Very Unique and Extremely Historic | The West Wing

“I can't believe they gave you people driver's licenses.”
Season 2 Episode 9: Galileo
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[@davidker8820]

“We’re both writers.” “Yes, I suppose, if we broaden the definition to ‘those who can spell.’” This is definitely a conversation Aaron Sorkin had at some point in his life.

[@JK-0playa]

It is super arrogant, but I'm into it. Some people have the elite writing talent... I don't and I'm envious.

[@Dan210871]

I'd say he has a similar conversation once a week or so.

[@RogueShadows]

_“He thinks he’s so smart just because he’s so smart.”_

[@PaperbackWizard]

That's as close as the staff gets to talking smack about the president behind his back.

[@Lepidopray]

I like that Sam writes that on the fly. Freak.

[@Memog78]

And there wasn't even a limousine ride to time him

[@AlanHMartin]

It was lame starting with the first sentence. We haven't said "blasted off" since the Mercury program.

[@Vesperitis]

That cold open influenced a lot of my own writing style. Tell a story, step by step, juxtapose the past with the present, speak directly to the audience, connect everyone, young and old, students and experts, together to the occasion, and build towards a glorious climax in simple language. Also avoid redundancy and repetition.

[@hexistenz]

Yes! Tell a story, that’s such a basic, and therefore sometimes neglected, piece of advice.

[@larrysmith2638]

Oh, you were so close.

[@GenericKen000]

Also, avoid redundancy and repetition.

[@joekerr3638]

Did nobody tell you to avoid redundancy and repetition?

[@dellavie4319]

Repetition depends on the situation. When used correctly, it can be incredibly effective.

[@PaperbackWizard]

As a writer, I love the little scenes where the speechwriters show off. Also, as a writer, I have "strong" objections to the use of the word "strongly".

[@ProdCritic]

Strongly when used as an adverb is perfectly fine. It also has the added benefit of demonstrating its own futility in this context by the fact that strongly is repeated, ergo CJ also realizes this is just a formality

[@LoudestHoward]

I think of this scene each time I see someone say or write "very unique" - happens surprisingly often.

[@hexistenz]

I know 😅 Every time, for over 20 years now 😅

[@philledwith8307]

There's more than a few people who've watched the show and feel like that, so I deliberately head them off at the pass now when I want to emphasize that something is "not only one of a kind, but so extremely one of a kind, so unlike anything else in its field, that it stands apart like some freakish event". Language is a strange and magnificent beast. Pleonasm can be a useful rhetorical device.

[@Bariom_dome]

This scene taught me not to exaggerate with certain words because they are redundant

[@IsabellaFung]

One of my all time pet peeves..along with "amount of people"..

[@shiftfocus1]

Glad I’m not the only one. Along with the favourite redundancy of police everywhere: “rate of speed.”

[@KarlRoyale]

I love how the president baits CJ into saying he is wrong so he can "show off" by having converted it in his head, this after insisting he does not show off...

[@SunmanXII]

The early Sorkin seasons of this show were just *chefs kiss*.

[@casey6556]

The cut to the colour monitors for “we’re also broadcasting in living colour” was perfect

[@davidweihe6052]

Only if the program was going out on NBC, which used “In Living Color” as a trademark.

[@casey6556]

@@davidweihe6052 I mean The West Wing was an NBC show

[@murrethmedia]

Every time I hear someone say some variation of "very unique" now I cringe because of this scene. Thanks a lot Aaron.

[@PluralArch]

"No, it's great. You mind if I change it?"

[@Carlalvaro]

Watched em all so far, waiting for 20 hours in America, Two cathedrals, the Supremes, Noel and quite a few more.... keep em coming.

[@michaelforrest307]

Just a heads up which you may already know. Sorkin wrote the first 4 seasons. After that the episodes were written by a team of writers. So if the episodes in seasons 5, 6, and 7 don’t quite seem the same, now you know why.

[@MaulMachine]

I love how grouchy president Bartlett is in this episode. He's talking about how hearing the phrase Galileo 5 made him think about how his generation felt about yellow submarine, but later in the episode he says that all music after 1860 sucks.

[@johncooper9746]

Its so incredibly beautifully written

[@Mediaright]

One of my favorite cold opens.

[@noneofyourbz4007]

the crew of Capicorn1 are grateful for this scientific achievement. 2 of them would ultimately give their lives for the program.

[@cwildeman]

Hahaha I just watched this episode yesterday. Great one.

[@craigwiester9177]

"very unique". That's from the Department of Redundancy Department.

[@blandedgear9704]

I'm pretty sure Phobos and Deimos are his sons, not the horses that pulled his chariot.

[@jcs1025]

Yep, you’re right.

[@larrysmith2638]

Yeah, Sorkin and his team made some real flubs at times.

[@keithduvall812]

They were in Greek mythology but in Roman mythology they were the horses that pulled Mars chariot.

[@jcs1025]

@@keithduvall812 Ahhh…thanks for clarifying.

[@odisseusrh]

And that's the interesting part Mars is the Roman name and Phobos & Diemos are the Greek name

[@billygarcia9885]

C’mon Aaron, reboot West Wing with Sam as president…you know you want to…

[@Dan210871]

He's too busy being a firefighter in Texas these days, unfortunately. Is that subpar spinoff of a "meh" show still airing? I don't care enough to check.

