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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: November 10, 1999
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The West Wing, “The State Dinner” (Season 1, Episode 7) [Watch on Netflix]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The West Wing is one of those shows that came together very quickly. You don’t have to watch too many episodes to see the show existing as its fully realized self. They pretty much had it from the pilot, in fact. Charlie was added in episode 3 to round out the first-season main cast, and by then The West Wing was The West Wing. But there was one crucial piece of the Presidential puzzle to be added: First Lady Abigail Bartlet.
For the first few episodes, the first lady was alluded to but not seen. She was up in Manchester for the weekend. She was making trouble for the communications staff with stories about her Ouija board fascination. She and her husband were having an argument of which we only saw one side.
By the time Abbey was introduced on-camera in episode 7, the path was well-paved for the character, and the audience was practically craning its collective neck to see who would walk into that state dinner. That the show cast Stockard Channing to play her is one of those perfect casting decisions that suddenly tells you everything you need to know about a character. It’s no coincidence that earlier notions of a flightier first lady (that Ouija board thing) went out the window as soon as Channing stepped into the White House. This first lady would have a spine of steel, a mischievous sense of humor, and a thorny partnership with the President that would keep yielding storyline rewards throughout seven seasons.
[You can watch “The State Dinner” episode of The West Wing on Netflix]
Joe Reid (@joereid) is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. You can find him leaving flowers for Mrs. Landingham at the corner of 18th and Potomac.
