h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'The West Wing' - the TV series - A3443690
Author: Elentari - U202814

I noted there wa no entry on this, my favourite TV programme, so I wrote one!

It' been tricky though, becasue I don't want to include too many spoilers, and certainly nothing too huge.

Good entry on a great series.

One big problem is the fact that this is from the perspective of someone who has only seen the first four seasons (I presume). But the show is now in it's sixth (and possibly final) season in the US (I'm from Ireland and we too are currently on the sixth season). There is a major change to the characters and their positions on the staff at the start of season six and this entry doesn't cover that change.

Another point. Arron Sorkin leaves the show after season four and now the episodes are written by dozens of people.

Both good points. As to the first - I know it's a problem, but i can't really write about the other's, having not seen them, and don't want to spoil the rest for myself or anyone else!

I will amend the bit about Aaron Sorkin, I forgot that.

I have to agree that since the show is being aired a number of seasons ahead in the US (and apparently in other parts of the world), it would be wise to wait until the entire series has come to an end before submitting a guide entry about it, otherwise it'll not only look a bit queer to people who have already seen the show's ending, but it'll also need constant updating as each subsequent season airs in the UK.

It's a bit tricky alright. I personally only started to watch it on E4 for the last 5 episodes of season four. After that I was hooked and was ecstatic when I found out that RTE1 (an Irish station) were just starting to show the fifth season. I watched the fourth season while Channel 4 showed them over the last few months. So you know about the earlier seasons but not the later ones, and I know about the later ones but not the earlier ones.

OR... you could write the entry focussing on how the show came into being and how it set up each of the characters. If you write from the point of view of who these characters are when we first meet them the entry won't date quite as much.

Then just summarise the big issues that come in later seasons. For the first three and a bit years, the show is about the campaign to get re-elected. From the middle of series four onwards it's about the limited time the administration has to do the things it wanted. This way you don't have to explain every single plot or do it season by season.

Think about why someone might use this guide entry. If they've only just started watching the show they might be looking for an easy 'what happened before', but they also won't want too much of it spoiled for themselves

That was my problem... I'll have a think, but it might be a while before I can do anything to it - should I remove it from PR in the meantime?

Ah, beat me to it. As soon as the show ended, I was going to write up an entry. My favorite show. Best-written show on TV. Funnier than most comedy shows too.

I think this is a good start. There are quite a few typos, grammar problems and style issues, however. I could give you a list of ones that jumped out to me if you'd like, or you can do a bit of proofreading yourself

"From the middle of series four onwards it's about the limited time the administration has to do the things it wanted."

And the race to succeed Bartlet.

One thing that I think is worth mentioning is that three of the arguably biggest stars of the West Wing, Martin Sheen, Allison Janey and Rob Lowe all came from the same city - Dayton, Ohio . (well, I would have found it worth mentioning in my entry)

I should say that I've seen the entire series up until now, and the most recent episodes do not disappoint

>>If you write from the point of view of who these characters are when we first meet them the entry won't date quite as much.<<

The problem with this is the fact that they introduce one new regular cast member in season 6, and several more reoccuring characters.

Well they do that for most of the series (Will Bailey, for example) but the core cast remains largely the same.

If you intend to carry on working on the entry you don't need to remove it from Peer Review until you think you're going to take quite a long time reshaping it

I agree that we shouldn't have to wait until the series ends to put this into the edited guide, especially since Elentari probaly wont see the final seson for two years at the very least. But it does seem odd to me as someone who is watching the sixth season that this only goes to season four. I'd give examples, but that would give too much away. Lets just say that at least five of the main cast mentioned either no longer work for the administration, or they have different positions on the staff.

Sorry Jodan! I'm not sure what I'll do to it yet. I suppose I could just keep it until I have seen the end of the series, but as you say, that will probably be several years (and I dread the day )

If you could give me some of the errors that would be great, I'm rubbish at spotting my own mistakes!

I will mention the Dayton, Ohio, thing, that's good.

Thanks all.

