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| Written by Aaron Sorkin |
| Directed by Don Scardino |
| Rob Lowe as | Sam (Samuel Norman) Seaborn | Deputy Communications Director |
| Moira Kelly as | Mandy (Madeline) Hampton | Public Relations Consultant |
| Dulé Hill as | Charlie (Charles) Young | Personal Aide to the President |
| Allison Janney as | C.J. (Claudia Jean) Cregg | Press Secretary |
| Richard Schiff as | Toby {Zachary} Ziegler | Communications Director |
| John Spencer as | Leo {Thomas} McGarry | Chief of Staff |
| Bradley Whitford as | Josh (Joshua) Lyman | Deputy Chief of Staff |
| Martin Sheen as | Jed (Josiah) Bartlet | President of the United States |
| Marlee Matlin as | Joey (Josephine) Lucas | Pollster |
| Lisa Edelstein as | Laurie (Brittany Rollins) | Call Girl / Law Student |
| Timothy Busfield as | Danny (Daniel) Concannon | (Washington Post) Reporter |
| Thom Gossom Jr. as | Ted Mitchell | friend of the President |
| David Huddleston as | Senator Max Lobell | Republican |
| Janel Moloney as | Donna (Donnatella) Moss | Assistant to Deputy Chief of Staff |
| Austin Pendleton as | Barry Haskel | FEC Commissioner |
| Lawrence Pressman as | Ken Cochran | Ambassador to Bulgaria |
| Reiko Aylesworth as | Janeane | Laurie's Friend |
| Renée Estevez as | Nancy | Mrs. Landingham's Assistant |
| Bill O'Brien as | Kenny Thurman | Sign Language Interpreter |
| NiCole Robinson as | Margaret | Assistant to Chief of Staff |
| Devika Parikh as | Bonnie | Communications' Aide |
| Kim Webster as | Ginger | Assistant to Communications Director |
| Kris Murphy as | Katie | Witt (last name) / Reporter |
| Melissa Fitzgerald as | Carol | Assistant to the Press Secretary |
| Justin Colvin as | Rodney | Dress Marine |
| Sherry Houston as | Dan Larson | Attorney General |
| Conrad Bachmann as | Ken (Kenneth) Kato | Treasury Secretary |
| M.G. Mills as | Rob Konrad | CIA Director |
| Bruce Wright as | Ross Kassenbach | FEC Commissioner |
| Peter James Smith as | Ed | |
| William Duffy as | Larry | |
| Don Chastain as | Reporter #2 |
A small item appears about an open ambassadorship to the Federated States of Micronesia. Maybe Sorkin's West Wing needs a man there, too--if anyone can find it. "Why not?" Sorkin asks. "We need an episode next week."
"The Real White House"
By Matthew Miller
March 2000
Brill's Content
An unseen yet key character on recent episodes of NBC's The West Wing has been a woman named Patricia (second reference Patty) Calhoun, President Josiah Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) nominee for the Federal Election Commission.Bartlet wants Calhoun on the commission because she'd be a key supporter of campaign finance reform.
Denver, of course, has a notable Patricia (Patty) Calhoun, the editor of Westword.
So did The West Wing use the name Patty Calhoun out of familiarity? Co-producer John Wells is a Denver native, and Aaron Sorkin, the series' creator and head writer recently was featured in an article in the journalism monthly, Brill's Content, as was Calhoun.
An NBC spokesman called the naming of The West Wing character "a remarkable coincidence."
So what would Denver's Patty Calhoun do if she were appointed to the Federal Election Commission?
"I would condense the presidential campaign to about a day," Calhoun says, adding that she'd also advocate some sort of televised, winner-take-all mud-wrestling event, with advertising revenues going to a worthy cause.
"Channel 9 studies 10 p.m. audience loss"
By Dusty Saunders
May 15, 2000
Rocky Mountain News
[This] show, for example, where they fired an ambassador to make room for somebody else they wanted to move into that slot so they could hire somebody else in a third position, that happens often. I've been a part of those kinds of things myself, but it never happens in the White House. The president never does the dirty work himself, and the public never hears about it. But the show was able to dramatize that....
They had the president fire an ambassador and then hire a person off the Federal Election Commission to be the ambassador, so they could get an open slot on the Elections Commission for somebody else they wanted. Well, the president wouldn't get involved in that in reality. He would make the decisions to do it, but no one would ever see it. But it's exactly how the White House works. I think that's the great value of this show. It shows how the presidency works.
...
For example, if a president of another country calls up our State Department and says, "I don't like your ambassador. The guy just rubs me the wrong way," well, they'll find a way to get rid of him, but he's not going to be fired. It's not going to be a scene where anybody will ever know, the press and the public will never know, but that guy will suddenly be given another post, and we'll get a new ambassador. That happens quite a bit. - Marlin Fitzwater
"Popular Politics"
By Terence Smith
September 8, 2000
Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Sorry about the "Sing a song"/"Got it wrong" joke. I'm surprised Marlee didn't smack me as she usually does in those situations. - Aaron "Benjamin" Sorkin
Posted at mightybigtv.com Forum
By Aaron "Benjamin" Sorkin
February 21, 2001
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