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Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night and The Farnsworth Invention.
After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in...
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Pilot
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American serial drama The West Wing.
In the series premiere, the White House staff is being called into work in the early hours of the morning to the news that the President of the United States has crashed his...
Original air date:
- Sep 22, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 1
Writer:
Director:
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
"Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" is the 2nd episode of The West Wing.
Sam jeopardizes his bright political future when he decides to pursue a relationship with a call girl he recently met, while C.J. arbitrates a disagreement between the President and...
Original air date:
- Sep 29, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 2
Writer:
Director:
A Proportional Response
"A Proportional Response" is the 3rd episode of The West Wing.
An angry President Bartlet seeks vengeance after Syrian operatives blew up a jet which happened to carry his personal physician and dozens of American passengers. The Pentagon comes up...
Original air date:
- Oct 6, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 3
Writer:
Director:
Five Votes Down
"Five Votes Down" is the 4th episode of The West Wing. Presidential chief of staff Leo McGarry needs five more House votes to pass a bill restricting the sale of automatic firearms -- but the cost might be too high, especially if he has to go to the...
Original air date:
- Oct 13, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 4
Director:
The Crackpots and These Women
"The Crackpots and These Women" is the 5th episode from Season 1 of The West Wing.
The staff participates in "Big Block of Cheese Day," a fictional workday on which White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry encourages his staff to meet with fringe...
Original air date:
- Oct 20, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 5
Writer:
Director:
Twenty Five
"Twenty-Five" is episode 88 of The West Wing.
The season four finale to The West Wing centers around the graduation of President Bartlet's youngest daughter, Zoey. In the post-graduation parties, and unwittingly under the influence of GHB, Zoey is...
Original air date:
- May 14, 2003
Season:
Episode number:
- 88
Writer:
Director:
Mr. Willis of Ohio
"Mr. Willis of Ohio" is the 6th episode of The West Wing. The title of the episode refers to the character of Mr. Willis, whose vote is essential if an amendment in census taking methodology is to pass.
The West Wing staffers, especially Toby, hope...
Original air date:
- Nov 3, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 6
Writer:
Director:
What Kind of Day Has It Been?
"What Kind of Day Has It Been" is the 22nd episode of The West Wing, the season finale of the show's first season. It originally aired on NBC May 7, 2000. Events circle around the attempted rescue of a US fighter pilot in Iraq, and the president...
Original air date:
- May 7, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 22
Writer:
Director:
The State Dinner
"The State Dinner" is the 7th episode of The West Wing. It is the first time that First Lady Abigail Bartlet (Stockard Channing) appears.
The President tries to focus on key problems—a hostage standoff, a hurricane, and an impending truckers' union...
Original air date:
- Nov 10, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 7
Director:
The Short List
"The Short List" is the 9th episode of The West Wing. The episode introduces recurring characters Robert Mendoza and Gail the goldfish and a story arc concerning potential congressional investigation of a White House staff members history of...
Original air date:
- Nov 24, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 9
Director:
In Excelsis Deo
"In Excelsis Deo" is the 10th episode of the first season of The West Wing. It originally aired on NBC December 15, 1999, as the show's Christmas special. Events circle around Toby getting involved in the fate of a deceased Korean War veteran,...
Original air date:
- Dec 15, 1999
Season:
Episode number:
- 10
Director:
Lord John Marbury
"Lord John Marbury" is the 11th episode of The West Wing. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was quoted in Time magazine as saying this episode had one of the best expositions on foreign policy she'd seen on TV.
The Kashmir border...
Original air date:
- Jan 5, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 11
Director:
He Shall, from Time To Time...
"He Shall, from Time to Time…" is the 12th episode of The West Wing.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society was pleased with the portrayal of a major character, which showed that multiple sclerosis is not fatal and that Bartlet uses modern medicine...
Original air date:
- Jan 12, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 12
Writer:
Director:
Take out the Trash Day
"Take out the Trash Day" is the 13th episode of The West Wing.
A wide variety of unpleasant issues face the White House staffers on a busy Friday. The main problem comes from increasing calls for Leo McGarry to step down as Chief of Staff. A man...
Original air date:
- Jan 26, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 13
Writer:
Director:
Take this Sabbath Day
"Take This Sabbath Day" is the 14th episode of The West Wing. The episode addresses the death penalty and the United States government's custom of not scheduling executions between sundown Friday and sundown Sunday in order to avoid conducting an...
