43** Creator/AaronSorkin really seems to love making jokes [[RedScare about]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alger_Hiss Alger Hiss and his secret pumpkin.]]
44* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Despite being a program entirely about American politics (which are confusing even to Americans) and which constantly extols the virtues of a liberal democratic (small L, small D) system of government, the show is extremely popular in China.
45* HarsherInHindsight:
46** In the season finale of Season 1 "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS01E22WhatKindOfDayHasItBeen}} What Kind Of Day Has It Been?]]", the space shuttle Columbia has a problem wherein on of its bay doors fails to close. Three years later, a similar problem with insulation damage to the wing caused the destruction of the real life Columbia, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew. It could also be considered a twofer, as in the same episode the President half-seriously threatens to invade Baghdad.
47** "[...] at this moment we do not know the whereabouts of about a half-dozen cell leaders, including bin Laden[...]" -Original air date, October 4th 2000.
48** In the Season 4 premier "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS04E01TwentyHoursInAmericaPartOne}} 20 Hours In America, Part 1]]", Leo and Fitz are discussing the assassination of Abdul ibn Shareef, which was carried out by the U.S. Fitz explains, "These were Navy [=SEALs=]. These were Special Ops. They know what they're doing."
49** UsefulNotes/DonaldRumsfeld's mentioned in " [[{{Recap/TheWestWingS01E09TheShortList}} The Short List]]" as one of the great White House staffers (he served in Nixon and Ford's administrations), admittedly by a Republican character. Doubtful whether he'd receive the same praise a decade later, after his controversial tenure as Defense Secretary during the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration.
50** The mention in "18th and Potomac" (originally aired on May 9, 2001) that "There's a situation developing in Port-Au-Prince, I have to get ready to brief." and the Haiti sub-plot at the beginning of season 4 were references to the 1991 Haitian coup d'état and subsequent U.S. intervention to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide (especially the latter). They both predate the 2004 Haitian coup d'état, in which it is alleged that the U.S. intervened again to ''remove'' Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
51** "The government can't be in the business of cosigning loans." -Original air date, May 1st, 2002. Non-interventionist ideals of 2002, meet the 2008 financial crisis.
52** Leo has a heart attack in season six shortly after an argument with Bartlet. It's shown in ''excruciating'' detail. In season seven, both the character ''and the actor'' would die of a heart attack.
53*** In the very first episode of Season 7, Leo offers to resign from the ticket if Santos thinks he's dragging it down. Santos tells him the only way he can get out of it is to have another heart attack.
54*** After Leo's first heart attack, he tells President Bartlet that this is the last chance to get things done, and that they should "leave it all on the field." Spencer did.
55** In the first-season episode "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS01E06MrWillisOfOhio}} Mr. Willis Of Ohio]]", Zoey Bartlet has a somewhat uncomfortable experience in a bar when a couple of guys hit on her; she gets rescued by the rest of the cast and, ultimately, some Secret Service agents. When she gets back to the White House, her father goes into elaborate detail about how if anything happened to her, it would essentially bring the government to its knees, as "we wouldn't have a commander in chief anymore; we'd have a father who's out of his mind because his little girl is trapped somewhere in Uganda with a gun to her head." Seems over the top, right? Not after the end of Season 4, when Zoey's FrenchJerk boyfriend slips ecstasy into her drink and she ends up being kidnapped, and her father finds he cannot think and act rationally in the situation and invokes the 25th Amendment, temporarily handing over power to the Republican Speaker of the House. Also in that speech, Zoey and her father talk about how the Secret Service should worry about [her father] getting shot. Guess what happens in the first season finale/second season premiere?
56** Sam in Season 1: "20s and 30s, it was the role of government; 50s and 60s, it was civil rights; the next two decades, it's going to be privacy. I'm talking about the internet. I'm talking about cell phones." In the wake of the NSA leaks and general concerns over corporate data mining from Google and others, it turns out Sam was right on the money.
57** In "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS06E20InGodWeTrust}} In God We Trust]]" (made in 2005), a mini-crisis emerges after Democrats in Congress attach a minimum wage rider to the bill to raise the debt ceiling that Republicans won't pass, threatening to default the United States. Senator Vinick, a Republican, confronts Bartlet about Democrats "playing games" with the debt ceiling. Flash forward to 2011 and 2013, and arguments about Congress raising the debt ceiling suddenly become a lot more relevant -- only this time, it's the Republicans who are "playing games" with the debt ceiling.
