Bye Bye West Wing...

[greenbriar]

I am sorry to see this show end!

[Olney Blue]

1. Me too.

:cry:

[redwitch]

2. Me three.

:cry:

[Olney Blue]

3. It was a wonderful finale, I have to say.

[DaveinMD]

4. Me four

I got the chills seeing it end.

[rpgamerd00d]

5. It was a fantastic show, and I'll be watching Studio 60

or whatever that new Sorkin show is with Bradley Whitford.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. Heard the reviews were fantastic.

[Hand]

6. "What are you thinking of?" "Tomorrow..."

So long, President Bartlett. :hi: :cry: You made us proud! :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[lavenderdiva]

7. please pass some Kleenex this way...

:cry:

[Spazito]

8. I am going to miss watching West Wing very much, it has been a

staple in my house since it's very beginning. It may be gone but it will not be forgotten, not by me anyway.

[NJ Democrats]

9. Bye President Bartlett!!!

[DiverDave]

10. If only fiction was real...

I'm gonna miss the show.
But, reruns will help.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. It feels like just about the saddest "end of a series" for me.

Kind of kept the dream alive during the dark years.

[oldleftguy]

22. "keeping the dream alive"

--good turn of words, BrklynLiberal. We all have to work on "keeping hope alive".

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

13. it should replay on bravo tomorrow night

if you missed it.

edit sp

[tinfoilinfor2005]

14. Toby...would have liked to see a happier ending there...

even though he did get pardoned.

[SPKrazy]

17. He Did Get The Pardon

Which was more than he would have gotten in real life for leaking national secrets.

Why take for instance Karl Rove, he leaked secrets and he is in prison, right?

:sarcasm:

Toby, the whole crew will be missed by me.

It was an hour of sanity.

I wish there were a spin off of it at least

[tinfoilinfor2005]

23. As a character of the show, yes, but as an actor who has been

one of the main characters, I would have liked to see him in the finale, even for just a cameo.

[Radio_Guy]

44. I'm disappointed he got the pardon

Presidents are not supposed to pardon people because they are friends. They pardon people because they were wrongly accused and/or convicted. Clinton never pardoned anyone just because they were friends. They shouldn't have had Bartlet do that.

Oh, and the inauguration was moved to January in FDR's second term. Before that it was in March.

Otherwise, a great show. A fabulous ending to a wonderful series.

[question everything]

51. Some of Clinton's pardons were questionable

I don't remember the details, but was not one of them just a rich donor?

The one for Susan McDougall, however, was well deserved.

[jazzjunkysue]

24. I know. Not even a shot of him getting a phone call....would have been nic

nice and real easy....Plus, no John Spencer flashbacks. I was hopin'.

Goodbye, John. We loved being part of your life.

[greenbriar]

26. YEA,

toby would have been nice to see since he was such an integral part of the series for so long.

[question everything]

30. The Toby character always thrived in misery

He did not want to be pardoned, he did not want the company of anyone. Even his love for his ex-wife was always full of tirades and complaint.

A very complex and hard person to be around. He really did not deserve the pardon but it was obvious that Bartlett would grant it, after saying his good bye to CJ, he remembered the good days with his friends and signed the pardon. I could really see this line of thoughts going through his mind.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. Me too. Sometimes I think President Bartlett was a most necessary

fantasy to keep me from total despair!

[liberal N proud]

16. Here is a way to think about it.

We were part of the Bartlett Administration. Out term in office is over, just as it would be if we were really in office.

It was a GREAT RIDE Mr. President

[eddiebrowns]

18. What's next n/t

[Vidar]

19. Bartlett for America.

[saltpoint]

20. What a great program. Terrific cast, start to finish, and the

writing was just state-of-the-art.

I'll really miss it.

From past episodes, I thought Mary Louise Parker's character was outstanding in the romantic tension with Josh but then again, EVERYBODY was outstanding.

Thanks to all the people who put that show together. It was a winner.

[KaryninMiami]

21. I sobbed most of the way through it. I will miss West Wing.

Another 7 seasons would have been fine with me. It was nice to see how much could be accomplished by an administration that actually "gets it". Santos is going to be a great President. Maybe we can petition to ask for a mini-series or West Wing update in about 6 months...

