[thechat] West Wing was: hot actresses

[Paul Cowan]

Lauri wrote:
> Actually, it seems awfully lot like he's (de facto) a part of the
> communication office... he, Sam, Toby and CJ all seem to do the same
> thing with, except they handle different sides of the task.

Yeah, kind of. Having just watched the whole of the two WW Season 1
boxed sets (22 episodes... mmm...), well, I've spent a bit of time
trying to work out the hierarchy. Problem is, there isn't REALLY
a hierarchy as such.

(based on season 1)

Leo (Chief of Staff) reports directly to the president.

Charlie (Personal Aide) reports directly to the president, but
    presumably has to answer to Leo if required.

Josh (Deputy C.O.S.) reports to Leo (but Toby seems to boss him
    around an awful lot...?)

Toby (Communications director) reports to Leo.

Sam (Deputy comm. dir.) reports to Toby. Basically, he's a glorified
    speechwriter; it's interesting to watch how quickly the focus
    of the show, originally intended to be on Sam, shifted away from
    him. I understand that originally, Jed Bartlet was supposed to
    be a 'bit part', and Sam the focus; by about episode 3, Jed was
    already a major character and, if anything, I would say Josh
    and maybe CJ are the main characters.

CJ (Press Secretary) reports to Toby, I gather. I have no idea if Sam
    theoretically 'outranks' her, but I've never seen him even try.
    Personally, I wouldn't either.


> Doesn't it seem to you that he is doing a bit of everything? (besides
> mocking people, partially taking care of the public face, he also
> advises the president on political matters etc etc)

Well, I don't know much about the real white house: but it seems to
me that the whole "Chief of Staff's Office" does very little staffing.
The one time we've seen any real staff-related stuff was when Josh
"vetted" Charlie as he was being hired.

Leo and Josh really seem to be "policy men" more than anything else:
Leo in the abstract (and acting as heavy muscle when required --
hassling important people like the VP, etc), Josh in the concrete --
rounding up rogue congressmen/senators, applying gentle pressure to
the staff, dealing with all the "policy people" and lobby groups that
Leo doesn't have time to deal with.

Of course, as you point out, he does a lot of communications stuff
too; and the comms staff do a lot of policy work, which strikes me
as more than a little unrealistic. But hey, it's a TV show.


> Oh, and don't forget the 14 lawyers they have somewhere in the basement

Jed: My daughter asked you out?
Charlie: Yes.
Jed: I should've locked her in a dungeon.
Charlie: I don't think you got one, sir.
Jed: I coulda built one.

Paul