58** Any of Sam's political gaffes are pretty hard to watch after Creator/RobLowe's callous joking about the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, and then refusing to apologize for them.
59** Josh meets with a programmer who has lost two jobs to outsourcing. The programmer asks if he should keep switching careers until he ends up a clerk at [[{{Creator/Netflix}} a video rental store]].
60** Supreme Court Justice Ashland is introduced as being terminally ill with cancer but refusing to resign due to feeling that no one Bartlett could appoint to replace him will be a worthy replacement. These scenes take on a harsher undertone after Ruth Bader Ginsburg refused to resign for similar reasons and ended up dying during a Republican administration, who replaced her with someone ideologically opposite to her. The exact same debate happened after Joe Biden was elected US President, this time with Justice Stephen Breyer, until he in fact did retire in early 2022, making it unlikely his replacement would end up blocked.
61** In "The Supremes," Judge Shelton is treated pretty dismissively for being a centrist who views the facts of each case with no political bias. By the 2010s, with the Supreme Court heavily divided along ideological lines (and with a growing conservative majority), many people are sick of that partisan maneuvering and would be delighted to have objective centrists like Shelton deciding the nation's most important cases.
62** The show's insistence on dialog with "good" Republicans and compromising even with "bad" Republicans, doesn't look as good in the light of elements of the Republican Party's turn to the far right beginning in 2008 with the racist backlash against the election of a black president and the leadership's increasing intransigence.
63** In [[{{Recap/TheWestWingS04E03CollegeKids}} College Kids]], Bartlet off-handedly mentions that the internet has been great for hate groups. Come the 2010s, the proliferation of such groups has moved to primarily online spaces, with far-right American groups, in particular, wielding the online space to induct and radicalize members with amazing efficiency, including those who participated in and helped enable the January 6th riot.
64** The fact that Barlet's administration hid his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis isn't exactly treated frivolously, but he ultimately decides to run for re-election despite potentially becoming impaired while in office as a result of his condition. This hits a rather awkward tone with voters now; the 2024 Presidential Election is set to be between Joe Biden (who would be 82 when sworn in if he wins) and Donald Trump (who would be 78). Both candidates regularly have their health and mental competence questioned in the media, with the (sometimes serious) joke being made that a vote for them is actually a vote for their vice president.
65* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
66** The Bartlet administration presiding over the appointment of Roberto Mendoza (a Latino ex-police officer from a working-class Brooklyn family) to the Supreme Court, thus making him the first Latino Supreme Court justice in history. Nine years after Mendoza's first appearance on the show, the Obama administration actually ''did'' preside over the appointment of the first Latino Supreme Court justice: Sonia Sotomayor, who came from a working-class Puerto Rican family in the Bronx.
67** An early episode in Season 1 involved Sam trying (and ultimately failing) to get support from Congressmen in his efforts to get the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy repealed. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was officially repealed by the Obama administration in 2011 (11 years after that episode aired), giving homosexuals the right to openly serve in the military for the first time in American history.
68** In the first episode to air in 2005, Toby and Vice President Russell have a quick debate about how to proceed with a "sanctity of marriage" rider on a budget bill. Russell warns Toby that if they approach the subject wrong, it'll set back gay rights 50 years, but approaching it correctly will lead to marriage equality in 10 years. As it turns out, Russell NAILED it. 2015, exactly 10 years later, saw the Supreme Court rule on Obergefell v Hodges, granting nationwide marriage equality.
69* HilariousInHindsight:
70** In the Season 5 episode "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS05E10TheStormyPresent}} The Stormy Present]]" James Cromwell has a guest role as former President of the United States D. Wire Newman (casually called '''D.W.'''), a loose FictionalCounterpart to UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter. Cromwell would later go on to play RealLife former president [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush George]] '''[[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush H.W.]]''' [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush Bush]] in the 2008 UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush biopic ''Film/{{W}}''. Season 4 also features actor James Brolin as Robert Ritchie, the Governor of Florida and the Republican Presidential nominee, who was widely believed to be a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed caricature of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush; Brolin's son [[Creator/JoshBrolin Josh]] would later play Bush in the same film.
