The West Wing (1999)

1 mistake in Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail

★★★★☆

Starring: Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Rob Lowe, Bradley Whitford, Stockard Channing, Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill, John Spencer, Janel Moloney, Joshua Malina

Genres: Drama

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Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail - S2-E16

Character mistake: In this episode the Organisation of Cartographers for Social Equality claims the cartographer Mercator is German. He is in fact Belgian. He was born Rupelmonde Belgium, March 5, 1512 and died at Duisburg Germany, December 2nd, 1594. (00:24:00)

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Suggested correction: Although Mercator was born in Rupelmonde, it was during a visit his parents were making to the town. His family was ethnically German, as they came from Gangelt in the Holy Roman Empire. This is also where Mercator spent much of his adult life (specifically in the German city of Duisburg). Calling him German is technically correct.

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Quotes

Pilot - S1-E1

Laurie: Tell your friend POTUS he's got a funny name, and he should learn how to ride a bicycle.
Sam Seaborn: I would, but he's not my friend, he's my boss. And it's not his name, it's his title.
Laurie: POTUS?
Sam Seaborn: President of the United States.

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Trivia

Trivia: Martin Sheen also played the President in the mini series "Kennedy" and in another character's vision in 1983's The Dead Zone.

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Questions

In Excelsis Deo - S1-E10

Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?

Jon Sandys ★

Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.

Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.

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