[VolcanoJen]

37. When Bartlett gave Charlie the copy of the Constititution...

... that his own father had given him, I wept like a little girl.

:-(

And it was sad to hear President Bartlett call out for Mrs. Landingham, at the close of the pilot, where he says, "Mrs. Landingham? What's next?"

:cry:

[Hekate]

40. My hubs and I both choked up at that scene. Gods, we'll miss that show.

Thanks for the memories...

Hekate

[question everything]

52. This was one of the bizarre "facts" of TV series

that a major character has to die in the season finale.

I do not remember the details, whether she wanted out or whether she was sacrificed for the gods of ratings. Nice to see here these days on "Desperate Housewives."

[LuckyLib]

25. I only hope I live to see a Latino president. It might make me

actually believe that our country has lived up to its promise. At this point, all we seem to get is despair. My comment during the show, "and all we've got is that bozo in the White House."

[mcscajun]

27. SPOILERS - A very classy ending...

It was a classy ending for the classiest political drama on television. "Tomorrow" was appropriately titled, as the series closed with all the characters looking forward far more than they were looking back.

This was a "lump in the throat" viewing for me. In the scene of Will walking into a darkened West Wing in the early hours of Inauguration Day, and remembering the first episode, my first thought was "It should be Leo in that scene." I'm willing to bet it would have been, had John Spencer lived.

The behind-the-scenes routine of moving one First Family out and another in, done by the Chief Usher and his staff, was interesting and contrasted with the chaos that was the transition of new and departing staff. I thought it was great that there was some tension surrounding the "will he or won't he" of Bartlet's decision on pardoning Toby, and the look on Donna's face when she's shown her new office (as Chief of Staff for the new First Lady, it's a doozy!) was beyond satisfying. You had to chuckle at Miss Deborah Fiderer's line "At noon, you turn into a pumpkin."

President and Mrs. Santos were convincing in their realization and acceptance of the enormity of what they about to embark upon, and I could have wished for a scene of them with President and Mrs. Bartlet in their White House meeting. Ah, well...

Including thoughts of Leo in the "WWLD" moment and the return of the "Bartlet for America" keepsake was a touching and classy move by the writers and producers.

One nagging thought remained: President Bartlet made a point of saying goodbyes to various staff members, some of whom we rarely if ever saw on the show, yet we didn't see his goodbye to Ron Butterfield, the man who took a bullet for him and brought the news of Zoey's rescue. Odd to leave that out, but there's only so much you can do in an hour.

The last half hour, I was wishing they'd made the finale a two hour episode, but then again, the lump in the throat became permanent at that point until the fade out.

We may wonder about the characters after "Tomorrow" but we certainly won't worry about them: they'll be alright. :)

Now I've got an hour to fill in my Sunday schedule: guess it's time to catch up on biographies I've been meaning to read (I finally started Bill Clinton's) because nothing can take the place of "The West Wing".

[BrklynLiberal]

33. Excellent synopsis and very interestng and poignant points.

[mcscajun]

41. Thanks.

:)

[VolcanoJen]

39. I loved seeing Josh and Sam stand there in the Oval...

... watching the continuity of government was somehow comforting to me, even in fiction.

I'm so glad Sam took the job. :-)

[mcscajun]

43. Yes, that was a good scene, but some of the power was taken away

as we'd already seen it in the promo.

Can't have it all. :)

It was great to see Sam come back.

SAM : I don’t know how you... I don’t know the word, I... don’t know how you do it.
Bartlet: You’re gonna run for President one day. Don’t be scared. You can do it. I believe in you.

[Hippo_Tron]

28. Loved the episode, but there was a HUGE gaffe in the beginning

The inauguration was originally held in March, not in January. It was changed under the 20th Amendment. A pompus intellectual jackass like Jed Bartlet should have known that.

[Gormy Cuss]

57. I caught that one too.

Bartlet was blaming Jefferson et alia for a 20th century amendment.

Later in the reporting of the train crash on the NH-MA border the woman said it was near the town of "HAV-ver-hill." Bartlet's character would know that Haverhill is pronounced "HAYVE-rill"

[question everything]

29. Watched the first episode before the final and admired, again

the wit and insight of the writers.