71** The race between Santos and Vinick has some quite eerie similarities to the 2008 presidential election, with a young and idealistic minority Democrat beating an elderly, moderate-leaning Republican. The parallels just get weirder from there: the Democratic candidate chooses a much older Washington insider as his running mate (Joe Biden vs. Leo [=McGarry=]) while the Republican candidate's running mate is the much younger Governor of a sparsely populated US state known for its rich mineral resources (Ray Sullivan of West Virginia vs. UsefulNotes/SarahPalin of Alaska), and the Democratic candidate decides to appoint one of his foremost political rivals Secretary of State (Arnold Vinick vs. UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton).
72** In the aforementioned episode "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS03E18Stirred}} Stirred]]", the senior staff floats the idea of replacing Hoynes with Leo as Bartlet's running mate. In the final seasons of the show, Leo was the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Democratic party.
73** Kathryn Joosten plays Bartlet's secretary, and is then replaced by Lily Tomlin. The two actresses would later play sisters in ''Series/DesperateHousewives''.
74** Creator/MartinSheen's pronunciation of the "hu" sound as "yu," after it became a popular way to mock Donald Trump.
75** One of the big reasons that Vinick's brain trust try to talk him out of running again in 2010 is the fact that he would be 70 years old at the time, too old for a first-term President. Cut to 2016, and Donald Trump would be exactly 70 when he was elected. Four years later, Joe Biden then turned ''78'' a few weeks after being elected in 2020, making Team Vinick's concern seem quaint. Vinick even tries protesting that "70 is the new 60," and while his own attempts are in vain, the American people in real life seem to agree with him.
76** Lawrence Lessig, the Constitutional scholar portrayed by Creator/ChristopherLloyd in [[Recap/TheWestWingS06E14TheWakeUpCall "The Wake Up Call"]] (6x14), is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig a real person]]. He would later [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig_presidential_campaign,_2016 have a go at the Presidency himself.]]
77** In the first half of Season 4, Will and Sam's recurring subplot revolves around the impossibility of a Democratic representative getting elected in Orange County, California. Fast-forward to 2018, when ''all six'' of Orange's congressional districts were won by Democrats, although some of them flipped back in 2020 and were solidified as Republican seats following redistricting. Not to mention the district in question, the 47th, actually did elect a Democrat in the 2002 midterms and has been solidly Democrat since.
78** The Surgeon General's remarks regarding the decriminalization of marijuana and the resulting situation in ''Ellie'' is this in the face of several states having either decriminalized or legalized marijuana in the years since the episode aired.
79** Zoe and Josh would later [[Series/TheHandmaidsTale lead a rebellion against a Fascist government]].
80** In "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc", President Bartlet asks whether anyone knows what the translation to the titular Latin expression is. When Josh provides it, Bartlet says [[Music/ArianaGrande "Thank you, next"]].
81** Creator/ClarkGregg played an FBI agent in a few episodes. It's easy to [[FanonWelding imagine him getting promoted]] to [[Film/TheAvengers2012 S.H.I.E.L.D.]] down the road.
82* LessDisturbingInContext
83-->'''CJ''' (''who has stolen Charlie's Presidential schedule as punishment for his draconian logbook practices''): You'll find it in your filing cabinet, under A. For Anal.
84-->'''Ed''': ...I don't really want to know what he's going to find in his filing cabinet, do you?
85-->'''Larry''': No.
86* MemeticMutation: You don't tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing.
87** To ensure that you don't you must go outside, turn three times, curse and spit.
88** Josh drinks from the keg of glory - bring him the finest muffins and bagels in all the land.
89** DONNA!
90*** MARGARET!
91*** GINGER!
92** What's next?
93** Bartlet For America
94* MisBlamed: Many critics accuse Creator/AaronSorkin of making the show a liberal triumphalist fantasy, citing the Bartlet Administration's success at reforming Social Security, solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and getting a Democratic successor. All of those plot points happened ''after'' Sorkin left the show; during his tenure, the administration was consistently portrayed as well-meaning, but with more than their share of gaffes, mistakes and failures.
95* {{Moe}}: Donna and Zoe.
96* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Creator/AaronSorkin left after Season 4 due to CreativeDifferences with Creator/{{NBC}}, leaving John Wells to run the show for the last three seasons. Season 5 had [[Recap/TheWestWingS05E08Shutdown its]] [[Recap/TheWestWingS05E17TheSupremes moments]] but was generally considered [[SeasonalRot pretty bad]]. Seasons 6 and especially 7 were a big improvement, and fine seasons of television in their own right, but didn't quite reach the heights of the show's early years.
97* QuestionableCasting: Creator/EdONeill has made a couple of guest appearances as the Governor of Pennsylvania, who is the frontrunner among the candidates for President. Not exactly the character expected from the actor who played Al Bundy in ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''. Though it is mentioned that [[ActorAllusion he's popular with the urban blue-collar working class]] among the Rust Belt...
98* RetroactiveRecognition:
99** The first five minutes of the show are even more entertaining after having seen ''Series/{{House}}'', given Lisa Edelstein's presence.
100** Additionally, Laurie has a friend from law school played by Reiko Aylesworth, who was a few years away from starting up as Michelle Dessler on ''Series/TwentyFour''.
101** Creator/NickOfferman shows up in "The Crackpots and These Women" as a member of an environmental group seeking a "wolves only" highway, years before he would be part of [[Series/ParksAndRecreation an entirely different kind of government]].
102** Sam Lloyd appears as someone who wants the White House to pay more attention to [=UFOs=], a few years before gaining more recognition as Ted on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''.
103** Creator/EricBalfour is an abrasive frat boy who tries to hit on Zoey in "Mr. Willis of Ohio".
104** Creator/LanceReddick appears as the cop who clues Toby in on the deceased Korean War veteran in "In Excelsis Deo", shortly before growing more prominent through his appearances in ''Series/TheWire'', ''Series/{{Oz}}'', ''Series/{{Lost}}'', and ''Series/{{Fringe}}''.
105** Creator/LizaWeil is Karen Larsen, the woman who leaks Leo's history of drug and alcohol abuse to Peter Lillianfield's associate in "Take Out the Trash Day".
106** Creator/KennethChoi has a very brief role as a member of the Secret Service in "Six Meetings Before Lunch" before getting some greater recognition for playing Jim Morita in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, Henry Lin in ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', and Judge Lance Ito in ''[[Series/AmericanCrimeStory The People v. O.J. Simpson]]''.
107** Andy Buckley is Congressman Mike Satchel in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", many years before earning recognition as David Wallace in ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''.
108** Creator/JaneLynch appears in a pair of Season 2 episodes as a reporter in the White House briefing room.
109** Creator/JamesDenton is Tom Jordan in "The Midterms", and would go on to feature in ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' as Mike Delfino.
110** Emily Procter's role as Ainsley Hayes is arguably this, given her more prominent role as Calleigh Dusquesne in ''Series/CSIMiami''.
111** [[Series/{{Parenthood}} Sam Jaeger]] is a White House reporter in "In the White House".
112** Daniel Roebuck, perhaps most recognizable as Dr. Arzt on ''Series/{{Lost}}'', is Lt. Buckley, who attempts to reprimand CJ in "And It's Surely To Their Credit".
113** Creator/ClarkGregg plays FBI Agent Michael Casper in several episodes scattered between seasons two through five. Partially as a result of this, some [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] fans (as well as Gregg himself) like to think that Phil Coulson worked with the White House before S.H.I.E.L.D. hired him.
114** [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise John Billingsley]] turns up as Dr. John Fallow in "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail".
115** Creator/GlennMorshwower appeared sporadically as Situation Room advisor Mike Chysler just before ''Series/TwentyFour'' began airing and he became known for playing Aaron Pierce.
116** [[Series/ModernFamily Eric Stonestreet]] plays a White House aide in "Bad Moon Rising".
117** Creator/LawrenceODonnell of MSNBC fame worked on ''The West Wing'' as a writer and producer and appeared as Jed Bartlet's father in "Two Cathedrals".
118** [[Series/SexAndTheCity Evan Handler]] plays conservative political strategist Douglas Wegland early in Season 3.
119** [[Series/{{Deadwood}} Jim]] [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Beaver]] plays a reporter in "Manchester (Part 1)".
120** [[Series/RoyalPains Mark Feuerstein]] is Cliff Calley.
