Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Stockard Channing, who plays the fictional president's wife on the NBC political drama "The West Wing," has been charged with drunken driving, police say. Channing, 60, was stopped on a Los Angeles freeway last month in her black Porsche after driving through a roadblock by highway patrol officers to clear away an accident. Officers said they smelled alcohol on her breath and when she failed a sobriety test, she was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. A February 9 court date has been set in the case. Channing, a prolific film and television...

Alda's Role As GOP Senator Surprises Some Jan 22, 6:33 PM (ET) LOS ANGELES (AP) - Alan Alda says he's constantly approached by people surprised at his portrayal of a conservative Republican senator on the TV show "The West Wing." "I was never asked that when I played a murderer," Alda said Friday. The NBC drama is setting up a long-running story line in which Alda will run for president against a Democrat portrayed by Jimmy Smits. The winner will be inaugurated on "The West Wing" a year from now. John Wells, the show's executive producer, said it has not...

"Martin Sheen's US President 'Jed Bartlet' will lead the cast and crew of NBC's The West Wing TV series to Ontario..."

By an odd coincedence the NBC series "West Wing" has killed off 2 Johns. John Amos (who played the Admiral) and John Spencer (who played Leo McGarry) are both now gone from last years crew. Just a thought.

Will 'The West Wing' go Republican? With Bartlet term's end in sight, producer thinks of future LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The prospect of a change in the White House tends to draw a strong reaction, pro or con. Not from "The West Wing" executive producer John Wells, though. He seems unfazed by the coming end of Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet's tenure -- and maybe even a Republican successor. "We were a year and a half into the administration when we started the show," Wells said of the NBC drama entering its sixth season. "We have term limits in...

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Alan Alda is returning to series television. The five-time Emmy winner will join the cast of NBC's White House drama "The West Wing" next season, playing a Republican from California with presidential aspirations. Also joining the series is Marley Shelton ("Uptown Girls"), who will play a former feature reporter mentored by Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) who becomes White House deputy press secretary.

I saw "West Wing" for the first time last night and I HATED it. It's funny that Sorkin is in a panic about McCarthy era blacklisting because his show takes the cake for sledgehammer-style Communist propaganda. How can so many people be watching this nonsense? It is rated in the top 10, so obviously it's not just Democrats who are getting busy tuning in every week. It opened with the press secretary saying that the president would veto the repeal of the estate tax because that extra tax money is needed for "extraneous things like, oh, caring for the sick, ...

Confronting sagging ratings, the producers of The West Wing plan to take a more bipartisan approach next season, focusing in initial episodes on the character portrayed by John Goodman, a conservative speaker of the House, who takes over as the country's leader. (In the season finale, which was repeated on Wednesday, the president, portrayed by Martin Sheen, temporarily steps down during an international crisis in which his daughter is kidnapped. Speaking to reporters during a conference call on Thursday, exec producer John Wells, who is taking over from creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, said that the views of a conservative Congress will...

The President had a busy weekend. He called the President of China to thank him for his recent comments on Taiwan and they discussed by phone how to restart North Korea nuclear talks. During the conversation Saturday night, the two leaders made a favorable appraisal of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States this month. Hu told Pres. Bush he hoped the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be realized through a way acceptable to all parties concerned. Sunday, after attending St. John's across the street from the White House, the President met with his Security Council...

I finally got around to reading this week's issue of TV Guide. Pg. 46: Left-wing poop drama "Mister Sterling" has not been renewed. Also, Ted Danson (he and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, are major Clinton brown-nosers)'s show "Becker" has not been renewed, but could return in mid-season. With The West Wing's ratings dropping and Sorkin leaving, The West Wing could be the next show gone.

The snappy New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd went on the record this week, answering those who asked her recently about whether she and 'West Wing' creator Aaron Sorkin are an item.Said the redhead: 'I never talk about my personal life. I dont even discuss it with the person I am dating.'But this is nothing new.Maureen has been giving me this feint for the last two years as I asked her this same question with regularity.For your info, I think the answer is yes. They are an item.

Continuing our Washington Post/Lloyd Grove gossip thon we note that His Excellency tries to get MoDo (New York Times Columnist Marueen Dowd) to discuss AaSo. ('West Wing TV creator Aaron Sorkin)No go.'I never discuss my personal life. I don't even discuss it with the person I am dating.'Drip..Drip.. Drip..

With Aaron Sorkin "voluntarily leaving" his show "The West Wing" and John Wells stepping in to replace him — a Very Bad Sign for the future of the slipping NBC White House series — it's probably now or never for the unveiling of my lyrics to the show's stately theme music. So here goes. It helps to read these while watching or, better, as I do, to sing them zestily aloud: "In D.C., there is a wing That's on the west side of a house It's not the east wing, or the south It's not the north wing, shut your...

LOS ANGELES –– Aaron Sorkin, creator of the Emmy-winning White House drama "The West Wing," is leaving the series after this season, he said Thursday. Sorkin, who was involved in writing most of the scripts for the NBC series, also served as executive producer. Thomas Schlamme, another executive producer, also is leaving. The show will continue with John Wells, another executive producer, in charge. Wells' other series include NBC's "ER" and "Third Watch."

<p>COMMENTARY A Celebrity, but First a Citizen Being famous does not bar an American from speaking out against an unjust war. By Martin Sheen Martin Sheen plays the president in NBC's "West Wing." March 17, 2003 I am not the president; instead, I hold an even higher office, that of citizen of the United States. For most of us in this country, citizenship is a birthright. However, this does not cloak the citizen with a life free of responsibility.</p>

Here's a list of The West Wing's Advertisers. Let them know that by lining Mr. Sheen's pockets with ad dollars they support his anti-American activities and views, and you won't be patronizing them anytime soon.

Thousands of Americans want to oust their president. The anti-war one, that is Duncan Campbell in Los AngelesTuesday March 4, 2003The Guardian Pressure is growing for the president to lose his job because of his uncompromising stance on the war. That's President Bartlet, as played by Martin Sheen in the hit television series, The West Wing. Sheen has been one of the leading figures in the anti-war movement, addressing rallies and spearheading the "virtual match" on Washington last week in which legislators were deluged with a million emails, phone calls and faxes. NBC is under pressure to sack him from...

<p>The 62-year-old actor helped lead a "Virtual March on Washington" last week that flooded the White House with thousands of anti-war e-mails and has spoken out against the potential war in public.</p> <p>NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks told The Associated Press Sunday that she knows of "no concern among top management at NBC regarding Mr. Sheen's stand against the war or fear that it could impact the show."</p>

LOS ANGELES - Actor Martin Sheen (news) said NBC executives fear his opposition to a U.S.-led war against Iraq (news - web sites) will hurt his popular television show "The West Wing (news - web sites)." Sheen, who plays fictional U.S. President Josiah Bartlet on the NBC series, told the Los Angeles Times for a story Sunday that the show's staff has been "100 percent supportive" but top network executives have "let it be known they're very uncomfortable with where I'm at" on the war The 62-year-old actor helped lead a "Virtual March on Washington" last week that flooded the...

"The West Wing" Defends America By Richard Acello Act I It's a beautiful day in Washington. President Martin Sheen is reflecting on his recent appointment of Barbra Streisand to the Supreme Court, while thumbing through Bill Clinton's memoir, "How I Won the War Against Terror and Still Found Time to Play Twister." Suddenly, a knock at the door. An aide enters. Aide: Sorry to interrupt, sir, but a bomb has blown up New York City. Looks like it might be the work of Middle Eastern terrorist extremists! Pres. Sheen: In all fairness, we don't actually know if it was Middle...