The West Wing

MountainDew17

MountainDew17

From 1999-2006, the West Wing was one of the most critically acclaimed dramas in television history.

This is a place to discuss what happened after the show went off the air. Post your thoughts, and let's get this discussion going
 

Darth_Kiryan

considering that we already technically have a thread on this, which you post in by the way; and it is a thread whcih is well thought out and planned, and even 'researched' to a significant degree, this thread does seem rather pointless.
 
Meadow

Meadow

MountainDew17 said:
This is a one post forum, where people can post what they think happened after the end. not a continuing timeline
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If I had a magic wand, and TWW had CSI-like carte blanche to keep going forever, I would personally have had Vinick win in 2006 (and save poor John Spencer's life IRL), then depict a moderate Republican White House alongside occasional cutaway episodes to what the original characters were up to.

Then, after three years, I'd bring Sorkin back into the show, and have the season 10 finale involve a devastated Josh, on his way back from former President Bartlet's funerl, handing the Junior Senator for California a napkin with 'Seaborn for America' written on it.

Maybe Vinick's health declines so he doesn't run in season 11, but it would also make for great TV and ratings if you had two camps of American viewers genuinely torn between an incumbent they liked and a guy who everyone has wanted to be President since 1999.

Right now, we'd be looking at Sam's re-election campaign - run by Chairman of the DNC Charlie Young - after last year's season focused on a series of disagreements between the President and the Speaker of the House, Will Bailey. Will was eventually forced out and replaced by Matt Santos.

America looks set to be torn again, as the fourth fictional Presidential race heats up. Will President Seaborn get his four more years? Or will Governor Will McAvoy (R-Nebraska) make him a one-termer?

Find out this fall... if only.
 

AdmiralBlake

ive only ever watched up to just after the 2002 election, but I know the plot for the later seasons

i get the impression that santos would probably lose the 2010 election to a moderate, Vinick republican

that republican wins reelection in 2014, and then another democrat in 2018
 
jpj1421

jpj1421

AdmiralBlake said:
ive only ever watched up to just after the 2002 election, but I know the plot for the later seasons

i get the impression that santos would probably lose the 2010 election to a moderate, Vinick republican

that republican wins reelection in 2014, and then another democrat in 2018
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Vinick would have won if not for Deus Ex Nuclear Accident; they were openly talking of a 50 state swing before that happened. That's probably why I find that absurd set of circumstances in that specific episode, and the nonsensical responses, bother me so much...it's not just that it shows a lack of understanding of nuclear safety by the writers, but that it affected the long term plot of the season in such a major way.
 
Noravea

Noravea

Here is what I think would have happened...

I think Santos would have been a one-term President, simply based on historic precedence. John Lyman would have been his Chief of Staff, while Sam Seaborn would have been the much more popular Deputy Chief of Staff. Unlike the Bartlet Administration, the Santos Administration has to deal with crisis after crisis, and most of the legislative agenda is put aside for the duration. The 2022 midterms are a complete disaster for the Democrats, who barely retain a majority. The only advantage is that Sam barely wins a California Senate seat. After four seasons, Santos is defeated by a popular moderate Republican similar to Vinick, but much younger.

The new show introduces a new White House staff, including Joe Quincy and Ainsley Hayes and other Republicans we had been following throughout the series. To keep on the Democrats we had been following for eleven seasons, the show also begins to regularly follow the staff of Senator Sam Seaborn, including Josh Lyman and Donna Moss. Other characters such as Charlie Young are re-introduced after leaving for several seasons, and Jed Bartlet still makes the occasional appearance. The 2014 election would be a historic one. Since the show is now covering the Senate, a popular Democratic Senator (Not Sam) who is a colleague of Sam runs for President in Season 15. The election is close, but the Republican wins a victory.

This opens the path for Sam to run in 2018. In Season 19, Sam runs for President and wins a victory similar to President Obama's 2008 victory. The election pits us against the popular Republican Vice President, who is kind of similar to Bob Russell but with an 'R' next to his name. It is a popular election, but the result is a foregone conclusion. Sam's Presidency is based on the Kennedy Presidency. Sam and his young wife come from the Senate to the White House, with a sort of Camelot view of things. The start of the "Second Cold War" brings new opportunities for the show's foreign policy.

Sam in Season 23 runs for re-election, and for his final term the show goes all-out. The 2026 election pits a very popular and well-liked Republican against a very popular and well-liked Democrat. The election in Season 27 is marked as the final season, and in an upset, the Republican wins. The show ends with Sam and Josh having one last meeting, the two walking to the Rose Garden for Sam's farewell address. The show fades to black.
 
Gaius Julius Magnus

Gaius Julius Magnus

While I was fine with Santos winning seeing a "Republican West Wing" would have been interesting especially seeing as how Vinnick, while popularity elected, had some potential enemy factions within the Republican Party.
 

Marky Bunny

Gaius Julius Magnus said:
While I was fine with Santos winning seeing a "Republican West Wing" would have been interesting especially seeing as how Vinnick, while popularity elected, had some potential enemy factions within the Republican Party.
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The good angle with a Vinick Presidency they could have had a lot of fun with was that fact there was no First Lady.
 
Gaius Julius Magnus

Gaius Julius Magnus

Marky Bunny said:
The good angle with a Vinick Presidency they could have had a lot of fun with was that fact there was no First Lady.
Click to expand...
I could see maybe if they continued, Vinnick meets some female political figure that he eventually marries that could cause some problems. Not too dissimilar to that other Sorkin-related project about the White House
 
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Noravea

Noravea

Maybe a daughter or granddaughter acts as First Lady? Like Martha Randolph was for her father Thomas Jefferson?
 

ColeMercury

Personally I would've reshuffled the timeline a bit so we don't inexplicably drop a year some time in season 6 (seriously, at the end of season 5 we're just about to have the midterm elections and then at the beginning of season 6 it's retconned to be about a year before the next presidential election). That way Santos can start his campaign realistically early rather than jumping in six weeks before the Iowa caucuses. I would end season 6 on Super Tuesday (on which Santos's campaign would get a second wind by winning California, and Vinick would lock in the Republican nomination), and save the Democratic National Convention for early season 7 -- and I would have Russell win the Democratic nomination, not Santos. Vinick would win against Russell (and there'd be the strong indication that Santos would be the Democratic nominee in four years' time), and meanwhile Sam Seaborn would be elected as the new junior senator from California.
 
Derek Pullem

Derek Pullem

Donor
One thing that alot of the comments note is that Sam Seaborn is young enough to be running again NOW.

If ever they wanted a reboot for the West Wing..........;)
 

OnlyAlb

Derek Pullem said:
One thing that alot of the comments note is that Sam Seaborn is young enough to be running again NOW.

If ever they wanted a reboot for the West Wing..........;)
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They totally should. I was convinced throughout the series that Sam was going to win an election for the House or Senate because there was that one episode where Bartlett told Sam that one day he was going to be president.
 
Derek Pullem

Derek Pullem

Donor
OnlyAlb said:
They totally should. I was convinced throughout the series that Sam was going to win an election for the House or Senate because there was that one episode where Bartlett told Sam that one day he was going to be president.
Click to expand...

The original idea for the series was going to be Sam Seaborn's journey through the White House power structure. Whether it would last long enough to be president I think was uncertain but it was supposed to be the Sam Seaborn show.

It only became Bartlett's America due to Sheen's performance.
 
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