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The West Wing, Season 7, Episode 17 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-08-11 22:15:24
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Election Day Pt. II

Files

Previews only

WW 17

Comments

John

I'm certain someone's mentioned this, but the show as originally pitched and envisioned (and paid) was about Sam. (He was paid about 50% more than the other actors except for Sheen, who was paid about three times as much as Lowe on a per episode basis.) But the show very quickly became an ensemble show, and focused less and less on Sam as the show went on. He took issue with this and he and Sorkin had a fight (not physical, but an argument) and Sam left the show. At least, this is the story as it has been presented to me, but I don't have any confirmation of this (and you won't find it out there; it was an honor and a privilege to have been a part, everybody loved everybody else, etc.) Anyway, you've still got five more episodes to go. There's a lot to get done!

Weird Magic

I remember seeing (or maybe hearing on TWW Podcast) that the writers intentionally wrote the episodes up to election day without knowledge of who was going to win, because they themselves didn't know who they were going to have win until the sat down to break these episodes. That left them the ability to not foreshadow or write to an ending right up until they had to, and it left them the ability to see how each of the actors did and were received publicly. In the end, it was John Spencer's death that tipped the final scale because as you said, either would have been palatable. Originally airing on April 9, 2006, 'Election Day: Part 2' is Episode 17 of Season 7 of The West Wing. It is the 150th episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 9.1, placing it as the #1 ranked episode of this season and #8 out of all the episodes shown so far.

Cristy
>>183666396

I heard all of this too. Wasn't Rob Lowe annoyed that the rest of the cast got pay rises and he didn't (even though he was earning much more than them). Honestly, as much as I love Sam, I never got main character energy from him. Like you said it might all be rumour but it tracks with him leaving.

Heather

Strangely, I think Jimmy Smits and John Spencer personally go back further than anyone else on the show. They were both on L.A. Law.

Aude M

Aww, the cat wanted to know who was winning apparently

Aude M

The book by Mary McCormack and Melissa Fitzgerald talks about that period when John Spencer died. It really gives you a good idea about what all the cast felt and what state of mind they were while filming these episodes. I won't spoil anything just in case, I think you should discover it by yourself. They also talk about it in the Podcast too but I think there were not as much details (and you also you have additional photographs of the whole cast and crew in this book, it's really a gem).

Youtalkingtome
>>183667824

That's pretty incredible. I think they nailed it with this episode. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in those writers rooms. Incredible TV really

Alex Lee

Now we have finally got here... When they were creating the character of Matt Santos, they drew inspiration from a (then) little known politician from Illinois. You might have heard of him... Someone called Barack Obama...

Cosmic Slice

Ok...I've been putting it off for a couple of days and I'm sitting here in a puddle of tears. Just as much as the first time I saw it. And I know I'm not done being emotional yet. This show can just lift you up as high as the clouds and then just splat you back to earth.

Joy M

Y’all need to do The Diplomat next. There’s a West Wing reunion coming in Season 3.

Daniel Lydford

In the scene where CJ & Margaret are talking - Margaret absolutely knows about Leo being taken to the hospital because she monitored CJ's phone call - it's part of her job.

Danielle

This episode and the next one are always tough rewatches for me after losing John Spencer in real life. I still loved the election parts to this episode, though. I love how the show handles the transition so I'm excited for you guys to get to that part of it and how the administrative transition helps to setup each character's next move in an organic way.