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

Election Day (Part 2) - S7-E17

Trivia: The election originally ended with Arnold Vinick as the victor. But in light of John Spencer's death (and by necessity, Leo's), the writers felt it would be too emotionally taxing on the audience for Santos to lose both his running mate and the election.

Cubs Fan

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The writers were not certain if they wanted Vinick or Santos to win, but it was not decided by John Spencer's death. They shot the scene in the thirteenth episode with John Spencer, indicating that it was decided well before his death that they wanted Santos to win. The direct quote "it would be too emotionally taxing on the audience for Santos to lose both his running mate and the election" is true, but said in the context of a decision being made independent of the death and subsequent character death.

Season 5 generally

Continuity mistake: When the plan to kill the Qumari defense minister is being contemplated, several times in the last episodes of Season 3, and at least once in season 4, he 's referred to the Sultan's brother. In season 5, he is referred to as both his cousin and his brother.

More mistakes in The West Wing

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.

More quotes from The West Wing

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.

More questions & answers from The West Wing

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.