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Post by First Lady on May 1, 2003 20:50:12 GMT
Ok this is my first post and I maybe the bearer of bad news  From Variety.com: There won't be a second term for Aaron Sorkin. Emmy-winning scribe has informed Warner Bros. TV and NBC that this will be his final season with "The West Wing." He is expected to announce his decision this afternoon. Fellow exec producer Thomas Schlamme is also leaving. |
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2003 21:08:09 GMT
(sound of heavy thud hitting the floor, possibly a body)
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2003 21:09:48 GMT
Does anybody have a subscription to Variety.com and can they post here the whole article, rather than the paragraph non-subscribers see. This story hasn't yet popped up on cnn, but probably will soon....
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Post by Joey Lucas on May 1, 2003 21:10:17 GMT
I can't believe this   It's not fair If TWW carries on after this we'll have to wait and see if it's any good. |
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2003 21:24:43 GMT
The things you can do in five minutes. It's not very detailed but here it is
(puts on CJ mask)
There won’t be a second term for Aaron Sorkin.
Emmy-winning scribe has informed Warner Bros. TV and NBC that this will be his final season with "The West Wing." He is expected to announce his decision this afternoon.
Move comes after a particularly tough season for "West Wing," now in its fourth year, which has seen a dramatic ratings decline in the wake of tough competition from ABC’s "The Bachelor" and Fox’s "American Idol"-fueled 9 p.m. Wednesday comedy block.
Sorkin has written most episodes of "West Wing" since the skein bowed. He still has another year left on his deal at Warner Bros. TV.
Fellow exec producer Thomas Schlamme is also leaving.
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Post by First Lady on May 1, 2003 21:25:52 GMT
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Post by bajermajic on May 1, 2003 21:26:57 GMT
Bloody Hell!!!!
AS's writing makes the show (along with the acting of course).
The show won't be as funny or dramatic, no matter who they get in.
Incidentally, what series do they mean by 'this' series. Would that be series 5?
d
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Post by Admin on May 1, 2003 21:31:50 GMT
NBC Media Village:
BURBANK, Calif. -- May 1, 2003 -- “Access Hollywood” has learned that Aaron Sorkin is stepping down from his post as Executive Producer of “The West Wing.”
According to network sources, it is said to be a “friendly and gracious parting.”
Access Hollywood has also learned that John Wells, whose production company John Wells Productions co-produces “The West Wing ”with Warner Bros Television, will be stepping in for Sorkin.
Wells, along with Sorkin, has been an executive producer on the show since its debut on Sept. 22, 1999. Sorkin, who created “The West Wing,” has won two Emmys for his role as Executive Producer and one as a writer for the political drama.
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Post by First Lady on May 1, 2003 21:46:18 GMT
Ok so most of the reports I've read say that Aaron is stepping down as executive producer. Does this mean he's staying on as writer or is he cutting all ties to the show?
Man I hope the reports are right and he carries on writing the show. But I think I’m being rather too optimistic!!!
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Post by bajermajic on May 1, 2003 21:50:14 GMT
Am confused too.
SBut surely it would say if he's going to continue writing. Maybe he's just gone a wee bit mad for a while and he'll change his mind tomorrow!
I hope
d
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Post by First Lady on May 2, 2003 14:38:23 GMT
Well it looks like the question of Aaron staying on as writer has been clarified.
Interview with John Wells from tv Guide online
West Wing Creator Quits! What Now?
Friday, May 2, 2003
Talk about political upheaval. Late Thursday, West Wing's creator and
exec producer Aaron Sorkin sent shockwaves through the TV industry
when he announced that he would be stepping down as the show's Emmy-
winning commander-in-chief. And what's more, he's taking his No. 2,
exec producer/director Tommy Schlamme with him. Although insiders
speculate that Sorkin was driven out in part due to the show's
declining ratings, all parties insist the split was an amicable one.
That's a sentiment pretty much shared by fellow WW producer John
Wells, who in this exclusive interview with TV Guide Online, sets the
record straight about the surprising behind-the-scenes shake-up at
NBC's fictional White House. — Michael Ausiello
TV Guide Online: Why is Aaron leaving?
