The West Wing: Season 1 [1999] (4 discs)

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• Janel Moloney originally auditioned for the part of CJ Cregg. After being cast as Donna, she was never supposed to be a regular. Co-star Bradley Whitford pointed out the obvious chemistry between the characters of Josh and Donna, and Aaron Sorkin agreed. Nevertheless, Moloney was credited as a guest star for the entire first season. The first time her name appears in the opening credits, is in season two, episode one, "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I." To the horror of her father, in particular, her last name was misspelled. This was subsequently corrected.
• During a 2014 Screen Actors Guild Foundation interview with Roger Rees (moderated by writer ^[?] Rick Elice, Rees's husband), Elice said that Rees had originally auditioned to play Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, and it eventually came down to a choice between Rees and John Spencer, who won the role. But after that process, Aaron Sorkin told Roger Rees that he would write a different part for him, which he did: Rees played the recurring character of British advisor (and eventually ambassador) Lord John Marbury throughout the show's run. Elice also said that Sorkin came to Rees for help with tracking down the composer of a piece of music that Sorkin remembered from the Royal Shakespeare Company 1982 production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" that Sorkin wanted to use in the episode "Posse Comitatus"; Rees had played the title character in that production.
• Martin Sheen was originally only scheduled to appear in four episodes per season. It was only after the pilot was filmed, that it was decided to make him a regular cast member.
• Actors originally considered to play the President included Alan Alda, Sidney Poitier, and ^[?] Jason Robards Jr.
• Eugene Levy was considered to play Toby Ziegler.
• Bradley Whitford was originally cast as Sam. Whitford, who had read for the part of Josh, called Aaron Sorkin and told him "I'm not Sam, I'm Josh!".
• Edward James Olmos was asked to play Judge Mendoza on a semi-regular capacity, and even though he wanted to, he had just been offered the role on [American Family], a show he considered important to have on television at the time.
• At the 2000 Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Awards (the Emmys), the show won a record nine Emmy awards - the most for any season of a television series - and it was also only in its first season.
• In Excelsis Deo - A stuffed penguin is on a table during a scene in which Charlie and Ms Landingham are discussing why Ms Landingham is depressed over Christmas. This is the same penguin called "Hugsy" that Joey from [Friends] gives away to Rachael's daughter Emma.
• What Kind of Day Has It Been - During the taping of the final scene, Jorja Fox's foot was run over by one of the limousines. She continued working on the scene until Aaron Sorkin was informed by the driver of the car that her foot had been run over. She was taken to the hospital and treated for a broken foot before returning to work. According to Sorkin, Fox apologized and said that it was her fault for missing her mark.
• Six Meetings Before Lunch - Aaron Sorkin found Allison Janney lip syncing to ^[?] Ronny Jordan's The Jackal in her trailer, and wrote it into the episode. Janey was initially doing it too well, and was told to make it more awkward.
• A Proportional Response - The acronym BDA is used without explanation - it stands for "bomb damage assessment".
• Pilot - The first time President Bartlett is on screen, he is walking with a cane due to his biking accident. The last time he is seen, he is walking with a cane again (due to his MS), acting as an interesting character and series bookend.
• Take This Sabbath Day - This was Karl Malden's final acting role before his death on July 1, 2009.
• 20 Hours in L.A. - During a party Donna walks away from Josh to "Go stalk Matthew Perry". Matthew Perry goes on to appear in episode 20 of season 4. He also appears in Aaron Sorkin's later TV show [Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip] with Bradley Whitford who plays Josh Lyman.
• Lord John Marbury - Erick Avari, who plays the Pakistani ambassador, is Indian, while Iqbal Theba, who plays the Indian ambassador, is actually from Pakistan.
• In Excelsis Deo - After reading through the script, the Pentagon was very touched by the handling of the story line dealing with the death of a homeless veteran of the Korean conflict. In fact, they were so impressed that they gave the show access to film at Arlington National Cemetery, (ANC is administered by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington). The Department of Defense then supplied the Marine Honor Guard and chaplain, and set up the whole funeral. During the funeral scene, all persons in uniform are members of the U.S. Armed Forces, performing their actual roles in a military funeral. Richard Schiff, (Toby Zeigler) has said that it was such a powerful and moving story, that after every take, he broke down and cried.
• Enemies - China is in fact known for its romantic songs despite Sam Seaborne's sarcastic comment on the matter.
• A Proportional Response - John Amos (Fitzwallace) guest starred as Dulé Hill's (Charlie's) Uncle Burton on his later TV show [Psych].
• The Crackpots and These Women - Aaron Sorkin got the idea for a story about the NSC card after ^[?] George Stephanopoulos showed him his card. Press Secretary ^[?] Dee Dee Myers assured Sorkin that the card didn't exist, unaware that only certain people were issued one.
• Five Votes Down - While President is high on his back pills, he tells his aide Charlie that "Charlie's a great name." Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet, named his youngest son "Carlos" but nicknamed him "Charlie", i.e. Charlie Sheen.
• The State Dinner - "Indonesian" is indeed a language, albeit an invented one. It starts with Malay as its grammatical base, then adds vocabulary items from the various other languages of the islands.
• Five Votes Down - The long Steadicam shot in the episode teaser took thirteen takes and five hours of filming to accomplish.
• The State Dinner - CJ is asked and has told the Press that the First Lady will be wearing a "Gabriel Sanchez freshwater pearl necklace with tourmaline beads" and "will be carrying a Christina Bomba silk pleated organdy drawstring evening bag". Abbey Bartlet, when seen is neither carrying an evening bag (and most-likely would not, there would be no need), and is never wearing a necklace.
• The Crackpots and These Women - Leo's "Big Block of Cheese" story is true. ^[?] Andrew Jackson received an enormous block of cheese from the people of New York City, and when he hadn't touched it in two years, gave it to the people of D.C. to celebrate Washington's birthday. They finished it in two hours. Several years after this show went off the air, President Barack Obama also added a real "Big Block of Cheese Day" to his administration's schedule. On January 24, 2014, the Obama White House announced that in the spirit of both ^[?] Andrew Jackson and the television program [The West Wing], they would host a real version of the show's "Big Block of Cheese Day," in which White House officials would be available to answer questions from ordinary Americans (albeit online instead of in person, as the "cheese day" meetings were on the show).