"The West Wing" Noël (2000)

Director:

Thomas Schlamme

Writers:

Aaron Sorkin (creator)
Aaron Sorkin (teleplay)

TV Series:

"The West Wing" (1999)

Original Air Date:

20 December 2000 (Season 2, Episode 10)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Josh speaks to a psychiatrist about the events of the last three weeks: Toby hired musicians for the foyer, an Air Force pilot disobeyed orders, Yo-Yo Ma performed at the White House, and Josh managed to cut his hand quite badly.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | President | Political | Secretary | White House

Cast

Rob Lowe	...	Sam Seaborn
Dulé Hill	...	Charlie Young
Allison Janney	...	Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg
Janel Moloney	...	Donna Moss
Richard Schiff	...	Toby Ziegler
John Spencer	...	Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford	...	Josh Lyman
Martin Sheen	...	President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet
Adam Arkin	...	Dr. Stanley Keyworth
Paxton Whitehead	...	Bernard Thatch
Gregory Alan Williams	...	Robbie Mosley (as Gregalan Williams)
Gary Cervantes	...	Bobby
Daniel von Bargen	...	Air Force General Ken Shannon
Yo-Yo Ma	...	Himself
Melissa Fitzgerald	...	Carol Fitzpatrick

Runtime:

Germany:43 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

John Wells Productions

Trivia:

Yo-Yo Ma plays a cello piece. Instead of miming the motions of the song to recorded music, however, he actually played the song for each take. According to director Thomas Schlamme, this amounted to playing the song about 45 times.

Quotes:

Leo McGarry: [after Josh finishes an intensive therapy session set up by Leo with a trauma therapist, Josh walks past Leo in a nearby hallway of the White House] How'd it go?
Josh Lyman: Did you wait around for me?
Leo McGarry: How'd it go?
Josh Lyman: He thinks I may have an eating disorder...
Leo McGarry: [bemused] Josh...
Josh Lyman: ...and a fear of rectangles. That's not weird, is it?
[pause]
Josh Lyman: I didn't cut my hand on a glass. I broke a window in my apartment.
Leo McGarry: This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out."
[pause]
[...]

Soundtrack:

Bach Suite No. 1 for Cello