The West Wing

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

Trivia: Not only did Martin Sheen play JFK in a TV miniseries, but Tim Matheson (VP John Hoynes) also played JFK in a 2000 miniseries "Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis".

Trivia: Janel Moloney (Donna Moss) was originally intended to be a rarely seen or heard background player (similar to Tobey and Sam's assistants). But very quickly, her banter and rapport with Josh became a fan favorite and she was promptly made a regular cast member and given much more screen time. When Mandy was dropped from the show after season one, Moira Kelly's name and image were dropped from the opening credits, replaced by Janel. As they say, "There are no small parts. Only small actors."

johnrosa

Trivia: Across the show's seven seasons, only three episodes featured all of president Bartlet's daughters together.

Cubs Fan ★

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Mistakes

Election Day (Part 1) - S7-E16

Continuity mistake: When Bruno and Bob are poring over exit polls, they mention that Santos seems to be leading in North Dakota, and comment that it is a state that hasn't gone Democratic in forty years. While that is true in the real world, in the fictional West Wing world, it is stated in Season 4 that Bartlet won the Dakotas in his landslide reelection.

marathon69

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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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