NBC Cancels 'West Wing' After 7 Seasons

ABC News ^ | 1/22/06 | DAVID BAUDER

[LdSentinal]

NBC Cancels Emmy-Winning 'West Wing' After Seven Seasons, Makes Several Midseason Moves

PASADENA, Calif. Jan 22, 2006 — The new president on "The West Wing" will be a real short-timer: NBC announced Sunday it was pulling the plug on the Emmy-winning political drama after seven seasons in May.

NBC, struggling to regain its footing after the worst season in its history, also outlined several midseason schedule changes including the moves of popular dramas "Law & Order" and "Las Vegas."

"The West Wing" announcement wasn't much of a surprise. Although this season's story line with a presidential campaign involving a Democrat played by Jimmy Smits and Republican portrayed by Alan Alda has been strong critically, ratings have sunk with its move to Sunday nights.

NBC Cancels 'West Wing' After 7 Seasons Odds-On Oscar Favorites Emerge as Noms Near There She Is

The decision to cancel it was made before actor John Spencer, who played former presidential chief of staff Leo McGarry, died of a heart attack Dec. 16, said Kevin Reilly, NBC entertainment president.

"There's a point when you look at the ratings and say, it feels like it's time," Reilly said.

The series finale will be May 14, preceded by a one-hour retrospective. The campaign to replace the fictional Josiah Bartlet as president will be settled, NBC said.

Producers Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme, who created the show and guided it through its early years, will not be involved in the finale, Reilly said.

"The West Wing" won four Emmy Awards for best television drama in a row for its tales of political intrigue. At its prime, it also offered NBC two valuable benefits: critical acclaim and the most upscale audience on television, an important drawing point for advertisers.

[Casloy]

Now lets get rid of that Geena Davis POS thing.

I think that show has already been cancelled.

[zarf]

Read book people

I just read Benjamin Franklin's bio. An amazing patriot butI didn't realize he was such a horn dog. He had the morals of Larry Flint.

I better stop reading!! ;)

[BooksForTheRight.com]

The producers show us what they want the world to be, not what it is.
I have NEVER watched it at all.
Never will.

[2111USMC]

Same here.

I can honestly say that I've never viewed even a single minute of this show.

[Muleteam1]

>>I didn't see Grant's March to the Sea but I can still comment on it. <<

Or one might say, "I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's a__, but I'd rather take the butcher's word for it."

Muleteam1

[defenderSD]

Just another observation: I was watching the documentary entitled "Reagan" on PBS the other night, and they had some outtakes from interview with Reagan supporters at the GOP convention in 1980. Not surprisingly, ALL the Reagan supporters shown in this documentary were folks apparently from small cities in the South with strong southern accents. They were all "Dukes of Hazard" type of characters.

What a joke that is. Reagan crushed Carter in a landslide that year and had strong support from the middle and upper socioeconomic groups in almost all regions of the country. Reagan got millions of votes from professional people in California, the midewest, east coast, elsewhere in the west. There was massive support for Reagan among millions of highly educated and intelligent people. Liberals at PBS like to think they're smarter than conservatives, and that's just bunk. I would think that overall there's not much difference in IQ between liberals and conservatives, but conservatives are much more rational, honest, and logically driven than liberals. We analyze data in a much more logically correct way than liberals and draw the right conclusions from the available information in the world.

[A.A. Cunningham]

You've been sh**canned, Larry.

[John Jorsett]

I used to like it, left-wing politics and all, but now there's a stack of 18 episodes on my Tivo, waiting to scroll off into oblivion. Somewhere along the way, it lost its edge.

[Koblenz]

Never saw the West Wing. 24 is the best show on. By far. Other good shows include House, Monk and Prison Break. CSIs are watchable every now and then, but not three times a week.

How is it that Fox can do really good shows like 24 and House but also do really silly shows like Skating with Celebrities or American Idol that require essentially no thought?

[scott7278]

The campaign to replace the fictional Josiah Bartlet...

He's not real?

[I_like_good_things_too]

Republican played by Alan Alda. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. He's the poster child for a democrat girlie man if there ever was one.

[defenderSD]

One thing I didn't like about that show--the dialog was too slick, too contrived and dramatic...too much like polished political speeches. People don't talk that way in real life. The dialog on that show was too much like a primetime soap opera, with people harshly rebuking each other in meetings in the West Wing. In real life, people are not that confrontational, especially in government. You just don't see all that conflict and drama in real business and government organizations, and people don't talk in long, smoothly flowing sentences.

Those writers needed to look at some old MASH episodes where Hawkeye, Trapper, and Henry Blake talk to each other like real people.

[defenderSD]

Who is that guy?

[zarf]

Skating with Celebrities

Could there be a more lamebrained idea for a show?

[EveningStar]

Could there be a more lamebrained idea for a show?

They'll come up with one. Don't worry.

[Trueblackman]

Man it has not been a good week for the a**clowns over at DU and the Democrats in general.

[msnimje]

They must have received the fake results of their fake Zogby Poll and learned their fake Republican candidate was going to win the fake election.

[msnimje]

Who is that guy?

Laurence "Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar" O'Donnell.

[defenderSD]

Thnx.

[John Jorsett]

I actually liked the canned campaign-type speeches, because they were invariably from a leftist perspective; it gave me an insight into what arguments were being made in Democrat circles about the issue under discussion. Valuable intel.

As for civility being more common in real life, well maybe. However, I've read enough stories and heard first-hand accounts about some of the hardball tactics the White House engages in to think that confrontation isn't that rare. Apparently Karl Rove is the master of the 'frank' discussion (the codeword for "We screamed obscenities at each other," I believe).