Pilot (The West Wing)

"Pilot"
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Thomas Schlamme
Written by	Aaron Sorkin
Production code	475151
Original air date	September 22, 1999
Guest stars
Annie Corley Lisa Edelstein Suzy Nakamura Allison Smith Marc Grapey Janel Moloney F. William Parker
Season 1 episodes
September 22, 1999 – May 17, 2000 Pilot Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc A Proportional Response Five Votes Down The Crackpots and These Women Mr. Willis of Ohio The State Dinner Enemies The Short List In Excelsis Deo Lord John Marbury He Shall, from Time to Time... Take out the Trash Day Take This Sabbath Day Celestial Navigation 20 Hours in L.A. The White House Pro-Am Six Meetings Before Lunch Let Bartlet Be Bartlet Mandatory Minimums Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics What Kind of Day Has It Been
List of The West Wing episodes

"Pilot" is the first episode of the American serial drama The West Wing.

Plot

In the series premiere, the White House staff is being called into work in the early hours of the morning to the news that the President of the United States has crashed his bicycle into a tree, much to the enjoyment of the press. The staff must run damage control on this and a gaffe by Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman who, after provocation by Christian activist Mary Marsh on a televised debate, quips "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Also, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn meets and spends an evening with Laurie (Lisa Edelstein), not knowing she is a call girl, and then tells White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, about it before he knows whose daughter she is.

While Marsh and Lyman are discussing an appropriate compensation, in the form of a public debate on one of several volatile Christian issues, President Bartlet enters and corrects one of the attendees on a theological point. He explains that he crashed his bicycle while distracted by anger after discovering that his granddaughter, after expressing herself as pro-choice during a pre-teen magazine interview, was mailed a Raggedy Anne doll with a knife stuck in its throat. The doll was sent by an extremist group which the attendees have not denounced the activities of. He tells them that not only will there be no debate, but that they will denounce the extremists publicly, and are barred from the White House until they do so.

Awards

• The pilot was nominated for an ASC award.

Emmy Awards

Won

• Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series (recipients: Jon Hutman, Tony Fanning, and Ellen Totleben)
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (recipient: Thomas Del Ruth, A.S.C.)
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (recipient: Thomas Schlamme)

Nominated

• Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (nominee: Aaron Sorkin; "In Excelsis Deo," in the same category, won)

External links

• The West Wing Archive
• The West Wing Episode Guide
• Commentary from Thinking About The Box