The West Wing: Season 5
Warner Bros. (2003)
TV Series  /  Drama
In Collection
#1434
0*
Seen ItYes
012569712768
IMDB   8.9
946 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1   NR (Not Rated)
Joshua Malina Will Bailey
Janel Moloney Donna Moss
Martin Sheen Jed Bartlet
Allison Janney C.J. Cregg
Richard Schiff Toby Ziegler
Bradley Whitford Josh Lyman
John Spencer Leo McGarry
Dulé Hill Charlie Young
Melissa Fitzgerald Carol Fitzpatrick
NiCole Robinson Margaret
Stockard Channing Abbey Bartlet
Jerry Buys Secret Service Agent
Lily Tomlin Deborah Fiderer
Gary Cole Vice President Bob Russell
Jesse Bradford Ryan Pierce
Mary-Louise Parker Amy Gardner
Anna Deavere Smith Nancy McNally
Timothy Davis-Reed Mark O'Donnell
Ron Canada Under Secretary of State Theodore Barrow
Anne Lockhart Congressional Aide
Director
Jessica Yu
Lesli Linka Glatter
Bill D'Elia
Llewellyn Wells
Producer Eli Attie
Kristin Harms
Alexa Junge
John Wells
Writer Aaron Sorkin
Eli Attie
Alexa Junge
John Wells
Cinematography Thomas Del Ruth
Musician W.G. Snuffy Walden

The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.
Episodes
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    9/24/2003  1.  7A WF 83429
As the search for Zoey continues, Walken takes a hard line against the kidnappers that could contribute to her death; Danny releases the Shareef story, and the revelation creates a rift that separates Jed from Abbey and Liz; tensions arise between Walken's staff and Bartlet's staff; the Democratic leadership in Congress assails Leo for allowing Jed to step aside; in retaliation for Shareef's death, a movie theater in Turkey is bombed, and eighty people, including American soldiers, are killed.
Director:  Alex Graves  Writer:  John Wells 
Guest starring:  Annabeth Gish, Steven Eckholdt,  John GoodmanZeljko IvanekGeoff PiersonCharlotte ColavinBennet Guillory, John Colella,  Hira Ambrosino, Richard F. Whiten
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    10/1/2003  2.  The Dogs of War
Bombs drop on Qumar upon Walken's orders; as the hours pass without any word on Zoey's whereabouts, tensions increase within the Bartlet family; Walken and Leo clash after Josh's suspicion that the opposition is using Walken's tenure in the Oval Office to advance their agenda is confirmed; Andy takes the twins home; Leo inflicts a new intern from a prominent political family on an unwilling Josh; Jed's staff is less than thrilled when they learn who will succeed Walken as Speaker of the House; the search for a new Vice President is accelerated; Zoey is rescued.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  Writer:  John Wells 
Guest starring:  John GoodmanAnnabeth Gish, Steven Eckholdt,  William DevaneZeljko Ivanek, Dan Manning, Rick Cramer, Shireen Kadivar, Esther K. Chae,  Said Taghmaoui, Paul Majors
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    10/8/2003  3.  Jefferson Lives
When he realizes that his first choice for Vice President faces an uphill fight for nomination, Jed nominates a congressman that none of the staff can get excited about; Josh is less than thrilled with his new intern.
Director:  Carol Flint  /  Alex Graves  / Debora Cahn  Writer:  Carol Flint 
Guest starring:  William DevaneH.M. Wynant, Robert Arce,  Geoff PiersonCharlotte ColavinJ. Patrick McCormackMargaret Bacon, Donald Sage MacKay, Marc Antonio Pritchett, Rebecca Avery,  Hugh Dane
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    10/22/2003  4.  Han
Josh fails to sway an unruly congressman who insists on voting against the administration on the vice presidential confirmation, but Ryan reaches out to get him to change his mind; Leo fears that the potential defection of a prominent North Korean pianist will jeopardize secret nuclear disarmament talks; Will and Toby are humiliated when an early draft of a speech outlining their struggle to laud Bob Russell's confirmation is erroneously substituted for the final version; Donna's aunt and uncle from Wisconsin pay a visit, testing Josh's ability to refrain from bad cheesehead jokes during their tour of the White House; the staff struggles over how to language the state of the economy; fearing that the administration is drifting off-course, Toby wants to hand over more responsibilities to Will in order to focus on getting back to their core message.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  / Peter Noah  / Mark Goffman  / Paula Yoo  Writer:  Peter Noah 
Guest starring:  Christopher Cousins, Tony Lee, Benjamin Brown,  Tom Yi, Byron Chung,  Ron Marasco, Nathan LeGrand,  Randy BrooksSean Smith, Mary Linda Phillips, Gil Glasgow
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    10/29/2003  5.  Constituency of One
Will Bailey receives an offer to become Vice President Russell's top aide. Amy Parker does some skillful lobbying for domestic violence prevention which gets the wrath of Bartlett. A conservative democratic senator switches parties.
