Season 5 was a turning point in the history of The West Wing. Show creator Aaron Sorkin had departed, after receiving writing credits for 85 of the first 90 episodes of the series (and that's including Documentary Special, which we really shouldn't). John Wells, best known as the producer of ER, took over running the show and steered it into a slightly different direction, with more personal-relationship oriented plotlines and sometimes a more soap-opera-y feel. The show also suffered from a writing staff looking to find its footing without Sorkin, with a loss of a lot of humor and lightness his writing provided.
So it's not surprising that the ratings slide the series first encountered in Season 4 continued into Season 5. The show went from the 22nd most viewed TV series in 2002-03 to number 29 for 2003-04, dropping from an average of 13.5 million viewers per episode to 11.8 (in the show's heyday as a top 15 ranked series in Seasons 2 and 3, it averaged around 17 million viewers per episode). By comparison, though, in today's fractured broadcast/cable/streaming world of television, in 2021-22 the highest-rated non-sporting-event TV series, NCIS, averaged 10.9 million viewers, which makes The West Wing's numbers from 20 years ago seem pretty legit.
The season-opening 7A WF 83429 had over 18 million viewers watching, actually slightly ahead of the Season 4 debut episode 20 Hours In America, as people tuned in to see if there would be a resolution to Zoey's kidnapping cliffhanger ... but when that episode didn't resolve anything, people (including me) started tuning out. After that, viewers rarely cracked 13 million for following episodes, and after The Stormy Present aired to begin 2004 the numbers didn't even get above 12 million for the last twelve episodes of the season. Compare that to the past four years where only one episode in all four seasons (Privateers) had fewer than 12 million viewers.
It's difficult to maintain excellence (and it's difficult to measure excellence by simply numbers of viewers and Nielsen ratings), and that gets even harder when your creator and series guide moves on, leaving the creative direction to others. Now, I'm not saying Season 5 was bad - there were definitely high points like The Supremes and Separation Of Powers - but it was certainly different, and absolutely less consistent. It's completely understandable to see viewership drop under these circumstances.
The show also ended up considerably less critically lauded than in the past. After winning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series the past four years running, with 10 other Emmys awarded in other categories, only Allison Janney earned an Emmy for this season - and that was actually for what's regarded as one of the poorer episodes of the year (Access). The show had won 14 Emmys with 47 nominations over the first four seasons; this year it was one win in seven nominations.
Once viewership starts declining in this way, producers often make changes in an effort to spur interest from new viewers, and/or bring lost viewers back. Sometimes these changes are subtle, sometimes they are radical, sometimes it means bringing in new characters (Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch, or Jonathan Winters in Mork & Mindy) or revamping the situations or the setting (Laverne & Shirley moving from Milwaukee to Los Angeles, for instance). Nothing quite so radical happened here, but we did see some personnel adjustments - Ryan Pierce, Josh's intern, and Rena, Toby's assistant, seemed to be brought in to add a "younger perspective" to the cast; and towards the end of the season we saw Mary McCormack's Kate Harper added to our story. While she remains a "Special Guest Star" at this time, along the lines of Gary Cole's Vice President Russell, she'll eventually become a full cast member and significant player in Seasons 6 and 7.
The big change in direction won't come until later in Season 6, with the shift to covering the campaign for the 2006 Presidential election (for a good part of Seasons 6 and 7 the episodes alternate between campaign entries and Bartlet administration goings-on), and we'll also get some of our characters taking on new and more challenging roles. We still have to live through episodes like The Hubbert Peak and Ninety Miles Away, but the overall quality, I think, takes a turn for the better with the campaign episodes and the show finishes strongly in Season 7.
- Let's start with the originator and first resident of Mandyville, Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly). Second-billed as a regular cast member from the start, Mandy was intended to be a foil for Josh, an ex-girlfriend brought into the Bartlet White House as a savvy media specialist. Kelly and Brad Whitford never really clicked chemistry-wise (especially noticeable as Janel Moloney's Donna set off sparks playing against Whitford), and the writers struggled to find any real role for Mandy in the storylines. She was last seen in What Kind Of Day Has It Been discussing the President's visual look at an upcoming town hall, and perhaps most strikingly has never been seen or even referred to since - not even in flashbacks to the campaign or times when she and Josh would have been together. That's a really odd character ending for a series that's usually pretty good about keeping long-time references alive.
