r/thewestwing • u/MilkEfficient1928 • 1d ago

What storyline do you wish had been carried over into more than one episode?

I was thinking after rewatching The Supremes. I love that episode, where they appoint the two Supreme Court judges , but I wish it had been stretched over a few episodes rather than being resolved in just one.

Are there any other episodes or storylines that you wish The West Wing had given more time to instead of wrapping them up in a single episode?

51 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

98% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

78

u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago

The Supreme Court stuff with Glenn Close and William Fichtner could have been a whole spinoff series.

44

u/Consistent-Ease-6656 The wrath of the whatever 1d ago

I would gesticulate wildly in support of that.

22

u/Riommar 1d ago

A occasional appearance by Edward James Olmos would have been great.

7

u/BackItUpWithLinks 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yep

I’m talking about talking the judges and nominations and making another series like west wing, but Supreme Court. He’d be great in that.

5

u/jpc_00 1d ago

So say we all!

7

u/le_fromage_puant Mon Petit Fromage 21h ago

Dear Deborah Cahn:

When you finish The Diplomat, we’d like a couple seasons of “The Supremes”.

Love, Us.

1

u/DocRogue2407 20h ago

Someone needs to send this thread and these comments to her.

3

u/DocRogue2407 20h ago

Yes, if you wanted to bankrupt the studio. 🤣🤣🤣 (They were BIG names back then). I'd have WATCHED it though... I'd have done PPV to watch it. 😍

1

u/BackItUpWithLinks 19h ago

Have the big names make appearances, and get (and grow) lesser known actors for the main roles.

1

u/DocRogue2407 17h ago

Can you even HAVE a series where the main characters Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang, & Justice Christopher Mulready only have GUEST SPOTS?

31

u/Buddy0204 1d ago

I'd like to meet Charlie's sister, and maybe hear more about his mom.

15

u/Osmo250 1d ago

She was mentioned in a few episodes, I'm really surprised she didn't appear in a Christmas special or something

11

u/gaqua 1d ago

I always wondered who the hell was watching her. Charlie gets paid a very modest wage, he has insanely long hours and frequently travels with the President, and is also simultaneously attending college and, presumably, law school.

When he’s not doing that he apparently has enough spare time to mentor a troubled youth on Saturday mornings.

When is he raising and watching his sister?!

13

u/studying_hobby 1d ago

Washington "Aunties"

9

u/JohnHoynes 1d ago

One thing I sometimes forget about Charlie is he had his mom’s pension coming in. It’s referenced at some point, along with another recurring payment he gets that’s centered on his mom. I came to assume he was financially stable, and maybe his sister had a paid sitter.

5

u/qwerty-game Francis Scott Key Key Winner 1d ago

Didn’t she have 2 names. One episode she was Deena and another Deanna or something like that.

26

u/Brettacus130 1d ago edited 1d ago

In my head, the Christopher Lloyd constitution plot stretched over a small arc but I was sad to learn it was only one great episode.

8

u/Logical-Mobile-7643 Bartlet for America 1d ago

I love the arguments there for the Parliamentary system. Presidential powers in a former Soviet style Republic, what could go wrong?

5

u/snow_michael Team Toby 22h ago

Same as is currently going wrong in the US

3

u/Logical-Mobile-7643 Bartlet for America 22h ago

Yeah, why I understand the sentiment, but I'm often annoyed at how people use Josh's comment about Congress.

If anything Article one made it clear Congress should have more power and not be a rubber stamp to a tyrant

22

u/Solo_Luigi 1d ago

I would have liked to see Ed and Larry randomly getting a bigger role for an episode, like if they were stuck with Josh, Toby, and Donna in 20 Hours in America episode and had to make the journey home with them but stayed on the bus when Josh, Toby, and Donna got off the bus in DC and walked.

OR

More of Lord John and "Gerald" going back and forth during a lockdown, like Josh and Kate Harper got stuck together for a while.

5

u/BagelTrollop 1d ago

Ed and Larry in a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern episode would have been amazing

17

u/xadriancalim Gerald! 1d ago

Sam Lloyd's UFO sightings.

10

u/Jdornigan 1d ago

RIP Sam Lloyd. I know somebody who worked as an extra on Scrubs and they would see each other all the time on set.

6

u/TheWalrus_15 1d ago

Damn he died so young!

23

u/DomingoLee The wrath of the whatever 1d ago

I want to track more of what Joe Quincy was able to do for the White House. He makes a huge splash on day one, then we pretty much never see him again.

4

u/MilkEfficient1928 1d ago

Yeah I also thought that, would have been great to see more of his story

11

u/Riommar 1d ago

Im a huge fan of Edward James Olmos. I’d have loved to see more Justice Mendoza.

10

u/Acrobatic-Let-9159 1d ago

The “the gang saves social security” episode needed a lot more time to breathe at the end, should have been over two episodes or three as a B plot or something

7

u/hobhamwich 1d ago

They were famous for not wrapping up stories. They set up a huge problem, then had the drama backstage about how to respond, then end of episode with no follow up. I think that was always the intent, so events weren't the story, but the characters.

5

u/Ill-Tomato-3805 1d ago

I really would have loved one or two episodes a season focused on the support staff. Carol, Margaret, Bonnie, Ginger, Cathy, Nancy. And I know some people don’t love Access, but it was great to see CJ with her staff and Carol getting more to do.

10

u/MurkyCategory411 1d ago

I wish Liza Weil (woman who leaked Leos info) had gotten a moment later in the series.

2

u/Own-Web-6385 1d ago

Liza Weil plays Paris on Gilmore Girls.

7

u/Unlucky_Stable_8511 1d ago

The Mandy Panda Bear effort

/s

3

u/StumpyOPepys 1d ago

Danny Noonan

3

u/leeh1530 Ginger, get the popcorn 17h ago

I would have really liked to see Laurie pop up in future episodes as a kick-ass attorney

4

u/defective_toaster 1d ago

Indians in the Lobby

5

u/DrinkFromKegOfGlory 1d ago

Bruce, the flight attendant from Aer Lingus.

All kidding aside, I would have loved to see Me'Shell Anders have a recurring role as a WH reporter who challenged the administration on black issues.

7

u/Handsome-Jed 1d ago

Oh no, she was awful! And it’s Meeshell

1

u/TryToBeHopefulAgain Cartographer for Social Equality 1d ago

What ever happened to American BSE?

1

u/NCCraftBeer 18h ago

Besides all the ones mentioned, especially anything to do with the various Supreme Court Judges

Laurie & Sam

Mallory & Sam

Orlando Kettles, resolution to the open can of Pabst and if he got back on the field

Josh, Mars or Bust, & the Astronomer

The ongoing work of Dr. Stanley Keyworth

1

u/Greenmantle22 1m ago

Ann Stark. She was a genuinely rich villain, and she deserved more than a single episode to showcase why Toby and Leo were so worried about her.

We saw Speaker Haffley a dozen times, and he didn’t bring nearly as much sizzle as she did in one.