Don't Ever Forget That You're A Citizen

Television From Its Inception Had The Number One Goal To Alienate As Few People As Possible. That's Why If You Look At 1950s, 1960s American Sitcoms, The Characters Don't Live Any Place In Particular, Religion Is Never Discussed, Politics Is Never Discussed, You Never Really Know What Anyone's Job Is; Nothing That Could Make These People Seem Different From You Is Ever Discussed.

Elite Is Not A Bad Word, It's An Aspirational One.

Pretty Much Up Until The West Wing, Our Leaders Had Always Been Portrayed In Popular Culture As Either Machiavellian Or Dolts. But I Thought, "what If We Show A Group Of People Who Are Highly Competent, They're Going To Lose As Much As They Win, But We're Going To Understand That They Wake Up Every Morning Wanting To Do Good?" That Was Really The Spirit Behind The West Wing.

I'd Been Concerned All Along That The Character Of The President In The West Wing Pilot Would Throw The Ensemble Out Of Whack, That That Character Would Simply Take Up All The Oxygen In A Room. I Wanted To Hold Off Bringing This Character In Until The Last Possible Moment.

Good Writers Borrow From Other Writers. Great Writers Steal From Them Outright.