I forgot to say, I like the idea of rewriting it so it's more of an overview, but then if I don't put in any spoilers then I'm afraid I won't be left with much. What do you think?

I've gone through it again and changed some grammar and spelling mistakes (there were more than I thought, sorry about that) but if there's anything else, please let me know.

Also, Jodan, as you were going to write one, is there anything else you think should be added, or changes in style etc? If there's loads, I can give you a co-writer credit. Actually, this applies to everyone.

If you want one of us could write descriptions of characters added in the last two years, without too many spoilers.

I like the idea of an overview. That would solve a lot of problems

"If you could give me some of the errors that would be great, I'm rubbish at spotting my own mistakes!"

I'm the same way
There are a few stylistic errors from what I recall - some in the quotes section and elsewhere. I'll try to get to this later tonight, but today is going to be very busy. If anyone has some free time, they can always snatch the job out from under me.

It's just the problem of mentioning all of the changes without spoilers, particularly for those who are only just starting to watch the show. But if they're starting from the beginning, they won't want any spoilers, if they're joining later on, they'll need them! What do I do? Lol.

That is a dilemma. Sort of why I never write an entry about someone who isn't dead
Well, here's my list of things I think should be corrected. You asked for it, remember!

"The show has been critically acclaimed since it’s beginning" --> its beginning...

"it’s first season" --> its first season

"Most of the priciple actors have been nominated, or won, Emmy awards..." should be principle actors, and I think it would read better "Most of the principle actors have been nominated, or have won, Emmy awards...". I don't know if it's technically incorrect that way, but it didn't seem right to me.

"The show was created by Aaron Sorkin, who wrote many of its episodes as well as the film 'The American President'" Maybe a footnote to say Martin Sheen, who of course plays the President on the show, was the Chief of Staff/Best Friend to the President in 'The American President'. Also, film names should be italicized, not in single quotes, according to <./>SubEditors-Style</.>.

"However, he left after season 4, after which a team of writers was employed."
Should be Season Four, and the second clause isn't quite right. Maybe 'at which point', instead of 'after which'?
Season 4 --> Season Four (at the end of the first paragraph) (and again in footnote one)
22nd September, 1999 --> 22 September, 1999

"Josiah "Jed" Bartlet" --> 'Jed' (first subheader)

"Notre Dame university" University capitalized
"Bartlet is suffers from Multiple Sclerosis" just one verb'll be fine

Under the Charlie Young section-
"Washington DC" --> Washington, DC
"(the assassins were angry that Charlie, a black man, was seeing Zoey, a white woman, and tried to kill Charlie. They hit Bartlet and Josh instead)." Is that first bit supposed to be a sentence or not? It's got a period, so I reckon assassins should be capitalized.

Under Josh-
Conneticut --> Connecticut

Will's father is Thoma Bailey, who in the world of 'The west Wing',
Thomas? Capitalize 'west'?

Claudia Jean "CJ" Cregg --> Claudia Jean 'CJ' Cregg

Footnote five - "Must be somtething in the water!" --> something

A sentence about the First Lady is mysteriously under the section on CJ - perhaps it should have gone in the Other Characters section?

"Season 1" Season One

"Hoynes has a complicated relationship with Bartlet. He was added to Bartlet’s campaign to make southern voters more likely to vote for the pair (he’s from Texas)"

This action of putting a southerner with a northerner is commonly referred to as 'balancing the ticket'. Maybe a footnote or a note in brackets? Or not. It's not really a correction.

"Washington DC" --> Washington, DC (in the Zoey paragraph)

Josephine "Joey" Lucas --> Josephine 'Joey' Lucas

Personally, I think that the quotes section would look nicer if you used the tag instead of the tag, but that's fine as it is, I believe.

The content is there. Upon further inspection, there isn't much I can think of to add within the framework of the entry. It's a good entry Needs a bit of work, but it's good.

During the course of my travels over the last few days, I found out that the original idea for the series was to base it around the staff and to never have the president on screen. Perhaps a footnote on this would be interesting.