Original air date:
- Feb 9, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 14
Director:
Celestial Navigation
"Celestial Navigation" is the 15th episode of The West Wing.
Sam and Toby have to go to Connecticut to get the President's Supreme Court nominee, Roberto Mendoza, out of jail after he is wrongfully arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Matters are...
Original air date:
- Feb 16, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 15
Director:
20 Hours in L. A.
"20 Hours in L.A." is the 16th episode of The West Wing.
It's time for a one-day trip to Los Angeles for the President, Josh, Toby, C.J. and Donna. The agenda includes a meeting in Orange County about flag-burning and a celebrity-packed reception...
Original air date:
- Feb 23, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 16
Writer:
Director:
The White House Pro-Am
"The White House Pro-Am" is the 17th episode of the first season of The West Wing.
The First Lady begins the day appearing on a morning talk show with a teenage boy discussing the issue of child labor. Meanwhile, Bernard Dahl, the Chairman of the...
Original air date:
- Mar 22, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 17
Director:
Six Meetings Before Lunch
"Six Meetings Before Lunch" is the 18th episode of The West Wing.
Toby celebrates the confirmation of their Supreme Court nominee Roberto Mendoza, Josh discusses slavery reparations with a civil-rights attorney and Sam and Mallory battle over school...
Original air date:
- Apr 5, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 18
Writer:
Director:
Let Bartlet Be Bartlet
"Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" is the 19th episode of The West Wing.
When a damaging memo which is critical of the President is discovered, the White House press cover it with zest, much to CJ's dismay. Later it is revealed that Mandy wrote it when she...
Original air date:
- Apr 26, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 19
Director:
Mandatory Minimums
"Mandatory Minimums" is the 20th episode of The West Wing.
The President bucks pressure from Republicans in Congress and nominates two advocates for aggressive campaign finance reform to the Federal Election Commission, to Josh Lyman's audible...
Original air date:
- May 3, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 20
Writer:
Director:
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
"Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" is the 21st episode of The West Wing. The title comes from a quote of uncertain origins, frequently attributed to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and later popularized in America by author Mark Twain: "The...
Original air date:
- May 10, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 21
Writer:
Director:
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I
"In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I" is the 23rd episode of The West Wing and the first episode of the second season.
President Bartlet is rushed back towards the White House … but the limo has to turn around quickly when it's discovered he's been...
Original air date:
- Oct 4, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 23
Writer:
Director:
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II
"In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II" is the 24th episode of The West Wing.
The episode opens with the surviving member of the trio of gunmen from the Rosslyn assassination attempting to eat at a diner in West Virginia. He steps outside and is...
Original air date:
- Oct 4, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 24
Writer:
Director:
The Midterms
"The Midterms" is the 25th episode of The West Wing.
This episode is fast paced, taking course over 12 weeks at the end of the 106th Congress, and focusing exclusively on campaigning for the Midterm elections. Josh is out of the office for the...
Original air date:
- Oct 18, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 25
Writer:
Director:
In this White House
"In this White House" is the 26th episode of The West Wing.
Sam appears on political talk show Capital Beat with a "blonde leggy Republican" named Ainsley Hayes. She clearly wins the debate (to great joy from Toby, who asks Ginger to get the popcorn...
Original air date:
- Oct 25, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 26
Director:
And It's Surely to Their Credit
"And It's Surely to Their Credit" is the fifth episode of the second season of the television series The West Wing, which premiered on NBC on November 1, 2000.
The episode features Ainsley Hayes' (played by Emily Procter) first day as an Associate...
Original air date:
- Nov 1, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 27
Director:
The Lame Duck Congress
"The Lame Duck Congress" is the 28th episode of The West Wing.
As the last days of the lame-duck Congress roll forward, Sam finds out an active opponent of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is going to be on the Senate Foreign Relations...
Original air date:
- Nov 8, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 28
Director:
The Portland Trip
"The Portland Trip" is the 29th episode of The West Wing.
C.J. is made to join the President on a trip to Portland, Oregon after making a joke about Notre Dame. The President wants to announce a major education initiative but he doesn't have a...
Original air date:
- Nov 15, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 29
Director:
Shibboleth
"Shibboleth" is the 30th episode of The West Wing.
The episode begins with a scene on the California coast, where a group of Chinese Christians have been apprehended by US agents. It turns out that they are seeking asylum in the United States...
Original air date:
- Nov 22, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 30
Director:
Galileo
"Galileo" is the 31st episode of The West Wing.
