"Jed Bartlet had an idea!"
by Dave Winer Friday, June 17, 2016

I'm listening to a panel discussion reunion with the writers, producers and actors of The West Wing. It came as a special episode of the West Wing Weekly podcast, which continues to be more than excellent.

I recently watched a whole bunch of West Wings, and stopped with S5 E17, which has what is imho the best line in any West Wing episode. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court says to his clerk, "Jed Bartlet from New Hampshire had an idea!" It wasn't sarcastic, because he really did have a great idea. And the Chief Justice said it with a New England accent of some sort. It's fun because there are a lot of Supreme Court justices in the show and none of them like Bartlet. We think he's brilliant but they think he's a hack. So finally he gets some respect (thought it really is Josh's idea). This is one of the most optimistic episodes. And it's very nicely acted by the cast and a few special guests. 

Anyway, if you love the West Wing, you must listen to this episode. It's got some incredible insight into the show. And if you're involved in a podcast of a TV show, have a listen, they're setting a pretty high bar for how to do this relatively new art. It's a story-telling medium.

Update: I wrote that about 3/4 the way through the episode. Sometimes these shows get too self-congratulatory. They did go a bit over the top. It must feel nice to heap the praise on but it doesn't make for good listening.