Director:  Eli Attie  / Laura Innes  / Michael Oates Palmer  Writer:  Eli Attie 
Guest starring:  Eric Lemler, Teresa Huang,  Tom Skerritt, David O. Katz, Jamie Millhoff, Becky Meister, Matthew Lang, Karen Goberman
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    11/5/2003  6.  Disaster Relief
The fallout on the Hill from Carrick's switch to the Republican party exiles Josh deep into a White House doghouse, so C.J. gives Donna some tips on how she can support him; Jed gets a harsh reality check from C.J. when he lingers too long in a small Oklahoma town devastated by a deadly tornado; in Jed's absence, Leo juggles an impending war between Albania and Greece, a visit from the German chancellor, a tussle over tax cuts, and an over-reaching Secretary of Defense; Josh and Toby are less than thrilled when Leo brings Angela on board to assume some of Josh's responsibilities.
Director:  Lesli Linka Glatter  / Alexa Junge  / Lauren Schmidt  Writer:  Alexa Junge 
Guest starring:  Maree CheathamNick Searcy, Lauren Stamile,  Bryan CallenSteven Anderson, Susan Ziegler, Brooks Almy, Bill Smillie, Jim Moret, Zena Leigh, Rob Moran, Kurt Carley
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    11/12/2003  7.  Separation of Powers
As Chief Justice Ashland's health problems continue to mount, Joe Quincy, Ashland's former clerk, is pressed into service to persuade him to retire; as C.J. prepares Zoey for a sit-down interview about her kidnapping, Abbey reveals that her relationship with her husband is still strained; Jed refuses to be held hostage by the Republican in the budget negotiations.
Director:  Alex Graves  Writer:  Paul Redford 
Guest starring:  Milo O'Shea, Kathrin Lautner,  Matthew Perry, Amy Stewart, Steven Pierce,  Obi NdefoKristoffer Ryan Winters, Bobbie Norman
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    11/19/2003  8.  Shutdown
Jed's decision not to be held hostage by Haffley shuts down the federal government; unable to get through to Jed and fearing the worst, Leo calls in the reinforcements, and Abbey returns to Washington to deliver a message and provide her husband with a little perspective; after being benched from the staff meetings, Josh gets put back in the game by Jed and sets the stage for victory; disregarding the advice of more seasoned colleagues, Haffley makes a major misstep and loses his advantage over the White House; Jed and Haffley meet and reach an accord on the budget.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  Writer:  Mark Goffman 
Guest starring:  Steven Pierce, Paul Mendoza,  Andrew A. Rolfes, Linda Bisesti, Sarah Benoit, Tony Pasqualini, Brandon Barash, Billy Mayo, Michael Mack, Jane Beard, Michael P. Bryne, Joanne McGee, Katya Abelsky
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    12/3/2003  9.  Abu el Banat
The Bartet clan attempts to gather for a holiday dinner. Jed must deal with a hostage situation in Sudan, an assisted suicide in Oregon, his son-in-law's yearn to run for the House of Representatives, and his grandson's want to spend time with his grandpa. C.J. takes a stand on the assisted suicide because of her father's worsening condition.
Director:  Lesli Linka Glatter  Writer:  Debora Cahn 
Guest starring:  Annabeth Gish, Steven Eckholdt,  Dylan Baker, Mark Moses, Michael Krepack, Jonathan Brent, Charles Currie, Jerry Giles, Bruno Gioiello
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    1/7/2004  10.  The Stormy Present
President Bartlet attends the funeral of a former president with other former presidents Glenallen Walken and D. Wire Newman, while monitoring a possible situation in Saudi Arabia. Josh Lyman mediates an argument between a representative from Connecticut and one from North Carolina who wants her state's copy of the Bill of Rights returned. CJ is concerned about a scientist's invention which could interfere with privacy.