It was in 1999 and already forecast the influence that the religious wrong was planning on the country.

And... the POTUS fell with his bike, even before Bush was his encounters with the pretzel, and Segway and other..

And when "Bartlett" walked through the White House for the last time, to shake hands and to thank his staff, I had to wonder how much respect, if any, do current White House staffers have for their boss.

[welshTerrier2]

32. great line on the "bicycle crash"

Bartlett had just crashed into a tree while riding his bicycle.

Leo was asked, I think by CJ, "what am I supposed to tell the press?"

Leo responded: "just tell them the President came to a sudden arboreal stop."

One of the few intelligently written shows on TV ... it got cancelled because the cast was demanding higher salaries than the network was willing to pay ... once again, the good old free market sucks a little more quality out of the great American culture ...

[Radio_Guy]

45. A better line in the finale

Abbey said "when was the last time you drove a car?" Jed said "It's just like riding a bike, but with more horsepower." Considering he crashed his bike in the pilot...

[Tactical Progressive]

31. Any chance that West Wing can be kept going?

Sometimes with enough support shows already canceled return for maybe one more season.

The Jimmy Smits character has revitalized the show to me.

[Garbo 2004]

34. Sheen said the producers tried to shop the show around to other networks

even cable (like HBO) but there were no takers. He said this after NBC announced the show was cancelled.

[Tactical Progressive]

35. Too bad, I was liking the show again

with this election thanks to Smits.

Could be a portent. The show started a shortly before the Republicans took over. Maybe it ended just before Democrats return to power.

[Garbo 2004]

38. Yeah I know what you mean. It is a show I will miss and I don't watch

much episodic TV. I was down to West Wing, Boston Legal and Earl (the karma guy comedy on NBC).

[Recursion]

50. Maybe just as well?

It was outstanding, kind of slumped, and then got good again. Maybe it's better to just keep it like that and not have it completely jump the shark.

[question everything]

54. The sad reality is that while the West Wing could have been viewed

as real in the first few years, with the Republican continued to hold on to power it appeared too much of a wishful thinking, of almost quixotic, really.

Even the Arnold Vinick character is something that we wish were real, but we know that is a fiction: a Republican who is not bound by ideologies, who fiercely fight them, even. Remember last year how he refused to have a photo-op at church?

[VolcanoJen]

36. "Bartlett for America"

Thank you President Bartlett, for being my Shadow President during these awful years.

That show has been such a comfort to me. A show about patriotic Americans who really do want to do good, and to be the best, and to honor the office and gravity of their positions in government.

A fine, fine show. I'll miss it.

:-(

[bdamomma]

42. I am in good company

I was also in tears, :cry: President Bartlett, what a good President, I wish we had one like that.

I only wish we would have that integrity and honor in our President again. Great show, I will miss it.

[mcscajun]

46. Top Ten Funniest Moments in "The West Wing"

The list is about a year old, so forgive me if I've left an important one out:

1.    Josh Lyman:      Toby, come quick. Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl.
      Toby Ziegler:      Ginger, get the popcorn.

2.    Josh Lyman:      Victory is mine, victory is mine! Great day in the morning, victory is mine!
      Donna Moss:      Good morning, Josh.
      Josh Lyman:      I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land.
      Donna Moss:      It's going to be an unbearable day.

3.    Bartlet:      Well, Oliver, it really boils down to this I'm going to tell you a story and then I need you to tell me whether or not I've engaged 16 people in a massive criminal conspiracy to defraud the public in order to win a presidential election.

      Oliver:      Okay.
(He looks at the dictaphone on his desk with mistrust, then at the President. Then he picks up his gavel and smashes it.)

4.    Lord John Marbury:      May I inquire, Mr. President - the first thing that attracted you to Abigail -
was it her magnificent breasts?

5.    Bartlet:      If I cook the stuffing inside my turkey, can I kill my guests? I'm not saying that would be a deal breaker.

6.    C.J.:      So, how long do you usually make people your bitch?
      Charlie:    Depends.

7.    Leo:      Which did you take, sir, the Vicodin or the Percocet?
      Bartlet:      I wasn’t supposed to take ‘em both?

