These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: The West Wing
Alternative Character Interpretation: Regarding Toby's downfall in the final season, (as explained below under Fanon Discontinuity) it is both possible and plausible that he's 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.
However, this would also rely on CJ's willingness to let her closest friend take the fall for a treasonous offense that would get him sent to federal prison.
Critical Research Failure: In the Season Three episode Stirred, President Bartlet (who is usually a very accurate and learned man), asks Donna's old teacher if when she taught Beowulf to her high school students she "taught it in the original Middle English or in translation." Beowulf was written in Old English and Bartlet should be aware of this.
In a season two episode, a male Icelandic official is mentioned whose name ends in -dottir. Icelandic surnames are patrynoms rather than family names, and -dottir always indicates that the person is female—e.g., "Olafsdottir" means "Olaf's daughter," so the ambassador should have either been female or had a name ending in -sson.
In the Grand Finale, Bartlet aks whose idea was it to hold the Inauguration in January. His wife humorously replies it was the Founding Fathers'. Except that it wasn't. For most of the USA's history, the Inauguration was held in March. The first January Inauguration wasn't until 1936.
Designated Villain: Both of Bartlet's Vice Presidents. 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.
Ending Aversion: Though a lot of the disgruntled Sorkin fans jumped back on board for the election arc, which was handled better than Sorkin's in season four, many experienced this trope due to post-Sorkin Seasonal Rot.
Executive Meddling: Sorkin wanted to get Josh and Donna together. He kept being told "Wait another season!" The chemistry was apparent from the pilot and didn't get fulfilled until the last season.
The unanimously-accepted fact that CJ calls Josh "mi amore" on a regular basis (she does it only once or twice on the actual show.)
Also that Donna calls Josh "pumpkin patch" on a regular basis (happened once on the show).
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."
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 and Jackie (though Donna appears to be pregnant again so maybe Noah will be born in 2013).
Fanon Discontinuity: Toby 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 as though Toby was taking the fall for someone else.
"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Santos is talking with Leo about his viability as VP candidate: "I'm not gonna fire you. You want out, you're gonna have to drum up another heart attack or something."
At the end of the Cold Open of the Season 1 episode "The Short List", a piece of the ceiling in Josh's office falls onto his desk (a maintenance crew was working upstairs) while Josh is sitting there, inches away from him. A little later, Josh tells Donna, "You should be nice to me. I could be dead, you know." Donna's reply? "I don't have that kind of luck." Of course, it cuts both ways; earlier in the scene, Josh, amazed the ceiling just missed him, says to Donna, "I really think if big chunks of ceiling are gonna fall on anyone...I don't know...it should be you."
Genius Bonus: Sometimes things happening in the background only have real significance if you already know what's happening. 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 Ripped from the Headlines, as the zebra mussel is an invasive species (akin to the rabbits of Australia) that's causing significant problems in North American waterways.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: 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.
It was also popular enough in the UK that when it moved from free-to-air TV to one of the same company's digital channels, there was a noticeable spike in digital TV subscriptions.
Being highly researched by the creative staff, a great number of things that would later become hot-button issues were present in the show from day one, but some things the writers probably never anticipated would mean what they do today.
"[...] 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
In the Season 4 premier, 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."
"There's a situation developing in Port-Au-Prince, I have to get ready to brief." -Original air date, May 9th 2001
The Haiti sub-plot at the beginning of season 4 was a reference to the 1991 Haitian coup and subsequent US diplomatic intervention to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
"The government can't be in the business of cosigning loans." -Original air date, May 1st, 2002. Non-interventionist ideals of 2002, meet 2008.
And the first season finale, where the President half-seriously threatens to invade Baghdad; in an episode during which the Space Shuttle Columbia is having reentry problems.
Probably the Most Triumphant Example in the series: 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.
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.
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.
Informed Attractiveness: In The Wake Up Call, Miss World visits the White House and brings to a standstill the business of every male that crosses her path. While beautiful, she isn't particularly more mindblowing than many of the other actresses appearing on the show. Luckily, it still works because it's utterly hilarious.
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.
Ed: ...I don't really want to know what he's going to find in his filing cabinet, do you?
Larry: No.
Mary Sue: Kate Harper and Ryan Pierce start this way. One of them gets better, and the other is Put on a Bus. Jed Bartlet himself can be this way on occasion.
Some would say CJ falls under this as well given her extremely rapid and unlikely promotion from press secretary to chief of staff and having more episodes focusing solely on her (including one where only one other main character appears) than anyone else in the cast.
Memetic Mutation: You don't tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing.
To ensure that you don't you must go outside, turn three times, curse and spit.
Josh drinks from the keg of glory - bring him the finest muffins and bagels in all the land.
Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: The special episode "Issac and Ishmael" is significantly more ham-handed and message-driven than The West Wing usually is, but it works well enough given the extraordinary circumstances that generated its necessity.
Often. For example, in the episode "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.
Unfortunate Implications: While heartwarming, the resolution of Senator Stackhouse's filibuster only after the staff discovers that he has an autistic grandchild implies that it's okay to ignore the needs of thousands of American children, unless one of them has an "in" with a member of Congress, in which case it's fine to put an entire bill on hold to grant a personal favor for a family member. Very likely Truth in Television.
What The Hell, Casting Agency?: The original Al Bundy has made a couple of guest appearances as the Governor of Pennsylvania, who is the frontrunning candidate for President.
Speaker Haffley in "Shutdown". Bartlet decides to go to the Hill to work out an end to the shutdown, but decides halfway on the way to walk instead, in front of the press. Haffley, to the objection of a couple of his employees, decides to leave the President in the lobby so long that he walks back out. The scene after the commercial opens with political commentators on a TV lambasting the Speaker for making a colossal tactical error.
It felt more like Villainous Breakdown, with Haffley flipping out because the President of the United States is sitting smugly outside his office with half the Washington press corp, and he has no idea why, since Bartlet's visit wasn't announced. He insists on staying inside until he can figure out what the hell he should do, and by the time he pulls himself together, the President has left. The story changes - The public see that President is the one who's honestly trying to reach out an make an agreemeant, and Haffley and his team are locked away ignoring the problem - now it's his fault the government has shut down.
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 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.
It's hard not to feel sympathetic for Hoynes when he is frequently disrespected by the staff and the president.
The same can also be said for his successor, Russell.
