I have a litmus test for people who claim they “love” The West Wing. I ask them “Have you watched seasons 5, 6, or 7?” If the answer is “Yes”, it’s obvious they’re a liar. Anyone who continued to watch TWW after season 4 when Aaron Sorkin stopped writing the show never understood what made the show great. TWW was driven by storytelling and dialogue, and nobody writes better dialogue than Aaron Sorkin.
Rewind to October 24, 2003 for the start of season 5 – arguably the worst day of my life. Amazingly I had missed the news that Sorkin had not returned to TWW this year. So, I’m sitting there watching the first episode and I’m slowly getting this feeling something wasn’t right. That something was missing. It didn’t have the same flow. When the show ended I called my Mom and said “Hey did you see that? It wasn’t very good”. And that’s when I found out Sorkin had left the show back in May. I was swirling with emotions. Proud that I was able to detect Sorkin’s signature was missing, relieved he didn’t have writer’s block, and upset the show was over – for me.
I have not, to this day, watched seasons 5, 6, or 7 and I assure nobody appreciated the show more than I did. People have said to me “Don’t you want to know what happens to the characters?” I really don’t.
Yes, I loved the characters. I idolized them and wished that was how government was run. But I didn’t love them because they were great actors, and I’m not taking anything away from them as it’s impossible for me to imagine anyone else in their roles. I loved them because of what they said. The conversations they had, particularly the walk-and-talks were like listening to a symphony.
Still think it was the actors?
Additionally, the cast won 7 Emmy’s for acting while Sorkin was writing the shows and only 2 after he stopped. ZOMG!
I liken being able to write dialogue to hitting a golf ball. Hitting a golf ball isn’t a terribly hard thing to do. Nor is it difficult to jot down a couple names and a few lines of conversation. What is hard is hitting the golf ball 300 yards and landing it on a narrow fairway 8 out of 10 times. What is hard is writing dialogue so powerful it invokes a kid ten years in the future to still be talking about it.
The second reason I wrote this was to share a hidden gem I found on the internetz. If you’re familiar with TWW or Sorkin you should know he also wrote the movie The American President. There is a very powerful speech at the end of the movie (see below).
What I didn’t know was moments before this speech there was a scene in the script that never made it to air. You can read it by clicking here, but you need to have seen The American President to truly appreciate the layering in the writing. I have no idea why this wasn’t filmed and used in the movie. It would’ve been such a great lead in to the speech and a great moment between Lucy and her father.
My name is Jason Parmele, and I am the Supreme Ruler of the World.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
your graph should not have blue square on the “without aaron sorkin” as blue indicates it won something. that is all!!
You should work for a tabloid. You’re as sensationalist as they come
That graph is a piece of genius
A real Sorkin fan can recognise his writing across different genres. He often tests lines or themes out in one show and refines them in another. There is a similar exchange between Bartlet and Ellie in the episode Ellie (Season 2: Episode 15)
Ahh yes. +1 Alexandra.
Ah now, Bartlett totally says the ‘All you have to do to make me happy is to come home at the end of the day’ line to someone at some point. But otherwise, lovely, lovely though your theory sadly excludes me and my 7 series boxset. Now I must shun you.