Template talk:Characters on The West Wing

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[edit] Season Format

Why do some characters that remain on the show have season notations in the format "(Seasons x-6)" while other have notations in the format "(Seasons x- )"?

If there's no difference, we should choose one format to use.

The seasons specified for each character serve to identify which seasons the character held the position listed—not the seasons that the character had a role on the show. For example, Josh Lyman served as Deputy Chief of Staff for (Seasons 1-6), so that's what's listed in the template; he's still on the show, but no longer as Deputy CoS, so he's not listed as (Seasons 1- ). I imagine the template will have to be redone at some point in the future, as the focus moves from the main characters in the White House staff to the characters involved in next season's campaign. Jeff 07:51, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Template causing nasty page formatting

Whenever this template is on a page, it causes formatting errors on my screen (1280x1024). Would there be anyway to incorporate a tag for a picture that is always above one of these boxes into the box, thereby eliminating the formatting problems? -Scm83x 07:45, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Santos/Vinick Whitehouse

We may as well get this started, as the election episode is coming up in this season. We should create a seperate template for the Santos or Vinick White House, so the Bartlet administration is clearly seperated, yes? Staxringold 18:50, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

There may not be a West Wing for very long after the election episose at the end of February sweeps. We'll cross this bridge when we come to it. With last week's firing of many staffers, including Ned, a Santos/Vinick White House staff template is extremely premature. We'll see about it in February, if the show is renewed. -Scm83x 08:01, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

A fair point. But you agree that if the show continues we'll clearly know at least:

Vice President CoS Deputy CoS Communications Director Press Secretary

And probably some other deputies (like Deputy Comm. Director) along with some security personal and the like, so IF the show continues a new template would be nice. Staxringold 20:11, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

As I said, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. -Scm83x 01:09, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] For the future

Given that TWW has been cancelled, I figured I would pose this question. Currently the template is formatted with the newest person in the job first, as TWW is a current TV show and it's most useful to know who is "in the job" right now. Once the show goes off the air (*Stax tears up a bit*) shouldn't it be ordered the other way, per basically every list on Wikipedia, to be chronilogical? Staxringold 21:01, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Undoubtedly it should be. We'll cross that bridge when it comes (*tears as well*) — Scm83x hook 'em 21:04, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Toby's Role as Press Secretary

Although Toby filled in the role of Press Secretary in seasons 6-7, he did not actually hold the position. I think that this should either be removed or a footnote of some sort be added that he was a "fill-in."

The same could be said about Will Bailey, Annabeth, or even Josh. As shown in many episodes, just because someone appears in front of the White House Press Corps, doesn't make them Press Secretary. Atm, they don't have one, the Communications Director has been usually filling in. Jc37 18:46, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] ReOrg

The page is now reorganized.

a.) The characters are chronologically listed.

b.) The characters' titles now reflect the main characters page.

c.) The columns are a bit more intuitive.

  • A VP/Sit room column
  • A staff column, headed by the CoS;
  • A Communications column, headed by the director;

Director of Leg affairs is in the first column just for formatting reasons, and I didn't want to have any character's name actually removed from the template, unless necessary. I didn't add Angela Blake for 2 reasons: no page of her own, and formatting reasons (same reasons for no Curtis under personal aide). Also, though Charlie is the special assistant/deputy to the CoS now, didn't add that for space reasons as well. Jc37 20:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jack Reese as Deputy NSA

Is there actually any evidence to suggest that he is the Deputy NSA at any stage (the role filled by Kate Harper). I understood him to be the military aide to the NSA, which is a different role. I can't ever remember him being referred to as Nancy McNally's deputy, anyway. On a similar note, in "Welcome to Wherever You Are", Nancy McNally is referred to as the former NSA. That's the first we've heard of her having left her role, so presumably if that is the case then Kate Harper became NSA some time during Season 6 or Season 7, and the page should be updated to reflect that (it would also explain why Nancy hasn't been seen or heard from in so long).Penguin22 April 2, 2006


-I took out Jack Reese as he wasn't Deputy NSA (I checked). I added Admiral Fitzwallace, since he fit best in that column in my opinion (recurring character, regular in the Situation Room)...it now looks slightly unbalanced, however. Penguin22 April 8, 2006

"(I checked)" - where did you find the information?
Since this template is for "main" characters on TWW, Jack Reese is a good cantidate for removal. And once we establish that Kate is NSA now, and not Dep. NSA, we can remove the Deputy header entirely.
Cliff Calley is another one. I only left him on the page because listing him as DCoS is a common mistake (he's listed as such on several websites), because CJ compared Legislative info from CC to the same info from Josh Lyman (former DCoS), and if we remove him, we'll likely see him added as DCoS again.
I'll remove him now, for formatting reasons, and non-main character reasons... but if needed, we can always put him back (He's in a comment on this page, edit it to re-add him).

-Jc37 02:07, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

I checked the episodes in which he appeared, and he simply isn't referred to as being Nancy McNally's deputy. He's referred to as being Nancy McNally's military aide in "Process Stories", but it's a completely different position.Penguin22 11:41, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Debbie as Presidential Secretary

should we be listind Debbie Fidderer as presidential secretary for seasons 3-7? I'm going to have to pull out my DVDs when I get back to my dorm, but I don't think she was hired until season 4... and even if she was, we wouldn't actually have seen her on the job in season 3, since she only interviewed for the job in the season finale.

Am I missing something here?

-MBlume 00:49, 8 June 2006 (UTC)


I agree. Debbie Fiderer was hired in Season 4. For all of Season 3, Bartlet had no Executive Secretary (which, according to the the 4th season episode 20 Hours in America, is the official title of the post). --Hnsampat 02:36, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
fixed -MBlume 19:39, 8 June 2006 (UTC)