It’s West Wing time! Your poor hosts have struggled through the emotional upheaval of The Newsroom season 1 finishing, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A glorious light that looks a bit like Allison Janney, with a touch of politics, plus some Rob Lowe eye-candy and speaks with the hilarious yet moving tones of Aaron Sorkin. We have made it home.

General Update:
Now we are in The Newsroom off-season, The Sorkin Series has reverted to a fortnightly/bi-weekly schedule, with each new podcast covering two episode of The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin’s (dare we day it?) masterpiece. Re-watch the series with two die-hard fans, or watch along for the first time – two of our hosts are!

This week we are delving into The West Wing 1×01 “Pilot”, and 1×02 “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”.

Show Notes:
-News Items: The Newsroom season 2 filming date, casting news, and Aaron Sorkin won something?
-Plus, Allison Janney on The Newsroom? Jim’s mother, or a one woman show? Let us know.
-Sorkin has been writing The Newsroom scripts this whole time? What a jerk.
-Episode Discussion: 1×01 “Pilot”
-Kristina makes everyone feel old.
-Rob Lowe appears, and we have Tariq’s attention.
-Leo’s walk and talk. Everything is good in the world.
-Examining The West Wing as a pre-9/11 show.
-The religious aspects of the pilot and the President’s characterization.
-Marama makes a big call: Mandy is worse than Maggie.
–The Newsroom parallels: Toby is the Don of The West Wing.
-Episode Discussion: 1×02 “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”
-More Mandy? No thanks.
-The redshirts of The West Wing.
-The ambiguity of “Post Hoc”.
–The Newsroom parallels: Sam’s “mission to civilize”.
-Spotting differences between the pilot and the rest of the series.
-Listener feedback. Keep your thoughts coming!

The Sorkin Series will be back next time with The West Wing 1×03 “A Proportional Response” and 1×04 “Five Votes Down”.

What did you think about this week’s podcast? Leave your questions and comments on the post below, send us an email, or find us on twitter!

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @sorkinseries

Tariq Herzallah: @trqhz
Kristen Kranz: @kranzie85
Kristina Lintz: @krislintz
Marama Whyte: @maramawhyte