Wrapping Up Season 4 - The End Of The Sorkin Era

Season 4 of The West Wing proved to be a turning point for the series. While still critically acclaimed - receiving its fourth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series - the viewer ratings started a slow decline during the season. Over the last half of the 2002-03 season, in fact, the show averaged fewer than 14 million viewers per episode, a level not seen (well, except for Noël) since Season 1. Indeed, in the next three seasons, only three episodes are going to be able to reach more than 14 million viewers (7A WF 83429 and The Dogs Of War from Season 5, and Liftoff from Season 6).

Season 4 covered some important ground for the series: President Bartlet's re-election; Sam leaving the White House as he made the move to run for office on his own; the Bartlet Doctrine, calling on American military force to be used to protect human rights around the globe; Donna's romance with a Navy officer; and, finally, the kidnapping of Zoey and the President's decision to temporarily give up his office to a political rival.  But, obviously, the biggest and most important event of the season was the departure of show-creator (and author of all but three of the series' scripted episodes) Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin, along with fellow producer and 11-time director Tommy Schlamme, left the show in the spring of 2003. We can't fully discuss this season and the future of The West Wing without some more talk about that, so let's do it!

Sorkin: The Origins

Aaron Sorkin first found notice with his script for the play A Few Good Men, which reached Broadway in 1989 and ran for nearly 500 performances. His deft plot construction and witty, crackling dialogue caught the eye of Hollywood - in fact, he sold the film rights to the play before it even premiered on Broadway. That led him to the silver screen, where he earned screenwriting credits for the film version of A Few Good Men (1992) as well as the films Malice (1993) and The American President (1995).

(Side note: the stage production of A Few Good Men could be seen as the starting point of what might be considered the Mighty Sorkin Players, a collection of actors who go on to appear in additional Sorkin productions in the future. Some of the actors we've seen on The West Wing who first appeared onstage in A Few Good Men on Broadway or on the national tour include Clark Gregg, Joshua Malina, Timothy Busfield, Bradley Whitford, Michael O'Keefe, William J. Duffy, and Noah Emmerich.)

While working on the screenplay for The American President, Sorkin spent long nights at the computer with ESPN's Sportscenter on the television. That led him to the idea of a movie with a behind-the-scenes look at a TV sports show, which eventually became the 1998 ABC TV series Sports Night. While the series was well-received by critics, the audiences didn't follow and the show was canceled after two seasons.

The Beginnings Of The West Wing

After The American President and while working on his Sports Night idea, Sorkin was often hired as a script doctor, tuning up screenplays written by others. During this time, in late 1996, he was taken by surprise when a lunch date with producer John Wells (ER) that Sorkin thought would be a broad overview talk about TV ideas in general turned out to be Wells asking for Sorkin to pitch him an idea for a series. Just the night before, hanging out with some friends, fellow writer Akiva Goldsman had pointed to the poster for The American President and said, "You know, that would make a great TV series." Off the cuff, Sorkin pitched the idea of a show following not the President, but the background staff that ran the political operation. 

Wells thought that could make a good show, although it took three years to get it picked up by a network and under way. Networks were a little reluctant to put a political show on the air on the heels of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal, but NBC decided the time was right to debut the show in 1999. You can actually see some of the seams in Pilot that reveal the script was written a couple of years prior; we also get to see some of the plotlines from The American President get recycled in the show - but even so, the energy and dedication and skilled writing and acting propelled The West Wing into a terrific TV series.

The Way Out

Right from the start, the stress on Sorkin was evident. In Season 1 of the show, he was still writing every episode of Sport Night's second season while still getting teleplay credit for every West Wing episode but one (Enemies). By Season 2 Sports Night had ended, but Sorkin continued carrying the writing load, credited for every single scripted episode through both seasons 2 and 3. 

This mode of working caused some problems. Sorkin had already clashed with ABC network executives over issues with Sports Night; his relationship with NBC execs was similarly tense, particularly when his scripts would arrive later and later as the seasons wore on. By spring, Sorkin's scripts would often not be complete until just before shooting started on that episode, which resulted in budget overruns as casting/locations sometimes wouldn't be known until the last minute. Sorkin also had issues with drug abuse - while he completed rehab for cocaine addiction in 1995, in the spring of 2001 he was arrested at the Burbank Airport for possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, and crack cocaine. That arrest put him into a court-ordered drug diversion program,while he was still working on the third season of The West Wing. As we'll see in a bit, there was also a conflict with a member of the cast that turned out to go not in Sorkin's favor.

The combinations of Sorkin's drug issues and the budgetary pressures felt by NBC due to his control of the show's writing process led to some demands by the network, which asked him to start spreading out the teleplay responsibilities to the rest of the writing room. This led to a couple of Season 4 episodes without Sorkin's name on them (Swiss Diplomacy and The Long Goodbye), but in general, that line of thinking did not sit well with Sorkin and his view of caretaking his own creation.