8.    Charlie:      Sir, I need you to dig in now. It wasn't a nightmare, you really are the president."

9.    Josh:      Where's the motorcade. Hey, excuse me. Where's the motorcade?
      Woman:      It's out there.
(They turn around to see the motorcade driving off down the street. Josh throws his arms in the air.)
      Josh:      Hey! Hey!

10.    Bartlet:      Just remember these two things: she's nineteen years old, and the 82nd Airborne works for me.

[DiverDave]

47. LOL!

great ones, but you left out:

SAM
Wait a minute. Wait. Please. Could you do me favor? Could you tell me which one of
those kids is Leo McGarry’s daughter?

MALLORY
Why?

SAM
Well, if I could make eye contact with her, make her laugh, you know, just see that
she has a good time, it might go a long way toward making my life easier.

MALLORY
These children worked hard. All of them. And I’m not inclined at this moment to make
your life easier.

SAM
Ms. O’Brian, I understand your feelings, but please believe me when I tell you that
I’m a nice guy having a bad day. I just found out the Times is publishing a poll
that says a considerable portion of Americans feel that the White House has lost
energy and focus. A perception that’s not likely to be altered by the video footage
of the President riding his bicycle into a tree. As we speak, the Coast Guard are
fishing Cubans out of the Atlantic Ocean while the Governor of Florida wants to
blockade the Port of Miami. A good friend of mine’s about to get fired for going on
television and making sense, and it turns out I accidentally slept with a prostitute
last night. Now. Would you please, in the name of compassion, tell me which one of
those kids is my boss’s daughter.

MALLORY
That would be me.

SAM
You.

MALLORY
Yes.

SAM
Leo’s daughter’s fourth grade class.

MALLORY
Yes.

SAM
Well, this is bad on so many levels.

That last line is classic.

[Spazito]

62. LOL, THANK YOU for reminding me of that classic moment

I started laughing out loud all over again in reading your post!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

48. My favorite (from Mandatory Minimums)

Josh: ( answering the phone ) Hi, Senator. Why don't you take your legislative agenda and shove it up your ass? ( Hangs up and
throws cell phone over his shoulder to Donna, who catches it. )
Turns out I was fine.

[question everything]

56. Donna a Canadian?

Not necessarily a line. It was an episode where Donna's employment was in jeopardy as she was born in northern Minnesota in an area what could have been considered Canadian.

By the end, she was "cleared" just as, at the conclusion of state dinner, Abby got the Maple Leaf to just drop down at the end and, I am not sure, the "Oh Canada" was played. This was hilarious.

[SCDem]

58. and when Bartlet comes in the room at that time

"What the hell has happened? They were all Americans when I left."

and Donna responds "I know just how you feel"

[mcscajun]

60. Yup..."Oh, Canada" was played.

BARTLET
What the hell is going on?!

ABBEY
Shh.

BARTLET
I was gone for 45 minutes. They were all Americans when I left.

[question everything]

61. LOL And Abby was so disappointed when Donna was cleared

They were sitting there, three women Abby, CJ, and Amy Gardner half drunk and very very happy, waiting for the show (Canadian flag and national anthem) to start

[ElsewheresDaughter]

49. one of my favorite Bartlet quotes.....

"I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21: 7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleaned the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?"

"My chief of staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?"

"Here's one that's really important cause we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11: 7 If they promise to wear gloves can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point?

"Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother, John, for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads?

"Think about those questions, would you?"

Martin Sheen, The West Wing

[mcscajun]

53. That scene was priceless.

It goes in the Top Ten Dramatic Moments. :)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

55. Toby giving the homeles vet an Arlington burial..wwas one of my favs

[Ilsa]

63. Mine also. And Josh's PTSD cello episode w/ Adam Arkin. eom

[eddiebrowns]

59. And one more thing

"While you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the tight ass club, when the President stands, nobody sits." (she remains seated, the Prez gives her an intimidating look, she stands)

"Toby, that's how I did it (re: Toby's question as to how the Prez beat an opponent in NH)."

Sam walks over to talk show host, "I'm just going to take that crab puff"

This is my favorite episode! Even attended a WW party last night and 2 items on menu were crab puffs and pie (from episode where Sam and Toby were writing furiously and found that they wrote better when pie was available-classic CJ line, "Get these boys some more pie!")