NBC cancels plan for costly "West Wing" retrospective; finale is Sunday

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN/AP: So much for that 'West Wing' retrospective
NBC balks at cost of special; finale due Sunday
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the cast of NBC's exiting drama "The West Wing," nostalgia came at a price the network was unwilling to pay.

When NBC announced in January that it was canceling the political drama after seven seasons, it said the final episode in May would be accompanied by a retrospective on the series' history.

Instead, NBC is airing a repeat of "The West Wing" pilot on Sunday prior to the final episode, where the Democrat portrayed by Jimmy Smits is inaugurated as the next president.

NBC had no official comment on the switch of plans. However, the network couldn't reach an agreement with the show's cast on what -- or if -- they would be paid to gather one last time and reminisce about their experience, said a person close to the show who would speak about the negotiations only on condition of anonymity.

Showing the very first episode of "The West Wing" costs NBC nothing because the production was long-since paid for....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/10/tv.westwing.ap/index.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. What happened to the VP for Smits?

I don't watch the program, but I do know the actor playing the VP for Smits died recently. What did the program do to replace him?

[rinsd]

2. SPOILER ALERT!

It will be Ed O'Neil's character, Harris.

He was the one who jumped into the convention balloting at the last second.

[drbtg1]

3. If you know that for sure, a spoiler warning would have been nice.

n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Ooops

I didn't know that the VP think hadn't been resolved. Like I said, I don't follow the show, but since this was to be the last episode, I figured it had already been resolved.

[rinsd]

12. Sorry, I forgot this is a TiVo nation

This was from Sunday's episode.

[drbtg1]

14. It is, and some things can't be watched when...

...you're trying to get three kids to bed. (On the plus side of being a Tivo nation, since "they" monitor what people Tivo, at least we can send a message what is worth watching (this is why I Tivo Olbermann regardless if I can watch it live).)

Thanks for editing.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. thanks

I know that here there was some speculation what would happen, but I never heard anything more.

[AngryOldDem]

6. Thanks

Just posted my response below....don't care that this is a "spoiler."

[AngryOldDem]

5. The VP iplotline has been left hanging...

...because TWW has taken a soap-opera-ish turn and decided to hook up some characters sexually. Several intriguing storylines -- the Veep replacement one of many -- have been put on the back-burner.

Leo McGarry died on Election Night. (John Spencer, who played him, died before Christmas.) The final episode is Inauguration Day. (I taped this past week's episode, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet, so I hope that some decision was made.) But no episodes since the two-part "Election Day" have even discussed it, except in passing. A promo hinted that Santos was going to ask his GOP opponent, Arnold Vinick, to take the job, but Vinick was offered Secretary of State instead.

Speaking as a solid WW fan, the show is going out with the proverbial whimper. I can't really blame NBC for not wanting to spend more money on it. But I admit I was looking forward to a retrospective, since the show, I think, will be considered over time as being one of the best television has ever offered.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I feel your pain

I loved the series "I'll Fly Away", which was cancelled way too soon, but was picked up by PBS, which made a really lame "Then and Now" flim that wasn't up to the standards of the series. So I guess as a strong WW fan you can be glad something like that hasn't happened.

[rinsd]

13. Hmmm I saw it as resolved. (spoiler alert if you haven't seen it)

In this past Sunday's episode, Santos offered Vinnick the VP slot as a political move to get him to take Sec of State which would mollify potentially angry Republicans when the go to the House to have Harris voted in as VP.

I agree on the whimper but I think John Spencer's death took a real toll.

[Protagoras]

9. Yep I'm stunned if I heard it right

that the final episode is also only going to be 1 hour and they're just going to plug on the first episode to make it a 2 hour "Event".

This is about the most shabby treatment I've ever seen for a major series. Though I also have to say that this last weeks episode was very disappointing. Instead of helping bring things to a climax with lots of furious politics, it was mostly a vapid soap opera love fest and missing half the key characters.

I honestly can't imagine how the series can wrap it all up in any meaningful way in 1 hour. The Christmas special every year seems like it gets more attention than this. God I miss Sorkin.

[Inland]

10. But maybe it's more appropriate.

Maybe there's never a climatic moment in that sort of politics....there's always another battle, another campaign, another job. Nothing ever gets settled forever, every cloud has a silver lining. Nothing ever wraps up until the library is built, and that's anticlimatic too.

[NYCGirl]

11. I'm looking forward to Sorkin's new series, which was given the OK last

week.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002463294

"Studio 60," from Sorkin and fellow "West Wing" alum Thomas Schlamme, is a drama set behind the scenes at a popular late-night sketch comedy show in the vein of NBC's own "Saturday Night Live." Warner Bros. TV is producing the show, which is said to have received a 13-episode order.

"Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme's work is TV at its best, and 'Studio 60' lives up to that standard," NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said.

The ensemble drama starring Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Bradley Whitford originally was picked up with a series commitment and had a large penalty attached to it (HR 10/17).

Co-starring in "Studio 60" are Sarah Paulson, D.L. Hughley, Nathan Corddry, Timothy Busfield, Steven Weber, Evan Handler and Carlos Jacott.