Rating: 
Summary: disappointing once over lightly.
Review: As a WW fan I waited expectantly for what I had thought was a more in depth retelling of my favourite episodes. Instead this rather glossy overdone manuscript runs through the synopsis of each episode with the same brevity which can be found on any West Wing website, and there are a few. The insider narrations of each of the main characters and the actors who portray them are interesting enough but not good enough reason to buy what is in the end only a fan magazine for die hard addicts. Adam Sorkin you can do better than this...
Rating: 
Summary: This time they got it right.
Review: Buy this book.Buy two copies of this book, come to think of it; you'll want to cannibalize one just for the photographs. This time they got it right. This is as flawless a book as Challen's monstrosity was dismal. Buy one for your friends. Buy one for every Wingnut you know. Buy one for people who never heard of the show, it'll hook 'em. The introduction (by Martin Sheen) is a superb lead-in and almost worth the price of admission in itself.
"The West Wing" is basically an episode guide to the first two seasons of the best show on television. It is a visual delight; glossy paper and a practically limitless supply of amazingly gorgeous photographs. Each episode is summarized -- *not* reviewed, but summarized -- with snippets of dialogue thrown in, and bits of interview with everyone from the Executive Producers to the Director of Photography to the recurring bit players to the costumer. Occasionally a synopsis of a scene that never made it into the final edit is supplied, and some of those are very surprising. The other major piece of this book are features on each of the lead actors for the second season (Lowe, Hill, Janney, Moloney, Schiff, Spencer, Whitford, and Sheen) and their characters, with just enough new information to tantalize. If we'd had this book last month I know a hundred thousand Christmases would have been happier.
Rating:
Summary: A must for Wing Nuts!
Review: Gives a fine overview of the first two seasons of one of the best television programs ever, along with cast bios, photos, and comments. A reminder of favorite episodes or an update of ones missed.
Rating:
Summary: A must for Wing Nuts!
Review: Gives a fine overview of the first two seasons of one of the best television programs ever, along with cast bios, photos, and comments. A reminder of favorite episodes or an update of ones missed.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I can not recommend enough that fans get a copy of this book! After reading 'Inside the West Wing', I was a little skeptical about getting this book. I didn't want to get another book that said the same thing.
BUT OH, MY. This is such a great book! :) Absolutely filled to the brim with beautiful color pictures, interviews( original, not rehashed clips from previous interviews) with cast and crew, cast/character bios (great!), alternate/cut scenes, episode summaries (not half page summaries either. three or more pages that walk you through the episode and are fill up with quotes. Also, you can tell the person who wrote these summaries actually WATCHED the episodes!), a tour of the White House with GREAT pictures, and little facts not even the most die-hard fan knows! There is so much in here! An alternate scene with POTUS and Donna that'll make you smile; a great quote from Emily Proctor that will make the Sam/Ainsley shippers out there cheer; banter between Richard and Allison that'll make you laugh out loud; John Spencer's take on his relationship with Margaret, and a million and one other things that'll you'll just have to see for yourself! Get this book. I consider it a must have for any Wingnut!
Rating:
Summary: The best Valentine's Day present ever
Review: I couldn't put this book down after receiving it yesterday and ended up staying awake half the night. The quality of the hardcover edition is similar to the best coffee table books and the photos are to die for. The episode guides were written by a true fan (thank you, thank you, thank you) and have just the right amount of detail for pleasurable memory jogging -- each runs several pages. My favorite parts, though, were the many, many sideboxes with quotes from each actor and key people involved behind the scenes. This book covers the first two seasons and I can't wait until these authors write their next book(s) covering future seasons. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: I am so hoping for a sequel to this book!
Review: I have seen the "West Wing" books that feature scripts from selected episodes. But this book includes every episode from the first two seasons, told in story form. Plus chapters on each of the actors and their characters, the background on the making of the show -- if you're a fan, this is a "must have". I just hope that there will be, at some point, additional volumes to cover the third, fourth and fifth seasons -- and so on.
Rating:
Summary: I am so hoping for a sequel to this book!
Review: I have seen the "West Wing" books that feature scripts from selected episodes. But this book includes every episode from the first two seasons, told in story form. Plus chapters on each of the actors and their characters, the background on the making of the show -- if you're a fan, this is a "must have". I just hope that there will be, at some point, additional volumes to cover the third, fourth and fifth seasons -- and so on.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting way of covering the show's first two seasons
Review: I know that there is a collection of scripts from the first two season of "The West Wing," including the the Emmy Award-winning episode "In Excelsis Deo," but that only offers up a half dozen scripts. This volume is "The Official Companion" to the television series created by Aaron Sorkin and covers the first two seasons of the series in a rather interesting way. Each episode is given, on average, six pages, in which the episode is described in narrative format with choices quotations and exchanges of dialogue included. I have to admit I like this approach, because it saves fans of the show from going through dozens of pages of scripts to find their favorites lines (e.g., Sam's "This is bad on so many levels" from the Pilot episode).
These 44 episode summaries are enhanced in various ways throughout this volume. There are comments from Sorkin, the cast, and even a few real former West Wing staffers highlighted in the margins, usually talking specifically about the scene they appear next to on the page. You will also find references to alternate scenes that students of the show will find fascinating. There are even footnotes: Barlet might spare his senior staff list listing all fourteen of the punctuation marks in standard English grammar, but here they get named (along with the point that Toby only knew the last seven in the list). In between episodes at various points in the volume you will find profiles of the eight principle actors and insights into the show's creation and a photo tour of the West Wing. Consequently, "The West Wing" provides both a walk down memory lane and insights into the stories, characters, and actors. "The West Wing" is a show where having all the scripts available in print might be a good thing, but it is not likely to happen. It took six volumes to put into print all of the scripts from the first two seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and that was with 10 less episodes than on "The West Wing." The series will probably end up in syndication on cable channels for eternity so we might never get it released on DVD either. A series of volumes covering all of the episodes in this manner, printed in two season increments, would be an acceptable substitute.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting way of covering the show's first two seasons
Review: I know that there is a collection of scripts from the first two season of "The West Wing," including the the Emmy Award-winning episode "In Excelsis Deo," but that only offers up a half dozen scripts. This volume is "The Official Companion" to the television series created by Aaron Sorkin and covers the first two seasons of the series in a rather interesting way. Each episode is given, on average, six pages, in which the episode is described in narrative format with choices quotations and exchanges of dialogue included. I have to admit I like this approach, because it saves fans of the show from going through dozens of pages of scripts to find their favorites lines (e.g., Sam's "This is bad on so many levels" from the Pilot episode).
These 44 episode summaries are enhanced in various ways throughout this volume. There are comments from Sorkin, the cast, and even a few real former West Wing staffers highlighted in the margins, usually talking specifically about the scene they appear next to on the page. You will also find references to alternate scenes that students of the show will find fascinating. There are even footnotes: Barlet might spare his senior staff list listing all fourteen of the punctuation marks in standard English grammar, but here they get named (along with the point that Toby only knew the last seven in the list). In between episodes at various points in the volume you will find profiles of the eight principle actors and insights into the show's creation and a photo tour of the West Wing. Consequently, "The West Wing" provides both a walk down memory lane and insights into the stories, characters, and actors. "The West Wing" is a show where having all the scripts available in print might be a good thing, but it is not likely to happen. It took six volumes to put into print all of the scripts from the first two seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and that was with 10 less episodes than on "The West Wing." The series will probably end up in syndication on cable channels for eternity so we might never get it released on DVD either. A series of volumes covering all of the episodes in this manner, printed in two season increments, would be an acceptable substitute.
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