Pilot (The West Wing)

"Pilot"
	The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 1
Directed by	Thomas Schlamme
Written by	Aaron Sorkin
Production code	475151
Original air date	September 22, 1999
Guest appearance(s)
	Annie Corley as Mary Marsh; Lisa Edelstein as Laurie; Suzy Nakamura as Cathy; Allison Smith as Mallory O'Brien; Marc Grapey as Billy; Janel Moloney as Donna Moss; F. William Parker as Rev. Al Caldwell;

"Pilot" is the first episode of the American serial drama The West Wing.

Plot

The White House staff is being called into work early to deal with the press fallout after President Josiah Bartlet has crashed his bicycle into a tree. As the staff try to perform damage control, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman makes a gaffe when, after provocation by Christian activist Mary Marsh on a televised debate, quips "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Also, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn spends an evening with Laurie (Lisa Edelstein), unaware that she's a call girl, and then tells Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, about it before he knows whose daughter she is.

While Lyman and Marsh are discussing a proposed public debate on one of several religious wedge issues, President Bartlet enters and corrects one of the attendees on a theological point. He explains that he crashed his bicycle while distracted by anger after discovering that his granddaughter, after expressing herself as pro-choice during a magazine interview, was mailed a Raggedy Ann doll with a knife stuck in its throat. The doll was sent by an extremist group whose activities the attendees, to his displeasure, have not denounced. He tells them that not only will there be no debate, but that they'll denounce the extremists publicly, and are barred from the White House until they do so. Bartlet implies to Lyman that he will be allowed to keep his job despite the gaffe.

Reactions

L. Brent Bozell III wrote that he felt the episode promoted anti-Catholicism.[1]

Awards

The pilot was nominated for an ASC award.[2]

Emmy Awards

Won

Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series (recipients: Tony Fanning, Jon Hutman, and Ellen Totleben)
Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (recipient: Thomas Del Ruth, A.S.C.)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (recipient: Thomas Schlamme)

Nominated

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (nominee: Aaron Sorkin; "In Excelsis Deo," in the same category, won)

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References

Bozell, L. Brent III (1999-10-06). "Again, Faith Flogged in Prime Time". Media Research Center. Archived from the original on 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2007-09-08. (episode cited: "Pilot")
ASC awards

External links

The West Wing Episode Guide

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[1] Bozell, L. Brent III (1999-10-06). "Again, Faith Flogged in Prime Time". Media Research Center. Archived from the original on 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2007-09-08. (episode cited: "Pilot")

[2] ASC awards

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
1959–1975	Jack Smight for "Eddie" (1959) Robert Mulligan for The Moon and Sixpence (1960) George Schaefer for Macbeth (1961) Franklin J. Schaffner (1962) Stuart Rosenberg for "The Madman" (1963) Tom Gries for "Who Do You Kill?" (1964) Paul Bogart for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965) Sydney Pollack for "The Game" (1966) Alex Segal for Death of a Salesman (1967) Paul Bogart for "Dear Friends" (1968) David Greene for "The People Next Door" (1969) Paul Bogart for "Shadow Game" (1970) Daryl Duke for "The Day the Lion Died" / Fielder Cook for "The Price" (1971) Alexander Singer for "The Invasion of Kevin Ireland" (1972) Jerry Thorpe for "An Eye for an Eye" / Joseph Sargent for "The Marcus-Nelson Murders" (1973) John Korty for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman / Robert Butler for "Part III" (1974) Bill Bain for "A Sudden Storm" (1975)
1976–2000	David Greene for Episode 8 (Rich Man, Poor Man) (1976) David Greene for Roots ("Part 1") (1977) Marvin J. Chomsky for Holocaust (1978) Jackie Cooper for "Pilot" (The White Shadow) (1979) Roger Young for "Cop" (1980) Robert Butler for "Hill Street Station"(1981) Harry Harris for "To Soar and Never Falter" (1982) Jeff Bleckner for "Life in the Minors" (1983) Corey Allen for "Goodbye, Mr. Scripps" (1984) Karen Arthur for "Heat" (1985) Georg Stanford Brown for "Parting Shots" (1986) Gregory Hoblit for "Pilot" (L.A. Law) (1987) Mark Tinker for "Weigh In, Way Out" (1988) Robert Altman for "The Boiler Room" (1989) Thomas Carter for "Promises to Keep" / Scott Winant for "The Go-Between" (1990) Thomas Carter for "In Confidence" (1991) Eric Laneuville for "All God's Children" (1992) Barry Levinson for "Gone for Goode" (1993) Daniel Sackheim for "Tempest in a C-Cup" (1994) Mimi Leder for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995) Jeremy Kagan for "Leave of Absence" (1996) Mark Tinker for "Where's 'Swaldo?" (1997) Mark Tinker for "Pilot" (Brooklyn South) / Paris Barclay for "Brain Salad Surgery" (1998) Paris Barclay for "Hearts and Souls" (1999) Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot" (The West Wing) (2000)
2001–present	Thomas Schlamme for "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part I" & "Part II" (2001) Alan Ball for "Pilot" (Six Feet Under) (2002) Christopher Misiano for "Twenty Five" (2003) Walter Hill for "Deadwood" (2004) J. J. Abrams for "Pilot" (Lost) (2005) Jon Cassar for "Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m." (2006) Alan Taylor for "Kennedy and Heidi" (2007) Greg Yaitanes for "House's Head" (2008) Rod Holcomb for "And in the End..." (2009) Steve Shill for "The Getaway" (2010) Martin Scorsese for "Boardwalk Empire" (2011) Tim Van Patten for "To the Lost" (2012) David Fincher for "Chapter 1" (2013) Cary Joji Fukunaga for "Who Goes There" (2014) David Nutter for "Mother's Mercy" (2015) Miguel Sapochnik for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016) Reed Morano for "Offred" (2017) Stephen Daldry for "Paterfamilias" (2018) Jason Bateman for "Reparations" (2019)