West Wing dream
I had a West Wing dream last night. I chalk it up to being somewhat excited about the debate tonight, just watching the previous debate and having an inexplicable fondness for The West Wing tv show.
My episode only went as far as the credit sequence and had all the crazy inaccuracies of a dream. I wrote it out as quick as I could this morning…apologies to Aaron Sorkin. To help get you in the mood, here’s the West Wing Suite. Enjoy.
THE WEST WING
"I heard the blues"
TEASER
FADE IN:
INT. PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE - MORNING
A big, sloppy mess sits on the floor in front of the entrance to
the oval office. Instead of the threadbare carpet normally
present there is marble tile under what looks like a cherry
Slurpee.
Saturday morning. Light staff day. DEBORAH FIDERER, President's
secretary, is wearing a sweatshirt and tugs on her ever-present
lollipop.
Voices from around the corner appear as DONNA MOSS and CHARLIE
YOUNG. Charlie carries a dime-store sponge mop.
DONNA
I'm sorry. You know I'm not
capable of doing something even
slightly mean.
CHARLIE
I'm only disappointed that all we
had was this mop with a pitiful
sponge at the end.
DEBORAH
Is she still trying to apologize?
DONNA
The swinging of my arm couldn't
have been anything but an
accident.
CHARLIE pushes a sponge mop across the tile. He's amassing a
rift of what looks like a flow of cool-aid while picking up hair
and other debris --but mostly just lots of hair.
CHARLIE
I'm a rag mop man, myself.
DONNA
My point is that I didn't want
you to think I did it on purpose.
DEBORAH
You kids behave while I run these
documents down to the, well,
choose your favorite acronym.
FIDERER leaves the room.
CHARLIE
Since when have we lost sight of
what's really important around
here?
A PHONE on FIDERER'S desk rings.
DONNA
You mean the civility of man to
not act on aggression?
CHARLIE
I want to know when we've stopped
buying mops and started
purchasing these awful sponges on
a stick.
J. CURTIS, who has not appeared anywhere in this scene before,
magically appears only to watch the mopping and to answer the
PHONE.
J.
(answering)
Oval Office of the President.
A raspy female voice on the other end of the line --very old and
feeble. In the background is music being played and the sounds
of a bar.
VOICE
Mr. President, my husband needs
you. He's...(cough)
J.
(stammering)
I'm, I, uh...this isn't the
President.
VOICE
Today is his birthday. He's 93
and plays the guitar.
J. realizes he has picked up the wrong phone call. The music in
the background is getting louder.
J.
(to Charlie and Donna)
Who calls this number?
J's face is sheer panic.
CHARLIE
All the calls route through the
White House switchboard.
Donna looks at the phone, at the line now active.
DONNA
That number, that line, is only
given to members of Congress.
J.
(to Donna)
I think we're going to need some
help.
VOICE
He's going to keep playing until
he dies.
The music is reaching a fever pitch in the background. Someone
is really wailing on the guitar.
J.
Get me everybody.
SMASH CUT TO:
MAIN TITLES.
END OF TEASER
(addendum: And, if you’re interested in reading something Aaron Sorkin *did* write about this election year, check out this NYT article.)