John Wells: He's been threatening to for the last three years, and
each year we've been successful in getting him to stay. [But] this
year, he said he really needs to write something else. The good news
is he's got one more year on his Warner Bros. deal, so he's going to
be developing something for them next year. He and Tommy will be
doing something else.
TVGO: What does this mean for the show?
Wells: It means a lot of hard work. Tommy has been doing less and
less over the last year. He's been pursuing some other things. But
Aaron has written or rewritten every episode of this show from the
beginning... and he's an extraordinarily talented writer. We
certainly won't be able to replace him with one person. We'll bring
in a writing staff and add to the people we already have in place,
and see if we can come even close to matching his brilliance. He's
irreplaceable, so I think we won't actually try and replace him with
one person. We'll have to try and get a group of people and see how
well we can do.
TVGO: Did the show's ratings decline this season play a role in this?
Wells: No, it didn't. And I think what you'll see as you get toward
the end of the season is that we've got some very strong episodes
that he's written for our season-ender. This show always struggles
anytime there is real news going on in the world that makes our
fictional world look a little superfluous. And with our audience in
particular, the other shows they watch are not standard network
television shows, but 60 Minutes, The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. They
watch all the Ken Burns documentaries, and if there's a war, they're
watching three or four hours of CNN a day. So, one of the things that
happens is things occur in the world that it's difficult to have
these fictional characters and to take it as seriously. We have had
ups and downs on the show in the past and we've always tried to
encourage Aaron to stay, and because he writes so many of them, he
has always expressed the sense that he was starting to run out of
steam. I don't think you'll feel he ran out of any steam when you
watch the end of this season. But I certainly have some sympathy for
him. He's now written 88 episodes. I mean, I've written a lot of ERs,
but over nine years, I've written 30. (Laughing) I don't have the
ability to attempt what he has done over the last few years.
TVGO: Will you take over as showrunner?
Wells: I will in the interim, in the sense that Tommy and Aaron
together have really been running the show. We knew that this would
be Tommy's last season all year, so [other producers] have been
taking over more and more of those producorial responsibilities. So
what I will probably be doing is some additional supervision on the
producorial end, and then putting the writing staff together and
really supervising the writing of the show. And I'll probably get up
the courage and try and write a couple of [episodes] myself.
TVGO: What changes will we see next season?
Wells: I don't have a clue. We'll start that up in the next couple of
weeks. We're very proud of the show and have continued to be proud of
the show. I can't tell you why people stopped watching the show.
TVGO: Will Aaron stay on as a consultant?
Wells: Yes, absolutely. He and Tommy both are going to be consultants
on the show next year. And with a little bit of luck, I'll talk him
into [writing] a couple [of episodes]. I'll do my best.
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Post by pðtù§ on May 3, 2003 19:06:26 GMT
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Post by madcap on May 4, 2003 16:54:45 GMT
When I first heard about this I had read about it on a BBC American Drama site (which has a fair amount of TWW comments). At first I thought it was a wind up. Sadly not and I really do fear the worst now.
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Post by DarkHoarse on May 5, 2003 15:48:20 GMT
Hello everyone
This is my first post and I wanted to say something about how the combination of extraordinary writing and a sublime core cast had made it my favourite drama series ever. And then I read that we are to lose one of those key elements. I would love to be proved wrong, but I can't think of any TV serial that has continued to flourish after losing its main creative inspiration.
What a depressing bit of news. Still, we must continue to live in hope. And I hear season 4 is brilliant.
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Post by pðtù§ on May 5, 2003 16:02:22 GMT
I like your signature.
And season 4 is brilliant, back to the standard of season 1. I think that is because of the election. That makes way for some great episodes, like 'Game On' where Bartlet and Gov. Ritchie debate on national tv. Season 3 doesn't really have that sort of thing to write an episode around, which is why some feel it's not up to the same standard as the others seasons. (Still, any West Wing episode is of higher quality than most other programmes on tv at any time of the week).
Season 4 is has a 23 episode run also. Longer than any of the other 3. Unfortunately, the finalé is going to involve the same sort of cliffhanger stuff from the other seasons. Is this White House cursed, I wonder?
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It's not fair
