path: Home  Frequently Asked Questions
Many of the questions below are combined from several requests
- Where can I get copies of the episodes? Are they available on VHS or DVD?
- Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus and now also the first season of "West Wing" is out in DVDs for North America. Only DVDs, not VHS but lots of extras. Season Two may be out in November 2004 (best guess, Warner Brothers may not even have started preparing for it yet as there are contracts with Bravo that have to be re-negotiated before anything can be arranged --- that contract was renogiated for Season One but we do not know whether that covered any other season, if it did we suspect Bravo probably held out for only one season a year anyway). All this is just guessing. We are not sure even Warner Brothers knows for sure yet when it will put out Season Two. If we hear any rumors they will be noted on this site.
Note: Tapes and DVDs are now available in Britain and Australia for both first and second seasons but with few extras. Those countries use the PAL system of broadcast, however, and their tapes wouldn't be playable on American (NTSC) equipment. DVD's are Region 2 standard (Britain/Europe, Middle East, Japan), or Region 4 (Australia/New Zealand). Neither is Region 1, which is what American equipment plays. You would need a multi-Region DVD player, not a regular, off-the-shelf American player.
Click here for More information!
- In the episode "Six Meetings Before Lunch", C.J. lip-syncs to a rap song (?), "The Jackal". Is this a real song; or a made up bit for the show? Where can people purchase the CD and be sure it is the right song since there are a lot of songs named "The Jackal".
 The webmaster of the former Inside the Bartlet White House wrote that the song "is on a Ronny Jordan album called 'The Quiet Revolution'" and is available at Amazon. Amazon even has a sample of the song so you can make sure it is the song you want. Then right after I got this information, I heard from Courtney Kennedy, who confirmed the same: "The Jackal is track 5 on an album called 'The Quiet Revolution'". We also have a copy of the lyrics, which is reprinted by permission from Jen Pelcheck's Community to The West Wing (this site has a lot of information, try it out). We also heard from Christina Hansen about the name of the singer and got a full explanation from Scherzo, who writes: "Jordan is primarily a jazz guitarist (but works with other instruments too); the singer (actually just vocals/spoken word) on "The Jackal" is Dana Bryant."
- Is this site connected in any way to the show and can you pass on information?
- Sorry, but the answers are "No" and "No". We have no contact whatsoever with anyone on the show. Wish we did.
- How does one reach people connected with the show? What various contact information is there for the show.
- Well, NBC has a couple of email addresses for this show but each one just returns an autoresponder message that says they will not respond (and implies that they also won't look at the message or pass any message on to anyone connected with the show). Warner Brothers has finally developed a section devoted to the West Wing, but they are using Java Server Pages and the site may not be usable by everyone --- they have claimed they have contact information for those who have an aol account. As for John Wells Productions, they don't seem to even have a website! But they do have a mailing address (although it may be a black hole for all anyone here knows but this address is where their bills are sent so it does go through someone but we can't guarantee they even open anything they aren't expecting):
"The West Wing"
John Wells Productions
Warner Bros. Television
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522
If you want to try to email NBC, they give the following email address: westwing@nbc.com.
- "Why are there so many reruns?"
- Every year NBC buys 22 episodes. Since there are more than 22 weeks during the regular season, the Network has to fill the extra time and they can do that by preempting the show for specials like the Olympics or a mini-series or a special of some other kind. When they have nothing else to put there, they do reruns. The networks rarely buy more than 22 episodes of any series therefore all shows have these reruns throughout the season and they all pretty much have the same number of them (although the more popular ones may get preempted less and therefore have more reruns).
- "Are you an official site for the show?"
- Absolutely and totally not! We do not really understand why people would think that we were, except that the NBC site lists us first or second among the sites on the show. We have written but they still call our site "The West Wing". Actually, our irreverent, reverent attitude toward the show should indicate that we are not an official site. Still, we get emails that compliment the show, requests to pass things on to individuals, or complaints about NBC advertisements that link the fictional assassination attempt with the assassination of Kennedy, etc. Another reason we get such email might be because no one connected with the show (NBC, Warner Bros., John Wells Productions) seems to be paying any attention to the fans or viewers.
- "Why is Mallory's last name O'Brian, when her father's last name is McGarry? Did she take her mother's maiden name? Or was she once married?"
- We assume that she's been married and kept her married name. (Actually, this seems to have been just a plot device to make Sam beg her for the name of the "child" in her class who was Leo's daughter!)
- "What year is it on the show?"
- There is conflicting information about what year it is on the show. We have listed the various facts connected to that question.
- "How can the Bartlets have a 12 year old grandaughter at a time when they have only been married 32 years?"
- We were amazed at how many people asked this. If their oldest daughter was born about nine months to a year after they were married and that daughter was married at 19 and had her daughter within nine months to a year of her marriage, there would be no problem. People do seem to feel that people don't get married at 19 much any more and that they don't start having children within a year of getting married (before the mother can even finish college). Now since Bartlet does say at some point that his daughters loved college, she seems to have finished college even while getting married and having children. People do do so.
- "We hear that Martin Sheen's daughter has a part on the show. Who does she play?"
- Renee Estevez plays Mrs. Landingham's assistant, Nancy. You see her in the Oval Office now and again; she has long blonde hair. And Ms. Estevez also has a website with information on the West Wing.
- "What happened to Mandy?"
- The actress, Moira Kelly, has left the show. We have no idea what excuse Sorkin will give for Mandy leaving --- if he ever mentions her --- but there were times during the first season episodes when Mandy expressed interest in working for other clients while keeping her job with the White House and when she was told, she wouldn't be able to do that, she may have decided to go on to other things (esp. after the flap about her memo and how she was cut out of things for awhile after that).
- "Why isn't Ainsley in every episode?"
- The Ainsley Hayes character is a "recurring character" and as such they will pull her into any story where she fits. Of course, now she has a role in the new "CSI Miami" and so Ainsley may not show up much on future "West Wing" episodes.
- Links to the most requested information:
- Bartlet's Speech to Radio Host about Biblical Admonitions
- Episode #25
- Speech itself
- Email Letter it was from
- Transcripts
- We have no transcripts, but some other sites may have some - see our Resources page under scripts and transcripts
- Fan Fiction
- We have no fan fiction, but there is plenty around the web - see our Resources page under fan fiction
- Availability of Tapes or DVD
- See our the top of this page for the most up-to-date information.
- Mrs. Landingham
- We have two main pages: Mrs. Landingham and Mrs. Landingham & the President
- Floor plan of the West Wing set.
- Drawn by someone who was on the set in the first season.
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