At a Glance

This acclaimed series provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the Oval Office. Featuring 3 episodes. Please click on the title for more details.

Detailed Information

It is well documented that the storylines in The West Wing mimic real life situations with amazingly accurate attention to detail and Season 3 is no exception. The White House staff cope with the threat of terrorist attacks, a church shooting, an American spy submarine losing contact in hostile North Korean waters and the proposal of a new poverty income index that will reclassify millions of Americans as poor. CJ receives a death threat and is assigned a Secret Service agent that she feels more than just professional respect for. And a variety of clangers are made with the press that have to be managed.

Underscoring all of this is the investigation into Bartlet's non-disclosure of his illness, and the campaign battle for re-election, reflecting the currect situation with President Bush in the US. On a lighter note Bartlet tries to work out how to cook a gourmet turkey at Thanksgiving, Sam is interviewed for Vanity Fair, Donna is offered a lucrative job outside the White House and Josh is embarrassed by a fan based website devoted to him.

Featuring the following episodes -

THE WOMEN OF QUMAR
U.N. TREATY BANNING PROSTITUTION INCITES SHARP DEBATE; MAD COW DISEASE POSES UGLY THREAT -- At the First Lady's (Stockard Channing) urging, Josh (Bradley Whitford) meets with a powerful women's caucus over the proposed language of a U.N. treaty banning prostitution while the President (Martin Sheen) grapples with the possibility of a Mad Cow epidemic and ponders how much the public should know. Meanwhile, staffers are stunned at C.J.'s (Allison Janney) emotional outburst concerning the administration's renewal of its air base lease in a Mideast country that abuses its women. Some World War II veterans come to the White House to protest a pending Pearl Harbor exhibit at the Smithsonian and Bartlet is sued by an angry woman who intends to raise a public fuss over his remarks regarding the hot-potato issue of a national seat belt law. John Spencer, Rob Lowe, Richard Schiff, Dule Hill and Janel Moloney also star.

BARTLET FOR AMERICA
DESPITE CHRISTMAS SEASON, PRESIDENTIAL INVESTIGATION GRINDS ON AS BARTLET RECALLS FATEFUL DECISION -- While the White House is festooned with Christmas finery, Leo (John Spencer) fears the worst when he testifies in the Congressional investigation into the President's (Martin Sheen) possible lack of public disclosure about his illness while flashbacks reveal the background leading to Bartlet's decision as governor to not come forward with the damaging information. In addition, the President personally investigates a series of church firebombings in the South after a two-year probe proves fruitless and threatens using troops to protect parishioners the next day on Christmas Eve. Rob Lowe, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Dule Hill, Janel Moloney and Stockard Channing also star.

H.CON - 172
LEO ROARS 'NO DEAL' WHEN HOUSE COMMITTEE OFFERS CENSURE OF BARTLET; MARY LOUISE PARKER ("BOYS ON THE SIDE") GUEST-STARS -- A defiant Leo (John Spencer) rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a presidential public censure that would finally end its investigation of Bartlet's (Martin Sheen) concealment of his illness -- and spare Leo of any possible personal repercussions -- while the staff reacts to an insider's tell-all book published by a fired White House photographer. Meanwhile, a tongue-tied Josh (Bradley Whitford) hatches a shameless scheme to meet socially with an attractive women's rights leader (guest star Mary Louise Parker, "Boys on the Side"), and Bartlet wants to frame Charlie's (Dule Hill) gift of a 1709 map of Palestine -- one that excluded Israel at the time -- but his staff warns him of its political implications. Rob Lowe, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Dule Hill and Janel Moloney also star.