Pilot (The West Wing)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Pilot
Series = The West Wing


Caption =
Season = 1
Episode = 1
Airdate = September 22, 1999
Production = 475151
Writer = Aaron Sorkin
Director = Thomas Schlamme
Guests = Annie Corley
Lisa Edelstein
Suzy Nakamura
Allison Smith
Marc Grapey
Janel Moloney
F. William Parker
Episode list = List of "The West Wing" episodes
Season list = Infobox The West Wing season 1 episode list
Prev =
Next ="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 run damage control on two public relations issues. Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman has insulted millions of Christians by, after provocation from Christian-activist Mary Marsh, stating "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Meanwhile, President Josiah Bartlet has crashed his bicycle into a tree in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, much to the enjoyment of the press. Also, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn 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.

Notes

* In the first scene showing Josh Lyman, as the camera pans across his office, a copy of the now-defunct political magazine "George" is sitting on his desk, the cover featuring Lyman himself.

Inaccuracies

* In one of the first few scenes, Communications Director Toby Ziegler is on a plane and, in an attempt to use his cell phone while still in-flight, declares to the flight attendant that the plane they were flying on was "a Lockheed L-1011 that came off the line 20 months ago." However, Lockheed discontinued the L-1011 in 1984 as a result of declining sales. In fact, by 1999, most domestic airlines still in service had abandoned the Lockheed L-1011 in favor of newer designs from Boeing and Airbus. [ [http://trijets.net/tristar/page/history.html L-1011 History] ]
* Toby Ziegler states "honor thy father is the third commandment." It's the fifth in Judaism and some Christian denominations regard it is as the fourth.
*Leo McGarry states that he recommended an "Exocet missile strike against his air force." The Exocet is an anti-ship missile, and not in use by the US military.

Awards

* The pilot was nominated for an ASC award. [ [http://www.theasc.com/awards/history/1999.htm ASC awards] ]

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)

References

External links

* [http://epguides.com/WestWing/ The West Wing Episode Guide]
* [http://thinking-about-the-box.blogspot.com/2008/03/west-wing-pilot.html Commentary from Thinking About The Box]