How ‘The West Wing’s’ ‘difficult’ assassination-try episodes ended up pulled off

In “Inside the Episode,” writers and directors mirror on the producing of their Emmy-successful episodes.

Just as with real-existence assassination attempts, to actually realize the electrical power of “The West Wing’s” two-element Year 2 premiere, “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen,” requires a seem back at the actions in advance of the attack. In this situation, it would be the NBC show’s Season 1 finale, “What Type of Working day Has It Been,” a cliffhanger that, in the nascent times of status-Tv seeing and evaluation from fan websites like Tv With out Pity, intended so-called Wingnuts put in a summer season obsessing over their VCR recordings like they were the Zapruder movie. Who of President Bartlet’s (Martin Sheen) workforce was taken down by shock gunfire? Was it the commander in chief himself? His daughter Zoey (Elisabeth Moss)? Her boyfriend, Charlie (Dulé Hill)? What about the footage of deputy communications director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) hurrying as press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) is pushed to the ground? And where is communications director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff)?

“West Wing” executive producer Thomas Schlamme helmed all 3 episodes, successful the Emmy for directing for a drama collection for the Time 2 doubleheader. He’d also share in the show’s drama collection acquire that yr, which would close up remaining its 2nd of 4 consecutive victories in the category.

But directing equally the closing and opening episodes didn’t necessarily make his task any less difficult.

“When we were being heading into the finale of Year 1, we knew that this was not an assassination to the president,” Schlamme recollects. On the other hand, “What we did not know, and what Aaron [Sorkin, the series’ creator] didn’t know — and was so variety to advise me before we begun capturing — was who would get hit, if everyone. But, likely, someone would get shot.”

For Schlamme and his crew, this intended grabbing fragments of footage to be used in Season 1’s chaotic end montage when they filmed at Washington, D.C.’s Newseum and then returning to the scene of the crime numerous months later on to re-develop the situations to coincide with Sorkin’s scripts for the Year 2 premiere.

Schlamme also did not know just how prescient these episodes would be. “West Wing’s” next season would premiere in September 2000, about a year and a 50 % after the Columbine Large School massacre and two months just before a heated U.S. presidential race that went all the way up to the Supreme Court docket. But it wasn’t qualified for Emmy thought until 2001. Schlamme and other winners at that year’s Emmys would not be acknowledged until November — at a ceremony that had to be rescheduled 2 times in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Aaron has typically reported we weren’t forcing men and women to take in veggies,” the director-producer suggests. “First and foremost, it’s about what is superior drama and good enjoyment and a riveting piece of theater. But beneath there … I feel I was really concentrated on domestic terrorism and about this rage that now is just so unbelievably prevalent in our state.”

In an interview that has been edited and condensed, Schlamme expended about an hour of nonetheless another election 12 months reflecting with The Instances about these pivotal episodes.

Was the Year 1 finale intended to be a reference to the notorious “Who Shot J.R.?” cliffhanger from the 1980s nighttime soap opera “Dallas”?

It literally was not section of the conversation. It was not, “Oh, we want a cliffhanger like they did 20 a long time previously on ‘Dallas.’” There was no connection involving people two displays, no connection in the way that Aaron operates. In actuality, we ended up somewhat surprised with the plan that it was this outstanding cliffhanger. We realized it was a major minute and we wanted a major moment.

But what I keep in mind most was getting a dialogue with Aaron. Simply because what we ended up stunned about, in the to start with year of the display, is the mail that we would get that was unbelievably supportive of the exhibit. We would get letters from Republicans, and they would go, “We truly hate your politics, but we adore the clearly show and we enjoy these folks.” They really did get the idea that we weren’t seeking to force a political agenda down anybody’s throat.

The only loathe mail that we obtained was after Dulé and Elisabeth’s people kissed onscreen. I think it was 1999, and we ended up shocked that we did get a lot of, “How dare this African American, mainly, assistant to the president, have this intimate affair with the daughter of a white president?”

I feel which is what established in motion the idea of, “What if someone desired to shoot Charlie?” not, “We really should have an assassination towards the president.” That is about all we understood when we have been likely into the finale of Time 1.

It turns out that the two Bartlet and Bradley Whitford’s Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff members, are shot. You claimed you did not know who would get shot. But did you know if they would survive?

1st of all, Brad and Aaron are incredibly shut mates. He wrote the section for Brad Whitford. So I really don’t assume that he would have killed him in the very 1st yr.

But glimpse, there were fatalities on “The West Wing.” There weren’t that a lot of, but there were being fatalities. It was by no means with the believed of, “Oh, we’re heading to eliminate this character [for ratings or shock value].” It was constantly to drive some sort of story for a purpose.

