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From TVGuide.com:

While Sam and Toby go to Connecticut to get the President's Supreme Court nominee (Edward James Olmos) out of jail, Josh tells a group about a typical day at the White House.

From NBC:

Sam (Rob Lowe) and Toby (Richard Schiff) are dispatched to Connecticut for some damage control and to secure the secret release of President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) choice, Roberto Mendoza (Edward James Olmos) for the Supreme Court, who has been jailed for alleged drunk driving and resisting arrest. Meanwhile, Josh (Bradley Whitford) is a guest lecturer at a college class to talk about working for the President and he recounts the previous week's flare-ups, which include: his feeble attempt to fill in as the White House spokesman at a press conference where he promises that the President has "a secret plan to fight inflation," and the media glare that engulfs the African-American HUD secretary, Debbie O'Leary (CCH Pounder) who publicly labeled a prominent Republican as a racist.

Credits

Information Links

• Supreme Court
• HUD Secretary
• C-SPAN
• HUD
• Bullwinkle
• Harvard
• Yale
• Air Force One
• Council of Economic Advisers
• Delta
• LaGuardia
• Federal Judge
• Governor of Connecticut
• Dale Carnegie
• Supreme Court Confirmation Process CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE
• Chicago Tribune
• American Bar Association
• AFL - CIO
• New York State Legislature
• Chairman of the Fed
• Washington Post
• Barney Fife

Media Quotes

"There's a scene in a [recent] episode in which an African-American woman, the secretary of housing and urban development [played by CCH Pounder], has lost her cool in a committee meeting and accused the committee chairman of being a racist. And the way [Dee Dee] did it was by using the phrase 'If the shoe fits ...' In my script I [Aaron Sorkin] keep having people say, 'If she was going to lose her cool, couldn't she find some better way of phrasing it than "If the shoe fits?"' That kind of thing drives Dee Dee crazy because I spend the entire episode mocking her dialogue." Myers, for her part, laughs good-naturedly and admits, "I'm learning a lot about writing dialogue from Aaron."

"Meet The Prez"
By Ken Tucker
February 25, 2000
Entertainment Weekly

[This] episode involved a series of gaffes made by the staff during the president's absence, culminating in a scene in which a sleep-deprived Sheen goes into a priceless slow burn while being briefed on the problems by his hesitant, apologetic underlings.

"They wouldn't be that hangdog," [Mike] McCurry [former press secretary for President Clinton] observes. Obviously, the African-American "personal aide to the president" is a piece of dramatic license, one might think.

"No, there is such a job," McCurry says. "And it's a hard, hard job. They take it a little bit far. He wouldn't go right into the president's bedroom to wake him up for a meeting. But he would be the one to call him on the phone to wake him up."

"Presidential Seal"
By Roger Anderson
February 27, 2000
Scripps Howard News Service in Fresno Bee

[Melissa] Fitzgerald recalled a day on which the show was shooting a presidential "photo op."

"There were tons of extras that day working," and Sheen, she said, made a point of introducing himself to each and every one.

"It was the most lovely thing. Everyone felt part of the scene," she said. "I thought, 'My God. He really looks like the president.' "

"'Wing'ed angel"
By Ellen Gray
March 15, 2000
Philadelphia Daily News

I've only seen one that I thought was so far off the mark that it was really a mistake, and that's when they had a Supreme Court nominee arrested for speeding, and two members of the White House staff went and broke him out of jail, which is an impeachable offense. And for any White House to really try that would have been stupid. First of all, everybody in the White House would have gotten fired. The president would have gotten impeached, and the Supreme Court nominee would have to be dumber than an owl to ever break the law by getting out of a speeding ticket. So that was the only one that I thought was really off the mark. - Marlin Fitzwater

"Popular Politics"
By Terence Smith
September 8, 2000
Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Hail to the cheap? NBC's hit West Wing is miserly with its guest stars, says Oscar nominee Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver)

Olmos, in town last week for PBS's annual meeting, says he was asked to work for scale - about $4,500 per episode - when he did two guests shots as Supreme Court nominee Judge Roberto Mendoza in the '99-2000 season.

"West Wing complained when they had to pay me," says Olmos, who stars in the forthcoming PBS drama American Family. "They felt they had a top show, and wouldn't everybody want to do it for nothing?

"I said: 'No, I don't do anything for commercial television for nothing. You don't need the help!' I'm a little too expensive for them. You can't ask major talent to come on board without being able to support themselves."

NBC referred calls to West Wing producer Warner Bros. Television. Warner Bros. had no comment, but sources close to West Wing say Olmos received "well above scale" for his work.

Ironically, perpetually cash- strapped PBS is giving Olmos his "normal fee" for Family, originally developed for CBS by filmmaker Gregory Nava (Selena)

"PBS came in strong," says Olmos, 54, who's married to Sopranos shrink Lorraine Bracco. "Obviously, they appreciate my work and my talent, and they're paying me for it."

"PBS pays up more readily than 'West Wing' for Olmos"
By Gail Shister
June 19, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer

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