It turns out there were also some other long-running disputes with NBC that contributed, finally building to a head in the spring of 2003. A fascinating 2017 interview with John Wells (one of the original producers of the show from the start, who then took over as show runner when Sorkin left) sheds some light on a problem with a cast member that I wasn't aware of before.

• As Season 4 got started, Sorkin got frustrated with "a couple of the actors" Wells says, and wanted one actor in particular off the show. That actor was smart enough to get the president of NBC to back his side of the issue, so instead of that actor leaving, Sorkin just stopped writing for his character. Now, it's clear he's talking about Rob Lowe - his issues with his role in the show, his storylines, and his pay levels in comparison with the rest of the cast are well-known, and were the primary reason Lowe left the show in mid-season (I talk about that throughout Season 4, summing things up here). The fact Sorkin wanted him gone and essentially wrote him off the show is new information for me. That was another strike against Sorkin with the network.

• Sometime in the spring of 2003 - it had to be then, as Sorkin has stated he didn't make the decision to leave until after he finished writing Twenty Five, and news of his departure didn't go public until May - NBC executives had a meeting with Sorkin and Wells about the future budgetary/creative direction of the show. The network had some specific things they wanted in place for Season 5, and while Wells doesn't go into detail in his interview, it's clear from context NBC wanted to spend less (fewer expensive location trips, for one) and they wanted Sorkin to share the writing load more. Who knows what other demands NBC might have had, Wells doesn't say, but Sorkin was already on thin ice with his drug issues, late script deliveries adding to the show's expenses, and his conflict with Lowe. Sorkin, thinking this was a negotiation, said no, I'm good with the way things are, thanks. The network executives got up and left. Sorkin looked at Wells and asked, "What just happened?" to which Wells replied, "I think you just quit."

• Yet another tidbit from this interview is the fact that even after Sorkin rejected NBC's demands for changes, he still wasn't completely positive he wanted to leave. This also plays in with Sorkin's DVD commentaries at the end of Season 4, where he insists he had resolutions in mind for the cliffhanger plot threads he left in Commencement and Twenty Five. He eventually came around to face the fact that the network wasn't going to budge with their demands, and he wasn't willing to give in.

And so, Sorkin's time with The West Wing was done. His career since has still thrived - while his 2006 series Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip only lasted one season, he came back with screenwriting credits for Charlie Wilson's War (2007), The Social Network (2010), for which he won an Academy Award, and Moneyball (2011) which earned him another Oscar nomination. He went on from there to create and write The Newsroom for HBO, which ran for three seasons (2012-14). After writing the screenplay for Steve Jobs in 2015, Sorkin began to branch out into directing as well. He wrote and directed Molly's Game (2017) which earned him his third Oscar nomination, then wrote and directed the 2020 film The Trial Of The Chicago 7. In the meantime, Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird debuted on Broadway in 2018. His latest project, Being The Ricardos (2021), was also both written and directed by Sorkin. (We are still waiting for the live TV production of A Few Good Men, first announced in 2016 but yet to actually appear.)

The West Wing Post-Sorkin

Of course we'll get into the details of how the series develops in the future as these recaps continue. But here's a few things you can expect to see as the show continues in its final three seasons:

• It's darker. Not just thematically darker, with darker edges to stories; actually, luminously darker. It's almost like NBC said, hey, we're cutting the budget, let's start by taking out half the lights. It gets better later in Season 5, but the first part of this next season is sometimes pretty hard to see.

• Along the lines of darker themes and edges, the writing is less nimble and clever. It's hard for writers to live up a talented screenwriter like Sorkin, and while there are some very talented writers who contribute to the next three seasons, you can tell there's a little bit of fun and verve missing. This also leads to some blocky plotting and some real out-of-character moments - in some cases you wonder if these writers actually watched the first four seasons before starting on their scripts (CJ had an affair with Hoynes? There was a newsworthy government standoff with activists in Bartlet's first year that defined CJ's role as press secretary, that we never heard about before? Leo has a secret "in" with Castro's regime? Toby would leak classified military secrets?).

• Say what you will about Sorkin and his process, at least he was consistent with following the calendar as far as the setting of the episodes matching the time of year they aired (election episodes aired in November, holiday episodes around Thanksgiving and Christmas, end-of-season episodes clearly set in the spring). That's going to change ... we're going to get a Fourth of July episode next season, for example. Timelines gets compressed in Seasons 6 and 7, with a year actually missing in there (we'll try to keep track of how many times characters say "We've been here seven years" in Season 6, as a way to forcefully remind viewers a year just got skipped) and Presidential election episodes being aired in April.

