To worry about Dh and the West Wing

[GirlInterruptedOftenByKids]

I am prepared to be told IABU in the following counts :

1. Caring about fictional characters
2. Talking about a TV show everyone else stopped caring about 20 years ago
3. Reading Internet spoilers

Dh and I have been watching the West Wing for ages now and are nearing the end. I stumbled upon some spoilers that reveal that a character dies suddenly and in dramatic circumstances. I also found out that this decision came about because the actor died similarly suddenly. Dh is very emotionally attached to this character....AIBU to worry about how he's gonna take this??

My favourite show ever.

Currently DP and I are rewatching for the umpteenth time & I know I've said this many times on here but my own DTS are named after 2 of the main characters. Watching again now when their little characters are developing & oh, my, have we got it right!

Watched it originally, watched it again now watching it with my teenage sons.

My sons love it. It has been one of the great pleasure of parenthood sharing it with them. We talk about the issues and relate it to what is happening today.

It has been like failing in love all over again.

Just wanted to add that I too am a massive fan. We haven't rewatched it as I don't think I could cope emotionally. We recently saw done scrimshaw in a museum and DH and I both said it reminded us of Bartlett.

I also used to call my Grandma to discuss and she is now dead so makes me think of her. She had the best TV taste. A massive Hill Street Blues fan who looked like Miss Marple. She was a great lady.

Who else wells up when they hear Brothers in Arms? (I am off to find the videos, another old one here).

Still feeling v sad about Mrs L this morning. The spoiler you're all referring to I know already as I remember the actor dying irl in a similar way to his character's recent near miss iirc? Mrs L I didn't know about though.

I'm guessing from the hints on here that Toby is going to go against POTUS in a bad way. I've only watched most of s1 but it's perhaps not too surprising. Jed is a little weak and inconsistent and Toby is hard line. You all seem shocked though so it must be REALLY bad.

I'm in that "desperate to watch it all NOW but desperate to make it last forever" phase right now. How did I miss it first time round?

I like Josh best btw. When precisely does Rubbish Mandy fuck off?

You'll be pleased to know that Mandy is only in the first season and, as far as I can remember, is never again mentioned thereafter!

Mandy leaving without explanation coined the WW name Mandyville among fans, so that whenever a character left without any explanation, it was said they had gone to Mandyville.

westwing.wikia.com/wiki/Mandyville

Showy - I am actually insanely jealous - you have so much quality TV ahead of you and I would love to be seeing it for the first time again. Enjoy it. And yes, irritating Mandy disappears for no reason that's adequately explained but to everyone's relief.

And absolutely about keeping the show alive to show others what a good administration might look like. Although while we were busy hating Bush and wishing he were Bartlet at the time, nowadays and by comparison with the Orange One, Bush seems like a benign, reasonable figure and I can't remember why I hated him so much.

I hear that the ending of TWW was changed due to the characters death, not sure if that's true?

Oh I know about Mandyville as a friend is a die hard fan and has promised she's going to feck off and take her shoe with her. I just want to know precisely when. She is cropping up less and less thankfully.

Elizabeth Moss hasn't done too badly for herself.

I really really didn't like her.

Or the Kate Harper character.

Haven't RTFT, but whatever you do, don't start watching Game of Thrones!

I love TWW, but the sexism with the cardboard cut-out daughters irritates me now. Both Zoey and Leo's daughter are presented as feisty young women who still somehow spend most of their time being bossed around by their fathers.

by comparison with the Orange One, Bush seems like a benign, reasonable figure and I can't remember why I hated him so much.

I agree! Other things I've heard myself say, which I never thought possible include:

"Isn't it a shame that Jeb Bush didn't do better in the primaries?"
"That Chris Christie chap has had some bad press, but he wasn't all that bad"
"If only, if only more people had supported Hillary Clinton"

I could go on. George Bush Jr will no doubt be grateful that his position in history will be far less precarious than he might have imagined!

I adore West Wing. It's the only show I keep permanently downloaded on my computer, so that when I go away for work to difficult parts of the world I can disappear into a fictional world that is essentially idealistic and benign for a couple of hours.

I laughed like a drain when I discovered my best friend, in the same field as me, does exactly the same thing.

Oh yes. My big crush is Will Bailey. I found him annoying when he was working for the idiot VP, but generally...

...sigh.

Will Bailey? No. Definitely Sam, or maybe Cliff Calley (sp?). I was really pleased when they brought him back and then immediately disappointed that he wasn't in many episodes.

I love that even in America the love for the show endures so well that they allowed this to happen last year.

(Just in case the link doesnt work, its Allison Janney talking at a press briefing in the whitehouse and the press secretary was in fact called Josh)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yz-Y5oUQRg

Oh yes. My big crush is Will Bailey. I found him annoying when he was working for the idiot VP, but generally...

His character suffered the most from Sorkin leaving after series 4 - tge re is absolutely no way that the Will Bailey in S4 and the Will Bailey in S5 & 6 could possibly be the same person. He gets back on track in S7 (sadly at the expense of dear Toby, though).

re is absolutely no way that the Will Bailey in S4 and the Will Bailey in S5 & 6 could possibly be the same person.

That's a really interesting point. I hadn't thought of it like that before, but you're spot on.

Josh is one of my favourite fictional boyfriends. We didn't name DS Toby, but it was one of the final two names on the shortlist before we went with a family name instead.

Loving this thread - it makes me want to go back and rewatch!

@JoshLymanJr - that makes total sense! God, why did I not think of that.

Yes, so much better in s7. But then, that's just such a corker of a season.

As for bit-player hotties, @NataliaOspinova, I see your Cliff Calley and I raise you

Oooh yes, @PiratePanda - I'd forgotten about Donna's hot war photographer!

I adore Jason Isaacs. I even drooled over him as Lucius Malfoy.