President Bartlet is excited about the chance to watch images from Galileo, an unmanned spacecraft on a voyage to Mars, with schoolchildren across the country, and challenges the staff to come up with...
Original air date:
- Nov 29, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 31
Director:
Noël
"Noël" is the 32nd episode of The West Wing.
Josh spends the day with a psychotherapist from ATVA (American Trauma Victims Association) recounting events that ended in him putting his hand through a window in his apartment. He recounts that on the...
Original air date:
- Dec 20, 2000
Season:
Episode number:
- 32
Director:
The Leadership Breakfast
"The Leadership Breakfast" is the 33rd episode of The West Wing.
Toby wants real issues to be discussed at a breakfast to herald the start of the new legislative session, including minimum wage and health care coverage. He cuts a deal with the new...
Original air date:
- Jan 10, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 33
Director:
The Drop-In
"The Drop-In" is the 34th episode of The West Wing.
Leo tries to convince President Bartlet of the importance of supporting a missile defense plan. The episode begins with an important test where all of the technical systems work but the interceptor...
Original air date:
- Jan 24, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 34
Director:
Bartlet's Third State of the Union
"Bartlet's Third State of the Union" is the 35th episode of The West Wing.
The President addresses the nation for his Third State of the Union, and a group of DEA agents are taken hostage in Colombia. An invited guest to the speech has a...
Original air date:
- Feb 7, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 35
Director:
The War at Home
"The War at Home" is the 36th episode of The West Wing.
An attempt to rescue the DEA agents held hostage in Colombia backfires and nine soldiers are killed. The President and his staff weigh more military action and the effects of appeasing...
Original air date:
- Feb 14, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 36
Writer:
Director:
Ellie
"Ellie" is the 37th episode of The West Wing.
The President is put in a tricky spot when his Surgeon General publicly supports the legalization of marijuana, and his daughter Ellie (Eleanor) makes a controversial comment to Danny Concannon. This is...
Original air date:
- Feb 21, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 37
Director:
Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail
"Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" is the 38th episode of The West Wing.
The title is a lyric from the Don Henley song "New York Minute," from the album The End of the Innocence. The song is featured in the episode.
The staff...
Original air date:
- Feb 28, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 38
Director:
The Stackhouse Filibuster
"The Stackhouse Filibuster" is the 39th episode of The West Wing.
The episode is told via the dramatic device of three of the main characters e-mailing their respective parents to apprise them what's going on. C. J. Cregg is explaining to her father...
Original air date:
- Mar 14, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 39
Director:
17 People
"17 People" is the 40th episode of The West Wing. The episode was written as a "bottle episode" to save money as the series had run up large over time costs. The episode starts the same night as the Stackhouse Filibuster, and takes place entirely...
Original air date:
- Apr 4, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 40
Writer:
Director:
Bad Moon Rising
"Bad Moon Rising" is the 41st episode of The West Wing.
The President tells White House Counsel Oliver Babish of his MS. Babish conducts a pointed interview with the President where they discuss key issues such as whether Jed Bartlet ever lied about...
Original air date:
- Apr 25, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 41
Director:
The Fall's Gonna Kill You
"The Fall's Gonna Kill You" is the 42nd episode of The West Wing.
The episode begins with CJ being summoned to the office of the White House Counsel Oliver Babish, who menacingly questions CJ about the President's MS cover-up, despite the fact she...
Original air date:
- May 2, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 42
Director:
18th and Potomac
"18th and Potomac" is the 43rd episode of The West Wing.
In this episode Donna is told by Toby about the President's condition. He tells her "You're the first at the assistant level to know." In a brief conversation with Mrs. Landingham, directly...
Original air date:
- May 9, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 43
Director:
Two Cathedrals
"Two Cathedrals" is the 44th episode, and second season finale of The West Wing.
President Bartlet is beset by memories of Mrs. Landingham as her funeral approaches. Meanwhile, the staff deals with a crisis in Haiti and questions from congressional...
Original air date:
- May 16, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 44
Writer:
Director:
Manchester Part I
"Manchester Part I" is the 45th episode of The West Wing and was filmed as the third season (2001￢ﾀﾓ2002) premiere. Its originally scheduled broadcast, however, was delayed by the September 11 attacks, and a special non-canon episode, "Isaac and...