Director:  John Sacret Young  /  Alex Graves  / Josh Singer  Writer:  John Sacret Young 
Guest starring:  John GoodmanJames CromwellBellamy YoungDiana DouglasStephen Tobolowsky, Ryan Cutrona,  David Andriole, Maz Jobrani, Devon Michael, Don Fischer, Austin Priester, Mitch Gibney
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    1/14/2004  11.  The Benign Prerogative
In the days leading up to the State of the Union address, Toby gets crucial voter feedback when he accompanies Joey as she mall-tests the speech around the nation; Jed and the staff wrestle with the issues of presidential pardons and mandatory minimums; Charlie dates an attractive woman who's not what she seems; Joey Lucas derails Josh's plans when she arrives at the White House carrying a surprise; Jed and Abbey reach out to an old friend on the eve of his ex-wife's remarriage.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  Writer:  Carol Flint 
Guest starring:  Gabrielle Union, Margot Rose, Chris Gardner, Brooke Baumer, Charles C. Stevenson Jr., Anthony R. Jones, Breena Shepard,  Stephen Lee, Doug Hale, Mark Costello, Will Hall,  Charles Howerton
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    2/4/2004  12.  Slow News Day
Toby gets Jed's support to seize a controversial window of opportunity to save Social Security, but is hampered by Jed's mandate to keep the operation under wraps; desperate to feed the press corps beast on a glacially slow news day, C.J. meets with an attache to discuss cabbage imports, and has a little fun with a particularly dense reporter; Josh's brainstorm to help Will burnish Bob Russell's presentation problems and a persistent reporter endanger Toby's attempts to broker a deal on the Hill; Rina finds a friend in Donna, and Josh isn't too happy about it; Toby is saved from having to fall on his sword when Josh and Jed devise a plan to rescue his deal from certain disaster.
Director:  Julie Hébert  Writer:  Eli Attie 
Guest starring:  Joaquim de AlmeidaJosef SommerMichael Nouri, Scott Allan Campbell,  Kate Burton, John J. Dalesandro,  James Ingersoll
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    2/11/2004  13.  The Warfare of Genghis Khan
An unlikely party comes to the aid of the administration as it seeks to discover the party responsible for nuclear testing in the Indian Ocean; Will is unhappy, but his boss doesn't seem to mind, when a request to beef up the Vice President's issue profile results in Toby's handing him boring, low-level minutae; Josh dismisses a NASA proposal for a manned Mars mission until an agency staffer shows him the error of his ways; a conservative talk show host makes a pathetic attempt to bait C.J. into appearing on his show.
Director:  Bill D'Elia  Writer:  Peter Noah 
Guest starring:  Jay Mohr, Christina Chang, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ryan Cutrona,  Christopher MaherRandy Brooks, David Bickford, Ginger Justin
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    2/18/2004  14.  An Khe
When five navy E-2C Hawkeye crew members are stranded in North Korea, Bartlet orders a risky Navy Seal rescue attempt. C.J. agrees to one on one with a motormouth conservative talk show host
Director:  Alex Graves  Writer:  John Wells 
Guest starring:  Anna Kathryn Holbrook, Matt Huhn, Dev Johnson,  Roger Hampton, Mara Casey, Dat Phan,  Philip Baker Hall, Allan Kolman, Carlos Gomez, Tang Nguyen, Brian Catalano,  Brian Kerwin, Jay Mohr,  Jeffrey DeMunn
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    2/25/2004  15.  Full Disclosure
He's back, Former VP John Hoynes, who resigned in sex scandal, makes a bid for political resurrection by trashing Barlet and Leo in a tell-all book. But it's C.J. who's taking the news the hardest,
Director:  Lesli Linka Glatter  Writer:  Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. 
Guest starring:  Mandy Freund, Frank Ashmore, Kenneth Kimmins,  Michael MantellRon DeanJames Pickens Jr., Jay Mohr,  Roger Hampton
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    3/3/2004  16.  Eppur Si Muove
When a conservative Republican Congresswoman targets Ellie's research project in an effort to discredit Jed, Toby discovers that the source of the leak is uncomfortably close to home, and Will realizes that they've all greatly underestimated his boss; Josh investigates the wisdom of a recess appointment as he tries to convince an old friend to be patient with the Sixth Circuit judicial nomination process and keep his hat in the ring; C.J. completely misreads Ben's intentions; Donna tracks down an AWOL Ryan; an opening is created on the Supreme Court; in an effort to redefine Abbey's image with the press, C.J. sets her up to do a public service announcement with the Muppets, which inspires Ellie to stand up before the press in defense of scientific research unhampered by politics.
Director:  Llewellyn Wells  Writer:  Alexa Junge 
Guest starring:  Carmen Osbahr, Carroll Spinney,  Kevin ClashJoey Mazzarino, Paul McGinnis, Fran Brill,  Brian KerwinMichael GastonCherry Jones, Penny Griego, Alice Dinnean, Deirdre Lovejoy, John Lafayette, Anthony Giangrande, Doug Tompos
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    3/24/2004  17.  The Supremes
Jed and the staff vet potential Supreme Court appointees; Toby and Andy don't see eye-to-eye on her fact-finding trip to the Middle East; Donna's parents are the unlikely inspiration for the resolution to the problems arising from the judicial confirmation process.