[@CaesarSalad19]

CSUN MENTIONED 🥳🥳🥳

[@michaelmuldowney8]

Even now - when I hear someone use the term “very unique” I immediately have to bite my tongue.

[@peterbyrne7348]

It should be "you, I and" all the others "are going to..." I is used in the subject. I know it's nitpicking but Sorkin just nitpicked for 40 seconds.

[@warriormvp]

so right

[@GBTCO2b]

He said it right . . . .

[@NathanDG82]

All branches of government go through this soul crushing cycle…just so some seat warmer can get their next promotion…

[@jmeander]

This is all well and fine and glorious, but I do think spaceships are a teensy bit heavier than 1200 lbs.

[@flyboy152]

He’s talking about the probe that actually landed, not the entire rocket that got it there.

[@pympton]

Can you do the scene where CJ finds out about the young girls who died in a school fire please?

[@Mackinstyle]

I feel a bit hesitant by how much I enjoy this little story arc, because when I step back and analyze it, they've just written up an incompetent employee to intellectually bully. I mean yeah, that replacement speech is gorgeous, but this is a fiction and they constructed someone to fuck up their job and be shamed over it. I hope I wouldn't handle the same situation the way Sam did.

[@Rubingah]

I disagree - he's not an incompetent employee, he just hadn't been told where his role ends, and has been led astray by his superiors on how the approval process works. He works for NASA PR, not White House communications. His job is usually to convey information, not tell a story. How often is a NASA PR person tasked with writing for the president? That's not what he spends 99.9% of his time doing - he might be perfectly good at his job, we just see him in this instance having been assigned something that isn't his job by a department that doesn't realize where its authority ends. To me, the most unbelievable thing about this sequence is that the president even sees the NASA draft. I have to imagine that it would've been run thru WH comms people before it reached a prompter.

[@Mackinstyle]

@@Rubingah Yeah I can very much see it your way too.

[@Ashcat724]

"the two horses that pulled his chariot". Wrong, Toby. they were his kids.

[@keithduvall812]

According to Roman myth, Mars rode on a chariot pulled by two horses named Phobos and Deimos (meaning fear and panic). The two small moons of Mars are named after these two mythical horses.

[@abc13570]

I converted to Celsius in my head --- CJ humbly giving up --- Thank you !

[@kanderson-oo7us]

You, me and... is incorrect. "You and I and...". You'd never say " Me going to see..."

[@pendragonfan42]

"See what it sees" is grammatically and narratively correct, but it just irks me anyways.

[@thomasdonato6601]

Ah I can do it: first ! 🙂

[@Jamessir_Bensonmum]

They all give Scott a hard time about his speech and then while “improving” it, Sam uses the wrong pronoun.

[@robertyates9500]

And you're literally the only person that noticed that. Lol

[@warriormvp]

Hahaha the "me" is wrong. F'ing smarmy show.

[@KellySedinger]

Honestly, I know everyone seems to love this scene, but this one left a bad taste in my mouth the first time I saw it and I've never thought well of it since. This poor guy is probably having what he hopes is the moment of his life, having written something for the President, and then he's made subject to a big pile-on in which Bartlet, Sam, and CJ all seem like giant jerks, and that's AFTER CJ says "Nobody likes a know-it-all." For me this isn't great writing by Sorkin at all.

[@Mediaright]

Oh, it's great writing. You just don't like how the characters come off afterwards. That has nothing to do with how good or not the writing is.

[@KellySedinger]

@@Mediaright I have no idea what you think "great writing" is, but if characters who aren't supposed to be assholes suddenly seem like assholes, it's not "great writing". Writing isn't just putting words together in a kinda-sorta pleasing way. This scene is written terribly. Sorry if that bothers you.

[@jlems56]

I understand your point. And honestly I've never looked at it that way. That being said, I loved it. I don't like that the guy was piled on, but if you're going to write for the president of the United States and this is your shot... And the president has an IQ of 7,000... He was kind of asking for it.

[@DeborahFishburn]

Tell me you have never been the only woman in a room full of entitled white men, who are ALL convinced they're better than her at the job, even though they only started last week.. Scott is THAT guy.

[@blender124]

The opening of this clips single-handedly stopped me from watching the west wing in full. Sam comes off as a massive a-hole with a superiority complex. I then watched other clips with Josh and Toby being insufferable especially when they don’t get their way. God I just couldn’t bring myself to watch the West Wing. I saw interviews were Andy Sorkin was trying to “elevate” the presidency and the staff but they came off as we are all smarter than all you stupid people.

[@CaesarSalad19]

I found Gov. Ritchie

[@jimg5669]

"Educated folk. Gosh, I just don't know."

[@untexan]

Thank you totally real person with thousands of favorited videos (including some West Wing clips)

[@blender124]

@@untexan kind of creepy you went through my favorites digging for videos I favorited. As stated in the comment I have watched clips and liked some but was unable to watch the whole series because it is unbearable.

[@RomanCoronado]

@@CaesarSalad19 If only he had read more Eskimo poetry.