- Then there's Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), who was the first-billed regular cast member for the four seasons he was on the show. I've gone over some of the stories behind Lowe's departure (he and Sorkin apparently never got along, Sorkin started writing him out of main plotlines, Lowe felt disrepected and underpaid - there's some interesting background about that in my Season 4 wrapup post), but at least there have been a couple of mentions of Sam's existence after he left to run for Congress. He was last seen in Red Haven's On Fire, but don't be surprised if Mr. Seaborn pops up again before the series concludes.
- Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter) was a dazzling, spunky addition to the White House Counsel's Office starting with In This White House, and had some really fun storylines in her short time on the show. Unfortunately, Sorkin wasn't sure he could write enough stories for Ainsley to keep her as a regular cast member, and when Procter took a full-time gig on CSI: Miami (which debuted in the fall of 2002) she could no longer play the recurring role of Ainsley. Sorkin still regrets not being able to find a full-time role for her on The West Wing. Her final appearance was in The U.S. Poet Laureate, but like Sam, her existence has been mentioned in later episodes. Ainsley might also appear again in Season 7.
- Amy Gardner (Mary-Louise Parker) exploded on the scene in The Women Of Qumar flirting with Josh over water balloons. They had quite an on-again/off-again romantic relationship, which ends at one point over a political fight regarding a welfare funding bill (Josh weakens Amy's standing so much she has to resign her position at the Women's Leadership Council), but after Amy is hired as Abbey's Chief of Staff in Red Haven's On Fire they rekindle their relationship in Jefferson Lives. Amy leaves Josh and the White House for good in Constituency Of One after her efforts on behalf of Abbey get her chewed out by the President. Amy is another character that hasn't disappeared forever; she'll pop up again in the campaign episodes of Season 6.
- Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) first appeared as the Washington Post White House correspondent in A Proportional Response. He and CJ had a flirty relationship throughout Season 1, then Concannon disappeared from the show after The Portland Trip. He came back in Holy Night, kissing CJ as Santa Claus and then explaining his dogged pursuit of leads in the story of Abdul Shareef's killing. After covering the events around Zoey's kidnapping in 7A WF 83429, Danny disappears again ... although like Sam and Ainsley he is still referenced as existing outside the events we see onscreen. Danny does make a significant reappearance in Season 7.
Then we have the deaths:
- Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos) first appeared in A Proportional Response as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and played his part as President Bartlet's friend and guide through the thickets of military brass throughout the first four seasons. Fitzwallace retired after The Dogs Of War, then was asked by President Bartlet to tag along on the congressional delegation to the Middle East, where he was killed in the IED attack on their motorcade in Gaza.
- Dolores Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) was President Bartlet's loyal personal secretary from the very start in Pilot (and we later were witness to their first meeting back at Jed's boarding school in Two Cathedrals). We learned her tragic family backstory of losing her twin boys in Vietnam in In Excelsis Deo; then were saddened by her death in a car accident in 18th And Potomac. We got to see Mrs. Landingham in Jed's mind as he pondered his future in Two Cathedrals, and we also saw her in flashbacks in Bartlet For America and Debate Camp.
- Simon Donovan (Mark Harmon) had a short run as the Secret Service agent on CJ's detail after her life was threatened in Enemies Foreign And Domestic. It looked like he and CJ might have been able to start a relationship after the threat ended, kissing in Shubert Alley in Posse Comitatus, but Simon was later shot dead during a bodega robbery in New York City in that same episode.
And the supporting/somewhat recurring characters:
- Justice Roberto Mendoza (Edward James Olmos) played a key role in The Short List, as the President and his advisers turned to him as a bold Supreme Court nominee instead of the safer, more moderate choice they'd originally made. Sam and Toby made a trip to Connecticut to get him out of jail in Celestial Navigation, and that's the last we saw of Mendoza. He's been mentioned several times since, most recently in The Supremes, so we know he's still around, but he doesn't actually appear, not even in episodes like The Red Mass when Supreme Court justices are shown.
- Joey Lucas (Marlee Matlin) first appeared as director of a congressional campaign in Take This Sabbath Day, but by her next appearance in 20 Hours In L.A. she had become a polling expert. Her role as a pollster and possibility as a romantic partner for Josh continued through her most recent spot on the show, The Benign Prerogative, where a pregnant Joey took Toby along on her polling-delivery-of-the-State-of-the-Union mall tour. She'll be back as the 2006 Presidential campaign ramps up.
- I can throw in former Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) here, although his departure from the administration was pretty obvious. From our first meeting in "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" we saw tension between President Bartlet and Hoynes, tensions that were prodded and gradually explained as the series went on (Bartlet For America, when Hoynes learned he had lost the nomination to a man who was hiding a serious health condition, was the most obvious bone of contention). After he was discovered spilling government secrets to a woman he was having an affair with was uncovered in Life On Mars, he resigned the Vice Presidency ... only to return in Full Disclosure with a book deal that almost ended up exposing a one-night-stand he had with CJ. Yes, John Hoynes will be back and running for President again in Season 6.