Brad’s mother, [however], did not know, and was frightened to dying that not only did you shoot Brad but that he’s not heading to be on the show anymore.

Now we have a stereotype, for much better or even worse, of what a domestic terrorist “looks” like. Were there conversations then about what the shooters would glimpse like? They are younger, white men with excitement cuts.

Strangely plenty of, we had forged, I consider, a single of them before in an episode as just an excess in the qualifications. And when we then started chatting about no matter if it would be Charlie who would be the target, we went, “Remember that added?”

If the period finale and premiere were shot at distinct instances, how did you go again and match what you’d done just before?

Issue is the phrase. If we had recognized almost everything, and it had been modern television, we would have shot at the very least that portion of the next episode ideal there.

For me, it was, No. 1, securing the area, and that was the Newseum. So we experienced to allow them know that we would have to come again. We only had a finite amount of time there. … We experienced to be out of there, pulled plug and every thing, by 6 in the morning when the solar was coming up. When Richard is finding Brad, you will see that the sky is rather bluer. We did not quite have the digital correcting program that we do now.

We have been loading the vehicles, we were being told we experienced to go away and that we could not shoot any longer. We begun the evening with this major generation and we finished with guerrilla filmmaking. It was just myself, the [director of photography], Brad and Richard and a pair of extras. I did not contact motion I didn’t do everything for the reason that they did not know we have been shooting.

Rob Lowe’s Sam Seaborn and Allison Janney’s C.J. Cregg deal with the aftermath of a shooting on “The West Wing.”

(Warner Bros. Discovery)

In a press briefing just after the capturing, Janney’s C.J. can make a statement about all the persons who did die from gun violence the night of the assassination try. Have been you trying to make a political statement?

Which is a very strong speech that Allison offers [and one] that you could however maintain up [as to why] we want some laws about gun command. We weren’t striving to make a statement. It’s just that is what that push secretary would say about what happened that night to [shooting victims] beside the most shielded man or woman in the environment.

The scene wherever Charlie finds out that he was the supposed victim is incredibly gradual and deliberate.

If you glimpse at the choreography of “The West Wing,” it was constantly established up so that it would go and go and transfer. And then, even if it was just to get espresso, anything would occur to a small bit of a halt due to the fact it is a piece of info you want.

And by the way, this goes to the idea that you really do not have to have a ton of dialogue, primarily when it’s Aaron, who writes a ton of dialogue. I imagine Dulé Hill, in that scene the place he’s informed, is stunningly excellent. I think he has a few “OKs.” And just about every one particular is filled with some thing else that he [is processing].

This is also an early episode that factors to some thing that will be a larger plot level later on: The president has multiple sclerosis. The initial lady (Stockard Channing) is a professional medical physician and shares this little-recognized truth with his anesthesiologist in a sort of robotic, “come what may” way: This is the information and facts you need to have do what you will with it afterwards.

There is this frenetic electricity when she’s functioning out of the White Home. Also, a enjoyable small element below: The [man playing the] head of her stability detail is a man named Willie Gault, who performed for the Los Angeles Raiders and was an Olympic gold medalist. So he is basically a person of the speediest human beings in the environment. My only way to Willie was, “Can you just slow down a tiny little bit because you’re so forward of everyone else?”

But Stockard and I talked and [the direction was], “Find your daughter. And from that position on, you’re a health care specialist who is in a healthcare facility with a significant individual.”

It’s definitely attention-grabbing due to the fact it’s so disconnected. … It’s just organization. And simply because Stockard’s so good beneath there, you’re believing, “Holy s—, your spouse was just shot. But she’s obtained to be this health practitioner.”

I shot that so you could see the president in the track record. It is not really an over-the-shoulder of the [anesthesiologist]. It is all on Stockard. I really don’t treatment about the doctor’s reaction to this. He means practically nothing to me in storytelling.

You have been honored with these Emmys a few decades immediately after your spouse, actor Christine Lahti, produced her famous Golden Globes acceptance speech immediately after her award was declared although she was in the restroom. Do you give just about every other notes on award speeches?

No. Nicely, I’m certain Christine has absent above her speeches with me. Not because she depends on me. That’s just who she is she’s quite open.

I incredibly rarely at any time do that. That’s not an asset. They are also embarrassing to me that I have to publish them right before I [might win] them.

But I spent 4 several years getting president of the Administrators Guild. I’ve worked on negotiations. I’ve also provided speeches, as properly as Christine, politically and somewhere else. We will certainly share that with every other.

But if we go to an awards demonstrate, I just make absolutely sure that Christine does not depart the table.