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The fifth season of the American political drama television series ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...
'' aired in the United States on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
from September 24, 2003, to May 19, 2004, and consisted of 22 episodes. This was the first season with executive producer John Wells as
showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
after series creator
Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter, playwright and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a writer for stage, television, and film, Sorkin is recognized f ...
departed the series at the end of the previous season.


Cast

The fifth season had star billing for nine major roles, all of which were filled by returning main cast members from the fourth season. The cast was credited in alphabetical order except for
Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...
, who was listed last.
Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...
is only credited for the episodes in which she appears.


Main cast

*
Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...
as
Abbey Bartlet The television series ''The West Wing'' is a political drama series which was originally broadcast on NBC. During its seven seasons the ensemble cast of stars, recurring stars, and guest stars earned 157 acting nominations (often competing in th ...
*
Dulé Hill Karim Dulé Hill (; born May 3, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series ''The West Wing'', for wh ...
as
Charlie Young Charles Young is a fictional character played by Dulé Hill on the television serial drama ''The West Wing''. For the majority of the series, he is the Personal Aide to President Josiah Bartlet. Creation and development The character of Cha ...
*
Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. Known for her performances across the screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Allison Janney, various accolades, including an Academy A ...
as C. J. Cregg *
Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American film and stage actor known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama ''The West Wing'', Jeremy Goodwin on ''Sports Night'', U.S. Attorney General David Rosen on ''Scandal'', and Caltec ...
as Will Bailey *
Janel Moloney Janel Moloney (born October 3, 1969) is an American actress, best known for her role as Donna Moss on the television series ''The West Wing'', a role for which she received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress ...
as
Donna Moss Donnatella Moss is a fictional character played by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama ''The West Wing.'' During most of the series, Donna works for White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman as a senior assistant (or, as she jokingly ...
*
Richard Schiff Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on ''The West Wing'', a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with ''The West Wing'', directing an ...
as
Toby Ziegler Tobias "Toby" Zachary Ziegler was a fictional character in the television serial drama ''The West Wing'', played by Richard Schiff. The role of Toby Ziegler earned actor Richard Schiff the Primetime Emmy Award for Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...
* John Spencer as
Leo McGarry Leo Thomas McGarry is a fictional character of the NBC political drama series ''The West Wing'', portrayed by American actor John Spencer. McGarry was the former Secretary of Labor, former White House Chief of Staff, Senior Counselor to Dem ...
*
Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...
as
Josh Lyman Joshua Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama series ''The West Wing''. The role earned Whitford the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001. For most of the se ...
*
Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...
as
Josiah Bartlet Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character from the American television serial drama ''The West Wing'' created by Aaron Sorkin and portrayed by actor Martin Sheen. The role earned Sheen a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Televi ...


Plot

The fifth season opens with First Daughter Zoey Bartlet being rescued from her abductors. President Bartlet takes the presidency back from acting president Walken, but is forced back into a level of powerlessness. He comes to terms with the actions that led to his daughter's kidnapping, a new Republican Speaker of the House (Walken has had to resign in order to assume the presidency) who forces Bartlet into several decisions he does not want to make, including the nomination of an unimpressive Democrat, "Bingo Bob" Russell, for vice president. The conflict with the new Speaker comes to a head in "Shutdown", when the Speaker tries to force the President into cutting federal spending more than had been agreed to and Bartlet refuses, forcing the federal government into a shutdown. Bartlet regains some of his power, cutting a deal to get a liberal Chief Justice, and season five ends with a bombing in
Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...
leading Bartlet to push for Israeli peace talks and Josh to grow closer to Donna after she is critically wounded. The fifth season begins toward the end of Bartlet's first year of his second term (fifth year overall) in office. By the end of the season, over a year has elapsed.


Episodes


Reception


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the season has an approval rating of 65% with an average score of 7.9 out of 10 based on 23 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Executive producer John Wells admirably attempts to maintain the spirit of Aaron Sorkin's vision after succeeding him, but ''The West Wing''s fifth season is a sloppy changing of the guard that bears the Bartlet administration's agenda but possesses not of its finesse or flair."


Accolades

The fifth season received 12
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
nominations for the
56th Primetime Emmy Awards The 56th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 19, 2004. The ceremony was hosted by Garry Shandling and was broadcast on ABC. The HBO miniseries ''Angels in America'' had the most successful night. It became the first program to ...
, winning one award—
Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. Known for her performances across the screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Allison Janney, various accolades, including an Academy A ...
for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, her fourth win. It was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, the first year the series did not win the award. Acting nominations included
Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...
for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, John Spencer for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,
Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...
and
Janel Moloney Janel Moloney (born October 3, 1969) is an American actress, best known for her role as Donna Moss on the television series ''The West Wing'', a role for which she received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress ...
for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Thomas Del Ruth Thomas Del Ruth (born May 1, 1942) is a retired American cinematographer. Biography Del Ruth was born in 1942 in Beverly Hills, California, as the son of film director Roy Del Ruth, and actress Winnie Lightner. He was educated at Van Nuys ...
received two nominations from the
American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...
for the episodes "7A WF 83429" and "Gaza".


References

;General references * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:West Wing season 5 2003 American television seasons 2004 American television seasons