Director:  Jessica Yu  Writer:  Debora Cahn 
Guest starring:  Robert PicardoGlenn CloseWilliam Fichtner, Deirdre Lovejoy,  Milo O'Shea, Mitchell Ryan, Saida Pagan
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    3/31/2004  18.  Access
A documentary camera crew follows C.J. around for a not-so-typical day in the White House.
Director:  Alex Graves  Writer:  Lauren Schmidt 
Guest starring:  Joe Vassallo,  Albie SelznickWilson Cruz, Michael Gallagher, Michael Kagan,  Will Lyman, Harper Roisman, Brian Poth, Paul Jenkins,  James Ingersoll, Lee Oliver Boyd, Alan Toy, David Castellani, Kellynn Jones, Rebecca Avery,  Hira Ambrosino, Kenneth Schmidt,  Kevin Symons, Sh
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    4/21/2004  19.  Talking Points
Hail the conquering hero. Josh returns after nailing down details for a trade agreement. But the devil in the detail, including information kept from Josh. C.J. fights megamedia ownership of local TV.
Director:  Richard Schiff  Writer:  Eli Attie 
Guest starring:  Mary McCormackBrian KerwinDaniel Hugh KellyWayne Duvall, Wendy Schenker, Jim Gleason, Saida Pagan, Penny Griego
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    4/28/2004  20.  No Exit
An airborne contamination alert locks down the West Wing, forcing staffers to stay put until the all-clear is sounded; Toby and Will face off over Will's working for the vice president; C.J. tells Donna some things she's rather not hear about Josh and her career prospects; Leo confronts Abbey about the dangers of her recent coping mechanisms; Jed, Debbie, and Charlie are poked, prodded, and sent to the decontamination showers; Kate is initially reluctant to give Josh any information on a personal or professional level as they sit out the alert together.
Director:  Carol Flint  / Julie Hébert  / Mark Goffman  Writer:  Carol Flint  / Debora Cahn 
Guest starring:  Melette Le Blanc-Cabot,  Mary McCormackWilson Cruz, Brent Huff,  Reed DiamondJamison Yang, Tracey Costello,  Beau Billingslea
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    5/12/2004  21.  Gaza
Donna Moss, Percy Fitzwallace, Andrea Wyatt and a couple of congressmen are in the Middle East on a fact finding mission when their cars are blown up. President Bartlet considers possible military targets to bomb in retaliation. In flashbacks, we see Donna becoming attracted to British photojournalist Colin Ayres.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  Writer:  Peter Noah 
Guest starring:  Mary McCormackJason Isaacs, Zach Cohen, Ryan Cutrona, Novella Nelson, Tim Lounibos, Keith Sellon-Wright, Traber Burns, Elena K. Smith, David Koff, Anthony Batarse,  Sayed Badreya, Ghassan Mashini, Sam Aylia Sako, Ken Weller, Remo J. Braydi, Zina Zaflow, Kamel Haddad, And
    Seen it: Yes   60 mins    5/19/2004  22.  Memorial Day
Jed weighs his options for responding to the bombing as Israeli and Palestinian forces face off against each other; Josh has an interesting reaction when Colin arrives at the hospital to visit Donna; Kate and Leo clash over the advice she's giving Jed; Josh assumes a diplomatic role when the Palestinians approach him to initiate settlement discussions; Toby and Charlie prepare a reluctant Jed for throwing out the first ball at Camden Yards; Donna's life is threatened when she develops a pulmonary embolism; Jed reflects on the days prior to his first inauguration.
Director:  Christopher Misiano  Writer:  John Sacret Young  / Josh Singer 
Guest starring:  Mary McCormackJason Isaacs, Natalija Nogulich,  Gerald McRaneySonya Leslie, Di Koob,  Hira Ambrosino, John Colella, Doug Hale,  Endre Hules, Jake Mailey,  John Hartmann, Dave McGowan,  Navid Negahban, Tim Lounibos, Marcelo Tubert, Makram Khoury
Edition Details
Edition Special Edition
Series The West Wing
Distributor Warner Home Video
Release Date 12/6/2005
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3, Letterboxed)
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Subtitles English; French; Spanish
Audio Tracks Dolby Surround [English]
Dolby Digital Surround [English]
Layers Single Side, Dual Layer
No. of Discs/Tapes 6

Features
Disc 01 2 Documentaries: - In Potus We Trust: Presidential Profile of Josiah Bartlet and his portrayer Martin Sheen - Gaza: Anatomy of an Episode Commentary on 3 Key Episodes Unaired Scenes on 3 Episodes