Well, it's official. In less than four months, The West Wing will be no more.
The decision to cancel it was made before actor John Spencer, who played former presidential chief of staff Leo McGarry, died of a heart attack Dec. 16, said Kevin Reilly, NBC entertainment president.Too bad about that last bit; I had hoped for at least one more episode that included Sorkin's wit and style of dialogue.
"There's a point when you look at the ratings and say, it feels like it's time," Reilly said.
The series finale will be May 14, preceded by a one-hour retrospective. The campaign to replace the fictional Josiah Bartlet as president will be settled, NBC said.
Producers Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, who created the show and guided it through its early years, will not be involved in the finale, Reilly said.
Requests for the remainder of the series:
- Give Josh and Donna's nine-year-long saga some kind of closure.
- Let us find out what happens to Charlie and Zoe. Were they even at the big White House wedding?
- Give us at least one more C.J.-Danny scene--last week's scenes were splendid!
2 comments:
Just found this on EW.com; it's got at least one very exciting tidbit and seems like it might be pointing toward a Santos/Seaborn administration...
Transfer of power
The West Wing will sign off for good on May 14 with an hour-long retrospective followed by an hour-long finale centering on the inauguration of Josiah Bartlet's successor. (Rob Lowe is in negotiations to return for the final hour.) The late John Spencer, who died in December, will appear in one more episode. ''We figured the best homage would be to show his work,'' exec producer John Wells said. ''And I think John would have been pissed at me if I'd changed it.'' Subsequent episodes will incorporate Spencer's passing when his character, vice-presidential candidate Leo McGarry, dies five days before the election. At that point, presidential candidate Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) will announce his replacement either before or after the election, pending congressional approval. (The producers said their research confirmed that this is how the situation would be handled in real life.) ''We wouldn't have been dealing with this without John's death,'' Wells said. ''But I think it makes for some compelling drama.''
I am depressed that i must go, but after watching it for so long. At least it is not going to be the new ER which will never DIE!
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