The West Wing

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 The West Wing was broadcast on NBC from September, 1999 to May 14, 2006. It was a political drama that tried to show the working of democracy as seen in the offices serving the President.

 It was a popular and award-winning program that interested people like me and many others, in the drama and a fictionalized version of how things get done in the White House.

Two members of the cast, Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormick, wrote about the show's origins; how the cast came together; and inside stories during production. It was published in August, 2024.

 I put a hold on a copy of the e-book in January through the Verona Library, I started reading it at the end of October. 

 The title, if you're wondering, comes from the line President Bartlet used time after time when a project was finished, "What's next?" It's the idea that work isn't finished, there is always something else to do or someone to help.

The book write warmly about Wing Nuts, who are avid fans of the program, to the point of listening to or doing podcasts about the program, the actors, and their lives. I don't qualify as a wing nut, but I enjoyed the show.

The book does a good job exploring the relationships between members of the cast and the family-environment that developed during shooting and continued after the last episode aired.

As West Wing tried to encourage volunteer and public service through the 7 seasons, the book strikes the same notes by sharing the various causes the actors and the cast as a group. It's a quick read and includes dozens of photos. If you liked the show, you will remember parts of the show you watched two decades ago; if you are a Wing Nut, you have probably read it already.

On page 541, the writers put together a 13-paragraph message from President Bartlett compiled from scripts during the show's run:

Here are a few pieces:

President Bartlet:

I can sense civic duty a mile away. It's something we pass on, something with history, so we can say, "My father gave this to me and his father gave it to him and now I'm giving it to you..."

It seems to me that more and more we've come to expect less and less from each other, and I think that should change. How do we end the cycle? Be subject to one another. If a guy's a good neighbor, if he puts in a day, if every once in a while he laughs, if every once in a while he thinks about somebody else and, above all else, if he can find his way to compassion and tolerance, then he's my brother. So, where are we going? What's next?

.....

My great-grandfather's great-grandfather was Dr. Josiah Bartlet, who was the New Hampshire delegate representative to the Second Continental Congress, the one that sat in session in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 and announced to the world that we were no longer subjects of King George III, but rather a self-governing people. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said. "That all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up.

What's Next: A Backstage Pass to the West Wing, its cast and crew, and its enduring legacy of service