The West Wing/Trivia


 * Actor Allusion:
 * Hoynes' line about his alcoholism - "I liked beer a little bit too much in college." - may reference actor Tim Matheson's previous role as a drunken lout in the classic movie Animal House.
 * Abigail Bartlet makes a Sesame Street appearance to mollify the public about her having resumed medical work after voluntarily surrendering her license in the wake of a political scandal over her misusing it. Talking with the president's secretary about the Muppets' impending arrival, Abbey makes various knowledgeable remarks about the distinctions between the casts of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, likely a reference to actress Stockard Channing's having appeared in several of the "Mad Painter" sketches on Sesame Street in the 1970s.
 * But I Play One on TV: After the first season, people around Hollywood started treating Martin Sheen like he was the President for real.
 * The Character Died with Him: John Spencer's death from a heart attack was written into the show. Several episodes where he was still alive aired after Martin Sheen's tribute to him before one episode, and the in-universe death occurs on "Election Night".
 * The Danza:
 * Connie Britton as Connie Tate during the re-election cycle.
 * Oliver Platt as Oliver Babish.
 * Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Marlee Matlin (Joey Lucas) is deaf in real life.
 * Executive Meddling: Sorkin wanted to get Josh and Donna together. He kept being told "Wait another season!" The chemistry was apparent from the pilot and didn't get fulfilled until the last season.
 * Fan Nickname: "Mandyville" is the fandom's name for Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Captain Greg Stillson Willard is the President, Rizzo is the first lady, FBI Director James Womack became the Chief of Staff, Eric Gordon is his deputy, Eddie Carr is the communications director, Billy Hixx is his deputy, Al Bundy is a governor and The Sheriff of Rottingham, Robin Colcord, is an ambassador. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
 * Nala the Lion is a media consultant (OK, it's actually a Hey, It's That Voice!)., Elliot Weston is a reporter, and Lawrence Van Dough is White House Counsel.
 * Tackleberry is a Colonel.
 * Not to mention Hawkeye Pierce (with the help of Jill Taylor) and Bail Organa (with wife Pam Byrnes) running for president.
 * And Mayor Wilkins as the Secretary of Agriculture. I can just see the Giant Snake Demon plowing through the walls of the White House...
 * Q himself likes to give conservative, pandering advice to the President as a pollster.
 * Lucius Malfoy is a reporter in Palestine who takes an interest in the Deputy Chief of Staff's secretary.
 * Doc Brown is a famous constitutional scholar.
 * Jeremy Goodwin gets brought in as the new Deputy Communications Director, with stepsister Winnie Cooper for initial support.
 * Life Imitates Art:
 * The last season saw the election of Matthew Santos as POTUS, Santos's character was based on Barack Obama after the show's creators met him while still an Illinois state senator. The real life "Josh" (Rahm Emmanuel) also took over as Chief of Staff.
 * Santos' Republican opponent Arnold Vinick was loosely based on John McCain - Southwestern Senator with bipartisan appeal. The mind-blowing thing is that Santos and Vinick run in 2006... two years before the Real Life election of 2008, and when there was no guarantee that either Obama or McCain would win their respective nominations (the front-runners in 2008 were Hilary Clinton and Mitt Romney).
 * In "Welcome to Wherever You Are", there's a brief scene where we overhear a Vinick ad using the slogan "Yes, America Can", which the Santos campaign complains was actually their slogan. Obama's slogan, of course, ended up being "Yes We Can".
 * Reality Subtext: Ron Silver switched parties from Democrat to Republican between his character's appearances on the show.
 * Stunt Casting:
 * Alda and Smits in Season Six-Seven. James Brolin in Season Three-Four.
 * Not to mention Martin "President Bartlet" Sheen.
 * Another example would be Matthew Perry's casting as a White House counsel (although he predictably fit in rather well). Christian Slater, on the other hand...
 * Technology Marches On: The show started off with beepers and accordion envelopes. By the fourth season everyone has a cell phone and... well the accordion envelopes were still there, just with computers on top of that, too.
 * Throw It In: CJ's performance of The Jackal. Allison Janney used to use it to entertain her castmates.
 * What Could Have Been: Kristin Chenoweth (Annabeth Schott) was originally approached to play Ainsley Hayes but could not commit to a television series due to Wicked.