- Sam's assistant Cathy (Suzy Nakamura) was seen throughout Season 1, but disappeared after that. Nakamura got a role on the TV series Daddio in the fall of 2000 and left The West Wing.
- Bonnie (Devika Parikh) was an assistant in the Communications bullpen right from the start, often seen (along with Ginger) providing support for Toby. Bonnie's appearances began to trail off in Seasons 3 and 4, and her last appearance on the show was in Shutdown.
- Speaking of Ginger (Kim Webster), she first appeared in A Proportional Response as "Kim," then became Ginger in In Excelsis Deo. She was Toby's top assistant through the first four seasons, but with the new direction of the show in Season 5 only appeared twice that year (the last time in Han). Ginger isn't completely gone from the White House, but she only has a couple of episodes yet to show up in.
- And speaking of the new direction of the show in Season 5, we saw Ryan Pierce (Jesse Bradford) interning with Josh beginning in The Dogs Of War. He appeared sporadically throughout the season, with his internship (and role) ending in Talking Points as he becomes legislative director for a congressman. Even though the episode sets him up as a potential thorn in Josh's side, we never see Ryan again.
- Also, there's Rena (Melissa Marsala). She first appears in Shutdown wearing casual, revealing clothes as she picks up garbage, mysteriously still working on a government payroll even while all non-essential workers are sent home. By The Benign Prerogative she's Toby's new personal assistant, but after The Supremes she disappears without a trace, or a mention.
- As long as we're in Season 5 additions, there's Angela Blake (Michael Hyatt). Her character was mentioned by Leo when he asked Margaret to get hold of her in 7A WF 83429; she first showed up in The Dogs Of War talking about polling numbers for President Bartlet during Zoey's kidnapping; then she was brought in to lead the budget negotiations with Congress in Disaster Relief, which end up in ruins until Josh manages to save the day in Shutdown. We learned her backstory as one of Leo's closest advisers at the Department of Labor when he was Secretary of Labor in the early 1990s, and she also pushes Charlie and her friend's daughter Meshell into dating in The Benign Prerogative ... after which she also disappears from existence.
- Ben (Brian Kerwin) pops up as a romantic partner for CJ. First referred to in Constituency Of One as someone CJ lived with for six months back around her college days and is now trying to reconnect with her, Ben actually appears in Carol's office (with one of the slowest camera reveals in series history) in An Khe. CJ plans to try to make an effort to build a relationship with him as he shows up in a couple of later episodes, and is last spoken of in No Exit when CJ has to cancel a camping trip with him when the West Wing is locked down. He is never spoken of again.
- Hmm, seems that Season 5's new show runners threw a lot of new and different characters at the walls of the West Wing to see what would stick, and ... nothing much did.
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, for her performance in Access, her fourth Emmy win for the show. Janney earned the Supporting Actress award for Seasons 1 and 2, and a Lead Actress Emmy for Season 3. She was also nominated in that category in Season 4 but did not receive the trophy.
- The series was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series for the fifth year in a row, but for the first time it did not win. The HBO drama The Sopranos took home the statue.
- Martin Sheen earned his fifth straight nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Memorial Day). James Spader took the Emmy home for his work on The Practice.
- John Spencer was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for An Khe and Memorial Day. It was the fifth straight nomination for Spencer, who won in the category for Season 3. This year's award went to Michael Imperioli for The Sopranos.
- Both Stockard Channing (7A WF 83429/No Exit) and Janel Moloney (No Exit/Gaza) were nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Channing has been nominated in the category all five seasons of The West Wing, winning the award for Season 3, while it was Moloney's second nomination. The award went to Drea de Matteo for The Sopranos.
- Matthew Perry got his second nomination in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category for Separation Of Powers, after also being nominated for his appearances in Season 4. That Emmy went to William Shatner for The Practice.
- The series earned its fifth consecutive nomination for Best Television Series - Drama, which was won this season by 24.
- Martin Sheen got his fifth straight nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series but the trophy went to Anthony LaPaglia for Without A Trace.
- Allison Janney got her first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series (after several previous nominations for Supporting Actress), but that award was given to Frances Conroy for Six Feet Under.
- The show's cast received another nomination, their fourth, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The trophy went to the cast of Six Feet Under.
- Martin Sheen was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. Kiefer Sutherland got the award for 24.
- And Allison Janney was again nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, but saw the award go to Frances Conroy for Six Feet Under.
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