121** Creator/TyBurrell is Tom Starks in "The Women of Qumar".
122** [[Series/BostonLegal Christian Clemenson]] portrays Evan Woodkirk in "The Women of Qumar".
123** For those who didn't become aware of him until ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', there's Creator/MarkHarmon, who appeared for four episodes in Season 3 as a Secret Service Agent assigned to protect CJ.
124** Creator/GregoryItzin plays a State Department Official in "Enemies Foreign and Domestic".
125** Creator/EvanRachelWood appears as Hogan Cregg in "The Black Vera Wang", near the end of her time on ''Series/OnceAndAgain'', but before her breakthrough role in ''Film/Thirteen2003''.
126** David Burtka, who would play a recurring role on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' before becoming Creator/NeilPatrickHarris' husband, is Intern Bruce in "The Black Vera Wang".
127** Creator/AmyAdams is Cathy from the premiere episode of Season 4.
128** Appearing with Amy Adams is [[Creator/JohnGallagherJr John Gallagher, Jr.]], who would later become a main cast member in Sorkin's ''Series/TheNewsroom''.
129** Creator/AshleyBenson has a small appearance as a girl in "Game On".
130** Just a few years before becoming [[Franchise/{{Saw}} Jigsaw]], Creator/TobinBell was military advisor Colonel Whitcomb in "Process Stories".
131** [[Series/{{Scandal}} Jeff Perry]] guest stars in "Privateers" as a corporate whistleblower.
132** Navid Negahban, later a prominent antagonist in ''Series/{{Homeland}}'' as Abu Nazir, is Maz in "Memorial Day".
133** Creator/BellamyYoung is [=MaryLou=] Meriwether, the lawyer who meets with Josh about the Bill of Rights, in "The Stormy Present".
134** Just a few years before ''Series/BreakingBad'', Dean Norris played Republican Party Chairman Steve Hodder in two episodes of Season 7.
135** [[Series/{{Community}} Danny Pudi]] appears briefly as one of Santos' aides in "Two Weeks Out".
136** In the Japanese dub, this series was Creator/TakuyaSato's debut role as voice actor voicing Charlie Young.
137** After [[spoiler: prosecuting Toby about the space shuttle fiasco,]] Mr. Blake - U.S. Attorney (Matt Letscher) went back to the year 2000 and [[Series/TheFlash2014 murdered Barry Allen's mother.]]
138*** Tobin Bell (Colonel Whitcomb) also went on to voice a main villain on The Flash.
139** Zoey was a small recurring role for a young Creator/ElisabethMoss who then went on to become a major TV presence in shows like ''Series/MadMen'' and ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale''.
140* SeasonalRot:
141** Everything post-Creator/AaronSorkin, but mainly the fifth season. Attitudes to seasons 6 and 7 are generally split pretty evenly down the middle; on one hand the actual West Wing was sidelined, but at the same time the plot tried something new and focused on the presidential election. The main problem with Season 5 was that it tried too hard to top the previous series by introducing too many new constitutional challenges (the 25th amendment invocation, the federal government shut-down, etc). Other common criticisms were focused on the impossibility of imitating Sorkin's unique dialogue, the show's shift toward an ''Series/{{ER}}'' sensibility (the creation of the last producer standing after the departure of Sorkin and Schlamme), the breaks from form (which were often seen as VerySpecialEpisode in tone), and the retrofitting of characters to create drama. While the sixth and seventh seasons were markedly better, they can fall into FanonDiscontinuity territory even among fans who enjoyed them, as they seem to stand alone from the original show.
142** The third season isn't exactly beloved:
143*** It introduced a handful of {{Base Breaking Character}}s (carrying a RomanticPlotTumor) and suffered from ExecutiveMeddling, all of which would be standard Sorkin if not for the lack of an overarching plot and ValuesDissonance. The first six episodes were written before 9/11 and a direct continuation of the major plot line started in the second half of season two, but several instances of IntendedAudienceReaction later, that plot was dispensed with and the show lost its centre. Was it a personal drama about the president and his Deputy Chief of Staff? Were the activities of the administration primarily political or was the show merely a vehicle to discuss Islamic terrorism? It doesn't help that the finale involves a fictional Shakespeare mash-up... with song and dance. The deliberately non-canon season opener, broadcast in response to 9/11, has aged poorly.
