The first season of the American political drama television series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' aired in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 22, 1999, to May 17, 2000, and consisted of 22 episodes.

Cast

Main cast

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...

Sam Seaborn Samuel Norman Seaborn is a fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama ''The West Wing''. From the beginning of the series in 1999 until the middle of the fourth season in 2003, he is deputy White House Communications ...

, Deputy

White House Communications Director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...

* Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton, Media Consultant * Dulé Hill as Charlie Young, Personal Aide to the President * Allison Janney as C. J. Cregg,

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

Richard Schiff Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on ''The West Wing'', a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with ''The West Wing'', directing an ...

Toby Ziegler Tobias "Toby" Zachary Ziegler was a fictional character in the television serial drama ''The West Wing'', played by Richard Schiff. The role of Toby Ziegler earned actor Richard Schiff the Primetime Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...

* John Spencer as Leo McGarry,

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...

Josh Lyman Joshua Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama series ''The West Wing''. The role earned Whitford the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001. For most of the se ...

White House Deputy Chief of Staff The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is officially the top aide to the White House Chief of Staff, White House chief of staff, who is the senior aide to the president of the United States. The deputy chief of staff usually has an office in the Wh ...

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

as Josiah Bartlet,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Recurring cast

* Janel Moloney as Donna Moss, assistant to

* Nicole Robinson as Margaret Hooper, Assistant to Chief of Staff McGarry * Kathryn Joosten as Dolores Landingham, President Bartlet's executive secretary * Timothy Busfield as Danny Concannon, senior White House correspondent for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' * Elisabeth Moss as Zoey Bartlet, the youngest of the President's three daughters * Allison Smith as Mallory O'Brien, Leo McGarry's daughter * John Amos as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace,

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest (TV series), Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "O ...

as John Hoynes,

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

* Lisa Edelstein as Laurie, law student and part-time high priced call girl Sam sleeps with in the pilot *

Jorja Fox Jorja Fox (born July 7, 1968) is an American actress. She first came to prominence with a recurring role in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' as Dr. Maggie Doyle from 1996 to 1999. This was followed by another critical success in the recurring rol ...

as Gina Toscano, the Secret Service agent assigned to Zoey *

Marlee Matlin Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...

as Joey Lucas, a Democratic political consultant *

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...

as Abbey Bartlet,

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

* Kathleen York as Andrea Wyatt, Congresswoman from Maryland's 5th district and ex-wife of Toby Ziegler

Plot

The first season, which begins in the middle of Bartlet's first year in office, is loaded with images of a West Wing "stuck in neutral" and powerless to govern. Several episodes (notably "Five Votes Down" and "Mr. Willis of Ohio") feature the White House desperately digging for a backdoor through which to pass a particular piece of legislation. This powerlessness ends in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" when Leo and the president finally agree to fight any battle they believe to be important, even if they are not sure they can win. The season ends with a cliffhanger assassination attempt with an ominous call over a Secret Service radio: "Who's been hit?! Who's been hit?!"

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The first season of ''The West Wing'' received positive reviews, and scored a

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

rating of 79 out of 100, based on 23 reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season has an approval rating of 96% with an average score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 46 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The West Wing'' is a gripping fantasy of lawmakers and government operatives looking to make a difference, presenting an idealized vision of politicking that audiences can strive toward."

Accolades

The first season received 18

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

nominations for the 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards, winning a total of 9 awards. It won for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (

), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series ( Allison Janney), Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series ( Aaron Sorkin and Rick Cleveland for "In Excelsis Deo"), Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series ( Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot"), Outstanding Main Title Theme Music (

W. G. Snuffy Walden William Garrett Walden, known as W. G. Snuffy Walden (born February 13, 1950), is an American musician and composer of film and television soundtracks. Walden is an Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy Award winner for the theme music to ''The West Wing'' ...

), Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series (

Thomas Del Ruth Thomas Del Ruth (born May 1, 1942) is a retired American cinematographer. Biography Del Ruth was born in 1942 in Beverly Hills, California, as the son of film director Roy Del Ruth, and actress Winnie Lightner. He was educated at Van Nuys ...

), Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera Series, and Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series. Notable nominations included

for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, John Spencer for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Aaron Sorkin for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for "Pilot".

received a nomination from the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

for the pilot episode.

References

;General references * * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:West Wing season 1 1999 American television seasons 2000 American television seasons