• Some characters get rather ceremoniously dumped - Amy Gardner, we were just getting to like you as Abbey's Chief of Staff; Admiral Fitzwallis, thank you for your service - while the new showrunners end up writing in a bevy of new characters. Some of them are welcome (Annabeth Schott, Kate Harper, of course Matt and Helen Santos) some of them less so (Ryan Pierce? Angela Blake?).

Season Four

The Nielsen ratings show The West Wing starting to come down from the peak viewership point of Season 3. While both Seasons 2 and 3 averaged around 17 million viewers per episode, the 2002-03 season dropped to an average of 13.5 million, with a definite drop-off seen in the second half of the season. It dropped from the number 8 show on TV in 2001-02 down to number 21, and the Nielsen rating dropped from 11.4 to 9.0. (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was the highest-rated show of the season, with a rating of 16.4). 

2003 EMMY AWARDS

In another sign that the series was entering the downward side of the climb to success, The West Wing took just two Emmy Awards (out of 10 nominations) for the 2002-03 season. This came after winning four Emmys each of its first three seasons, with 28 nominations in the last two seasons combined. While the show itself took its fourth consecutive award for Outstanding Drama Series, for the first time there were no individual acting Emmy Awards given to the series.

Emmy Awards were won for:

• Outstanding Drama Series

• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, awarded to Christopher Misiano for Twenty Five.

The other Emmy nominations the show received for Season 4 included:

• Martin Sheen with a fourth straight nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Twenty Five). James Gandolfini took the award for his work in The Sopranos. Gandolfini also took the Emmy over Sheen in both 1999-2000 and 2000-01, and Michael Chiklis of The Shield took the Emmy for 2002-03.

• Allison Janney earned her fourth consecutive Emmy nomination (and second consecutive for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series) for her work in The Long Goodbye. After Janney's two wins for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, and an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy in 2001-02, this time the award went to Edie Falco in The Sopranos.

• Both John Spencer (The Red Mass/Twenty Five) and Bradley Whitford (20 Hours In America/Evidence Of Things Not Seen) were nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Both had already won for The West Wing (Whitford in 2000-01, Spencer in 2001-02), but this time the Emmy went to Joe Pantoliano for, you guessed it, The Sopranos.

• Stockard Channing got a nomination, her fourth, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Privateers and Twenty Five. She had received the Emmy in 2001-02. This season, though, the award went to Tyne Daly for Judging Amy.

• Two West Wing actors were nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Tim Matheson as Vice President Hoynes (Swiss Diplomacy/Life On Mars), and Matthew Perry as Joe Quincy (Evidence Of Things Not Seen/Life On Mars). That Emmy went to Charles S. Dutton for The Practice.

• Aaron Sorkin received his fifth nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Twenty Five (he shared a writing Emmy, along with Rick Cleveland, in 2000). That Emmy went to a team of writers on The Sopranos.

2003 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

The 2003 Golden Globes were virtually a carbon copy of 2002 as far as The West Wing was concerned. Held in January, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was actually honoring performances from the end of Season 3 and the first part of Season 4. The West Wing earned five Golden Globe nominations - tied with Will & Grace for most nominations - but didn't take home any awards.

The nominations:

• The series earned its fourth consecutive nomination for Best Television Series - Drama, which was won this season by The Shield.

• Martin Sheen got his fourth straight nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series but the trophy went to Michael Chiklis for The Shield.

• Bradley Whitford and John Spencer were both was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film, but the award was given to Donald Sutherland for the HBO film Path To War.

• Allison Janney was nominated again for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film, but the award went to Edie Falco for The Sopranos.

2003 SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

The SAG awards were held in March 2003, with nominations coming midway through the 2002-2003 season. The show, Martin Sheen, and Allison Janney had all won SAG awards at both the 2001 and 2002 events, but none of them ended up with the trophies this time around.

• The show's cast received another nomination, their third, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The trophy went to the cast of Six Feet Under.

• Martin Sheen, who received the award both of the two years before, was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. Michael Chiklis got the award for The Shield.

• And Allison Janney, who won the trophy in 2001 and 2002 for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, was nominated again, but saw the award go to Edie Falco for The Sopranos.

We move on to a brave new world of The West Wing, one without its muse and founder, but one with stories yet to tell and scenes yet to see. We'll get a resolution of Zoey's kidnapping and Bartlet's return to the Oval Office; an antagonistic new Speaker of the House working to undermine the administration; Fourth of July fireworks; the death of a former President; a really strange documentary from the future; an opening on the Supreme Court; and a dangerous trip to the Middle East for some of these characters. I'll be honest, Season 5 is a bit tough to work through ... I've only seen these episodes twice in my entire life! ... but it'll be an interesting journey to take together.