The West Wing

Episodes

Season 1 · 22 episodes

• E1 Pilot
  Sep 22, 1999 45 min

  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 accidentally tells White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, about it.

• E2 Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
  Sep 29, 1999 45 min

  The Vice President refuses to fall in line with Bartlet; Sam discusses the problem of Laurie with Josh and Toby; the plane carrying President Bartlet's doctor, a naval officer, is shot down en route to Jordan; Bartlet hires Mandy as his consultant.

• E3 A Proportional Response
  Oct 6, 1999 45 min

  Still enraged at Morris's death, Bartlet makes a show of deadly force; C.J. is upset about being kept out of the loop about Laurie; Josh hires Charlie to be Bartlet's new personal assistant.

• E4 Five Votes Down
  Oct 13, 1999 45 min

  Five votes keep an important gun-control bill from being passed and the West Wing has 72 hours to track down the errant congressmen; Toby is accused of manipulating the stock market by having a friend testify to Commerce on internet stocks; and Leo's wife gets fed up with his long hours.

• E5 The Crackpots and These Women
  Oct 20, 1999 45 min

  The staffers spend the day ("Big Block of Cheese day") dealing with private organizations, aka the crackpots. Throughout the day, Sam deals with a UFO nut, CJ gets a proposal to build a wolves-only road, Toby and Bartlet clash over everything, and Josh is overwhelmed by guilt regarding his sister's death.

• E6 Mr. Willis of Ohio
  Nov 3, 1999 45 min

  Toby and Mandy push for a commerce bill with a census-counting provision, with three votes as the deciding factor; Sam tutors C.J. on the finer points of the census; Josh & Sam take Charlie out for a beer and are joined by Zoey and Mallory. Zoey faces a potentially dangerous situation when she goes out for the evening.

• E7 The State Dinner
  Nov 10, 1999 45 min

  The president of Indonesia is honored at a state dinner; the staff deals with Hurricane Sarah, a potential teamster strike, and a raid involving children in Idaho; a reporter flirts with C.J.

• E8 Enemies
  Nov 17, 1999 45 min

  Bartlet and Hoynes argue in front of the Cabinet; C.J. fends off Danny's advances when she suspects he's after a big story; Mallory asks Sam out; the staff leaps hurdles to pass a banking bill.

• E9 The Short List
  Nov 24, 1999 45 min

  Bartlet struggles to name a nominee to the Supreme Court when the perfect nominee turns out to be not so perfect; A congressman attacks the staff, claiming that 1 in 3 use drugs.

• E10 In Excelsis Deo
  Dec 15, 1999 45 min

  Toby tries to arrange a proper funeral for a homeless veteran; Josh and Sam try to set up a preemptive strike against Lillienfield, who is attacking Leo because of his prior drug and alcohol problem; CJ tries to get the staff to revisit the hate crimes issue; Bartlet sneaks out to do some last minute shopping.

• E11 Lord John Marbury
  Jan 5, 2000 45 min

  War breaks out between India and Pakistan and Bartlet consults with Lord John Marbury; Toby accuses C.J. of being too friendly with the press when she objects to being kept in the dark; the staff realizes that Lillienfield's efforts to bring down Leo are going to get ugly when Josh gets a subpoena.

• E12 He Shall, from Time to Time...
  Jan 12, 2000 45 min

  Bartlet collapses before his first State of the Union address; Leo publicly admits to his former alcoholism and drug abuse; things get interesting romantically for both Sam and C.J.; Lord John Marbury helps the staff negotiate an agreement between India and Pakistan.

• E13 Take Out the Trash Day
  Jan 26, 2000 45 min

  Josh and Sam are able to make a bargain to keep Leo from going through a hearing, at the expense of a new sex education report. Mandy doesn't think a couple should be present at the signing of a new hate crimes bill instigated by the death of their son. Toby contends with some of PBS's detractors.

• E14 Take This Sabbath Day
  Feb 9, 2000 45 min

  After the Supreme Court refuses to stay the execution of a convicted murderer, Bartlet has forty-eight hours to decide whether or not to commute the sentence; Josh faces off with Joey Lucas about his staff's not backing her candidate as vigorously as she'd like.

• E15 Celestial Navigation
  Feb 16, 2000 45 min

  Toby and Sam travel to Connecticut to get Roberto Mendoza released from jail; Josh must run a press briefing when C.J. has an emergency root canal.

• E16 20 Hours in L.A.
  Feb 23, 2000 45 min

  Bartlet and the senior staff fly to California to attend an important fundraiser; Hoynes must decide whether he will support Bartlet's stance or go with his convictions when the Senate is deadlocked on an ethanol tax bill.

• E17 The White House Pro-Am
  Mar 22, 2000 45 min

  Abbey keeps the staff busy with the fallout when she leaks her personal preference for a Federal Reserve Board appointment and discusses child labor on a talk show, prompting a Congresswoman to offer an amendment which could shoot down the entire international tariff bill; Charlie's date with Zoey is cancelled because of threats by a white supremacist group.

• E18 Six Meetings Before Lunch
  Apr 5, 2000 45 min

  Mendoza is confirmed by the Senate; Mandy needs Toby's help to replace a dead panda bear; Sam angers Mallory when she reads a position paper that he wrote supporting school vouchers; Josh meets with Jeff Breckenridge, who is irritating certain Congressmen with his stance on slavery reparations.

• E19 Let Bartlet Be Bartlet
  Apr 26, 2000 45 min

  Mandy's old memo about Bartlet administration weaknesses surfaces; Josh tries to get administration nominees appointed to the Federal Elections Committee; Sam works to get a better policy on gays in the military.

• E20 Mandatory Minimums
  May 3, 2000 45 min

  Andrea Wyatt insists that mandatory minimums be added to a new drug policy the staff is developing; C.J. makes a mistake and sets them back.

• E21 Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
  May 10, 2000 45 min

  Bartlet gets closer to making the FEC campaign finance reform-friendly, but his opponents strike back by making Sam's former dalliance with the call girl public knowledge; CJ waits anxiously for the administration's approval rating.

• E22 What Kind of Day Has It Been
  May 17, 2000 45 min

  The staff deals with the crisis of an American pilot who was shot down in Iraq; Toby's brother is in danger on a space shuttle whose doors won't close; Bartlet and the senior staff walk into trouble as they leave a town meeting.