144*** When Season 3 ''does'' address contemporary issues, it typically does so in [[WriterOnBoard strident]] and often {{Anvilicious}} fashion, unlike the show's relatively balanced appraisals up to then. Republican politicians went from generally WorthyOpponent-style characters to fire-breathing caricatures, especially (though more understandably) during the reelection storyline, where the antagonist is a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed stand-in]] for UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, with likeable figures like Ainsley Hayes and Cliff Calley either DemotedToExtra or PutOnABus. This was somewhat corrected in subsequent seasons.
145* TheScrappy:
146** Mandy. She was set up as a {{Foil}} for Josh, but she didn't fit in with the compassionate, quirky, idealistic TrueCompanions of the senior staff--she always argued for [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong doing the political thing over the right thing]], had few moments of genuine friendship with the others, and tended to interrupt serious moments with increasingly trivial PR tasks. The character was quietly dropped from the show in between seasons 1 and 2, and few people missed her.
147** Ryan Pierce, the intern foisted on Josh in the fifth season. A self-absorbed, egotistical rich kid who Josh kept around for the one and only reason that he couldn't offend the kid's powerful Senator uncle.[[note]]although said uncle Pierce was actually a CoolOldGuy[[/note]] He continually got on Josh's nerves, and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Donna's]], by namedropping his connections and mixing insights of competence with careless mistakes.
148* StrawmanHasAPoint:
149** Often. For example, in the episode "[[{{Recap/TheWestWingS02E21EighteenthAndPotomac}} 18th and Potomac]]" Josh meets with two House Democrats holding up funds for the anti-Big Tobacco lawsuits. While the audience's sympathies are clearly supposed to be with Josh, the two congressmen make cogent arguments that the tobacco companies' actions, while sleazy, weren't actually criminal. Josh's response is to accuse them of not caring if smokers die or not.
150** Another example is when a secretary takes offense to Sam telling Ainsley that she's "enough to make a good dog break his leash." Ainsley goes out of her way to tell the secretary that she's not offended and that by complaining she's actually dragging attention away from "real" harassment. However, she seems to miss the point the secretary was trying to make: a sexual comment does not need to be directed at you for you to find it offensive, and in the vast majority of cases Sam's comment ''would'' be considered inappropriate in a workplace. Matters aren't helped by the common view that this character was written as Sorkin's response to several online critics who had accused his writing of being sexist, as these critics simply proceeded to argue that the character only showed that Sorkin had completely misunderstood their point.
151** In "Ellie", Sam gets into an argument with a film producer who claimed that Bartlet had denounced a controversial movie of his and was "siding with censors" (in truth, Bartlet had never heard of the film, and Charlie had rejected the producer's offer of a screening at the White House simply because he thought Bartlet wouldn't enjoy it). During the argument, the effect of violence in films comes up, and Sam states that since medical experts have claimed that children are negatively impacted by violent films, the White House intends to listen to them. The film producer retorts by pointing out that the White House, in the same episode, is clearly gearing up to fire the Surgeon General for offering a politically inconvenient opinion about legalizing marijuana, despite that ''also'' being advice from a medical expert. The show depicts the producer (not entirely wrongly) as a sleazy jerk and the audience is clearly expected to believe that Sam has completely trounced him, but many viewers came away thinking the producer had a perfectly valid point about the administration's hypocrisy -- especially since, although the President ultimately doesn't go through with it, Sam never actually responds to the producer's accusation and just kind of brushes it off.
152** The opposing politicians who bring up Bartlet's multiple sclerosis do have a point about how he lied to the American people about it.
153%%* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Josh Lyman is a walking, talking example of this trope. While he is very hard working and has his heart in the right place, his biggest problems are his temper and his ego (countless episodes could be summed up as “If Josh could just learn to control his ego and temper, things would be a lot better”). Essentially he is the Cowboy Cop of the show, and any other show or movie would portray this as a cool, badass character trait to be admired. However, the show, ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, goes out of its way to show what happens when someone acts like this in a job where you have to schmooze and get along: he burns countless bridges, is constantly in trouble and reprimanded by his superiors, comes DANGEROUSLY close to losing his job on numerous occasions, and at one even the President of the United States himself (a man almost legendary for his patience and understanding) point blank tells Josh to his face that the White House would run a lot smoother if he (Bartlett) fired Josh and put Donna on his place.
154* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The show was created in the 1990s, in the lame-duck years of the Clinton administration (and carried those ideals even into the Bush years), and it rather shows, as Bartlett more or less represents an idealized version of Bill Clinton. Additionally, the show espouses a vision of politics--specifically, the Third Way neoliberal viewpoint that Clinton basically codified, disdaining the party's left wing in favor of common ground with Republicans--which became increasingly more controversial as the years went on, culminating in the shocking defeat of his wife in the 2016 election. As noted in [[https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/16/20857281/the-west-wing-20-anniversary-primetime-podcast-episode-bartlet-biden one Vox article]], the show features a lot of scenes where Bartlett makes a single grand speech and the Republicans are moved enough to support him, which is almost incomprehensible to those who lived through the Obama years, which saw Obama be stonewalled at every opportunity by the Republicans and struggling to peel off even a handful despite his charisma and attempts at appeasement.
155* ValuesDissonance:
156** This show's attitude towards gender relations is a product of its time. While it was airing, Josh's behavior toward Donna was considered cute and romantic; nowadays it would be looked on as controlling, possessive, and improper of a boss to his subordinate. Also, the scene in season 4 where Charlie "respectfully" refuses Zoey's request to [[DoggedNiceGuy stop pursuing her]] raises multiple red flags after the [=#MeToo=] era. This also applies to Lord John Marbury's allegedly adorable habit of leering at and propositioning any woman in the vicinity, up to and including the First Lady. (The last seems to be acknowledged slightly in the show itself when late-season character Kate Harper runs into him. Rather than treating him as an eccentric but harmless rogue, she appears to be appalled by his behavior and also very unhappy that she has to work with a high-ranking lech who is an obvious favorite with the President.)
157** The "Don't Tread On Me" flag Sam has on the wall of his office. Back when the show started, it was a bit of a HistoricalInJoke, but the symbol is now inextricably linked to the extreme right wing--the polar opposite of the characters (and alignment) of the show.
158** The show has an extremely pro-globalisation, pro-unrestricted trade, pro-Grand Bargain viewpoint. Said viewpoint, while not necessarily hated, is far more controversial and scrutinized over the years, even among the show’s target audience. Particularly after the 2008 global financial crisis and the subsequent "Great Recession"; an event which some parts of the US (if not the world) have not ever recovered from.
159** Related to the above: The characters mercilessly attack those on their ideological left. For many viewers with the hindsight of the 2010's and beyond, they would see this failure to embrace their left flank to help the working class, to be the same thing that resulted in the rise of populist right and far-right parties across Europe, the United Kingdom (including Brexit, the idea of which would have been unfathomable to the characters on the show), Australia and the United States.
160* ValuesResonance: The episode "Ellie" was surprisingly ahead of its time in its frank discussion of marijuana use. In the 1990s, it was pretty rare to see anything other than a [[TheStoner stoner]] comedy--let alone a GovernmentProcedural about clean-cut civil servants--openly acknowledge that the drug is essentially harmless, and carries little to no risk of addiction. The episode was written nearly two decades before many US states began legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
161* WinBackTheCrowd: Season seven is considered by many to be a step up from the previous post-Sorkin seasons. The fact that it has the presidential race storyline to drive it doesn't hurt.
162* TheWoobie:
163** Josh Lyman, specifically when he receives a card that gives him instructions to safety in the case of a nuclear attack, a safety that his friends and future lover, then [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]] partner, would not be invited to. Later it is revealed that as a child he lost his older sister in a fire while he ran to safety.
164** It's hard not to feel sympathetic for Hoynes when he is frequently disrespected by the staff and the president. (But then he goes and says something so smug and entitled that it wears off.) The same can also be said for his successor, Russell.
165** After Toby has reconnected enough with his ex-wife Andrea for her to be (at last) pregnant with his kids -- it's implied that they tried for years to have kids, never with success -- his attempts to persuade her to remarry him invoke this, because she doesn't want to. Not because she's mean, but because she is convinced (probably rightly) that it wouldn't make them happy. Her loving but sorrowful description of him as "too sad" is what clinches it.
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