THE CRACKPOTS AND THESE WOMEN

Descriptions

From TVGuide.com:

While the staff deals with problems ranging from UFOs to smallpox, Bartlet (Martin Sheen) prepares for a press conference and makes chili for his daughter (Elisabeth Moss).

From NBC:

Josh (Bradley Whitford) is troubled when he receives a special card informing him of where to safely go in the event of a nuclear attack -- a privilege denied to most of his White House co-workers -- while Leo (John Spencer) instructs the senior staff to meet with various special interest groups, some of whom have wacky agendas. Prior to an important press conference, Toby (Richard Schiff) voices strong opposition to many of President Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) plans for an upcoming California trip and later checks out the rumor that he was not the chief executive's first choice for the job. The President, meanwhile, virtually orders his staff to sample his prized chili when he arranges a reception for his Georgetown-bound daughter, Zoey (Elisabeth Moss).

Credits

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Media Quotes

"When we were kids, he [Martin Sheen] whipped us on the basketball court every day. He was proud of that. We have a court here on the lot, and we had a rematch for the first time in 12 years, and it took me back to when I was 15. I won't say who won this time." - Rob Lowe

"The Rob Report"
By Michael Hammer
September 1999
Smoke Magazine

They say God is in the details. In this case, it's the doughnuts. At a mission-style conference table on the Warner Brothers lot, director Tony Drazan confers with former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers about an episode of "The West Wing," NBC's upcoming White House drama. "In the Roosevelt Room I want to have some, like, doughnuts, bagels and coffee, because it's a morning meeting," says the director. "Ummm, sure," says Myers. "But it doesn't really happen." Drazan is amazed: "They don't provide plates of food?" Sam's a stingy Uncle, Myers explains. "On Air Force One, you pay for your own lunch," she says.

"Coast to Coast"
By Kendall Hamilton
September 6, 1999
Newsweek

Delivering a speech in one complex scene, Sheen was like a kid playing with a refrigerator carton, recalled "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin

"The voices of television: how sweet they sound"
By Lynn Elber
December 27, 1999
Associated Press

Sorkin had a drink with Stephanopoulos at the Four Seasons Hotel near Georgetown while researching The American President. The aide pulled what looked like a bus pass from his wallet. The card contained instructions as to where George would be evacuated to help the president run the nation in the event of nuclear war. On The West Wing, Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff, becomes unnerved by his card, and guilt-stricken when he learns his colleagues aren't slated to be saved. The real fun came off camera. "Dee Dee actually came to me and said, 'You know, they don't have these cards,'" Sorkin recalls. Turns out they did, but that Myers didn't.

"The Real White House"
By Matthew Miller
March 2000
Brill's Content

"West Wing" co-star Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler) snagged an Emmy Sunday night in Pasadena, but that doesn't mean he's turning his back on his hometown school - City College of New York.

Not only has Schiff (Class of '83) worn a CCNY sweatshirt on NBC's record-setting (nine Emmys) White House drama, but he's being honored next month with CCNY's "Townsend Harris Medal," which honors post-graduate achievement.

"He came back here last May to be the guest speaker at our honors convocation and we're terrifically proud of him," says CCNY spokesman Charles DeCicco.

"We sent him the sweatshirt and he wore it in an episode during a pickup [basketball] game with the president [played by Martin Sheen]," DeCicco says.

"CCNY Schiffs into gear with 'Wing' Star"
By Michael Starr
September 13, 2000
New York Post

"I remember he [Martin Sheen] used smoke while he played [basketball]. He had, what I called then, this Old Man Hook Shot. ...He'd make it and just laugh in your face. I could never beat him." - Rob Lowe

"West Wing takes us back from cliff"
By Tyler McLeod
October 1, 2000
Calgary Sun

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