The West Wing: The Complete First Season [4 Discs]

Martin Sheen

Overview

The celebrated ensemble drama following a U.S. president and his staff as they set public policy and face personal problems in a `parallel universe' (as one of the series' executive producers called it) that can be remarkably similar to the real one. An Emmy juggernaut (four Best Drama awards in its first four seasons) as well as a Peabody winner, `Wing' was the brainchild of writer Aaron Sorkin (`The American President'), who left after the fourth season, when John Wells (`ER') took over.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2003
UPC:	0085392425921
Original Release:	2003
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	15:56:00

Special Features

Closed Caption;First-season making-of documentaries The Primaries and The Inauguration; Behind-the-scenes segments Capital Beat and Sheet Music; Deleted scenes; Gag Order; The West Wing Suite; Off the Record; Audio commentary on 5 key episodes by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, Alex Graves and Christopher Misiano; All-new digital transfers; Subtitles: English, Français & Español

Editorial Reviews

This much-acclaimed series may be based on the American presidency, but our European allies got first dibs on the DVD -- much to the disappointment of devoted domestic fans, some of whom even bought special players to view the Region 2 discs. Now the rest of us can boot up the debut season, which was definitely worth the wait. Far from seeming dated, The West Wing has aged remarkably well for a show premiered at the turn of the century in a pre-9/11 world. Headed by Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet, a strong ensemble cast demonstrates that office politics are the same everywhere; things just have greater repercussions when your office happens to be the White House. Rob Lowe more than makes up for some bad career moves with his sly turn as deputy communications director Sam Seaborn. Allison Janney actually makes us care about C. J. Cregg, Bartlet's beleaguered press secretary. And John Spencer puts a taut emotional spin on the chief of staff, recovering boozehound Leo McGarry, who sacrifices his marriage to his career. In retrospect, several Season 1 story lines seem eerily prophetic. Among the global crises Bartlet must finesse are a nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan, an American plane shot down by terrorists, and another downed U.S. plane in Iraq. Copious special features include two meaty making-of documentaries and a reel we'd love to see the real White House produce: "Gag Order," a collection of outtakes and bloopers.