Season:
Episode number:
- 45
Writer:
Director:
Isaac and Ishmael
"Isaac and Ishmael" is a non-sequential episode of The West Wing which unofficially launched the third season in 2001. The episode was a response to the 9/11 attacks and was written and filmed within two weeks of that event and aired before the...
Original air date:
- Oct 3, 2001
Episode number:
- 0
Writer:
Director:
Ways and Means
"Ways and Means" is the 47th The West Wing episode and 3rd of the third season. It originally aired on NBC October 24, 2001. The episode sees the beginnings of President Bartlet's Congressional hearings, as well as negotiations over the estate tax....
Original air date:
- Oct 24, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 47
Director:
On the Day Before
"On the Day Before" is the forty-eighth The West Wing episode and fourth of the third season. It originally aired on NBC October 31, 2001. The episode deals with a suicide bomber in Jerusalem, as well as continued negotiations over the estate tax....
Original air date:
- Oct 31, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 48
Director:
War Crimes
"War Crimes" is the 49th episode of The West Wing.
The President asks the reluctant Vice President to speak at an anti-gun rally in Texas after a church shooting, but the uneasy allies have a starkly candid showdown. The Vice President is not...
Original air date:
- Nov 7, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 49
Director:
Gone Quiet
"Gone Quiet" is the 50th episode of The West Wing.
When an American spy submarine suddenly goes silent in hostile North Korean waters, an angry President receives advice from the Assistant Secretary of State and must decide whether he should notify...
Original air date:
- Nov 14, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 50
Director:
The Indians in the Lobby
"The Indians in the Lobby" is the 51st episode of The West Wing.
It is the day before Thanksgiving and the President is rather disgruntled that the family must spend Thanksgiving at Camp David, rather than his New Hampshire farm, because a poll...
Original air date:
- Nov 21, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 51
Director:
The Women of Qumar
"The Women of Qumar" is the 52nd episode of The West Wing. This episode marks the first appearance of Amy Gardner, played by Mary-Louise Parker, who guests stars in every following season of The West Wing.
Allison Janney submitted this episode in...
Original air date:
- Nov 28, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 52
Director:
Bartlet for America
"Bartlet for America" is the 53rd episode of The West Wing.
It is December 23, but no one at the White House is feeling much in the Christmas spirit. Indeed, the most pressing holiday matter is a threat to firebomb black churches in Tennessee on...
Original air date:
- Dec 12, 2001
Season:
Episode number:
- 53
Writer:
Director:
H. Con-172
"H. Con-172" is the 54th episode of The West Wing, an American television series.
Leo defiantly rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a public censure of President Bartlet that would finally bring an end to the investigation into...
Original air date:
- Jan 9, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 54
Director:
100,000 Airplanes
"100,000 Airplanes" is the 55th episode of The West Wing.
While the White House staff works intensely on President Bartlet's crucial State of the Union speech, Bartlet suddenly demands that a passage ambitiously promising a crusade to cure cancer...
Original air date:
- Jan 16, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 55
Writer:
Director:
The Two Bartlets
"The Two Bartlets" is episode 56 of The West Wing.
President Bartlet and his staff ponder whether to counter a fast-rising Republican presidential candidate's verbal assault on affirmative action, deciding at the end to make a very bland statement...
Original air date:
- Jan 30, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 56
Director:
Night Five
"Night Five" is episode 57 of The West Wing.
Bartlet covertly meets with a psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Keyworth, for a troubling sleep disorder and receives a sobering personal assessment rooted in his relationship with his late father. C.J. lobbies...
Original air date:
- Feb 6, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 57
Writer:
Director:
Hartsfield's Landing
"Hartsfield's Landing" is episode 58 of The West Wing. Dulé Hill, who plays Charlie Young, was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 for his performances in this and the Enemies Foreign and Domestic episodes.
Bartlet engages both Sam and Toby in intricate...
Original air date:
- Feb 27, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 58
Writer:
Director:
Dead Irish Writers
"Dead Irish Writers" is episode 59 of The West Wing.
As Abbey contemplates the likelihood that her medical license will be taken away the following day, she grumpily attends a big White House party for her birthday. Bartlet receives another visit...
Original air date:
- Mar 6, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 59
Director:
The U.S. Poet Laureate
"The U.S. Poet Laureate" is episode 60 of The West Wing.
Bartlet makes a disparaging comment about a potential Republican nominee after a television interview, presumably not realizing that he is still being recorded. For days, C.J. must control the...
Original air date:
- Mar 27, 2002
Season:
Episode number:
- 60
