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The West Wing Seasons 3 & 4: The Shooting Scripts
Presents eight teleplays selected from the third and fourth seasons of "The West Wing."
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2004
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About the author
Aaron Sorkin
23 books270 followersAaron Benjamin Sorkin is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night and The Farnsworth Invention.
After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre in 1983, Sorkin spent much of the 1980s in New York as a struggling, largely unemployed actor. He found his passion in writing plays, and quickly established himself as a young promising playwright. His stageplay A Few Good Men caught the attention of Hollywood producer David Brown, who bought the film rights before the play even premiered.
Castle Rock Entertainment hired Sorkin to adapt A Few Good Men for the big screen. The movie, directed by Rob Reiner, became a box office success. Sorkin spent the early 1990s writing two other screenplays at Castle Rock for the films Malice and The American President. In the mid-1990s he worked as a script doctor on films such as Schindler's List and Bulworth. In 1998 his television career began when he created the comedy series Sports Night for the ABC network. Sports Night's second season was its last, and in 1999 overlapped with the debut of Sorkin's next TV series, the political drama The West Wing, this time for the NBC network. The West Wing won multiple Emmy Awards, and continued for three more seasons after he left the show at the end of its fourth season in 2003. He returned to television in 2006 with the dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, about the backstage drama at a late night sketch comedy show, once again for the NBC network. While Sorkin's return was met with high expectations and a lot of early online buzz before Studio 60's premiere, NBC did not renew it after its first season in which it suffered from low ratings and mixed reception in the press and on the Internet. His most recent feature film screenplay is Charlie Wilson's War.
After more than a decade away from the theatre, Sorkin returned to adapt for the stage his screenplay The Farnsworth Invention, which started a workshop run at La Jolla Playhouse in February 2007 and which opened on Broadway in December 2007.
He battled with a cocaine addiction for many years, but after a highly publicized arrest he received treatment in a drug diversion program and rid himself of drug dependence. In television, Sorkin is known as a controlling writer, who rarely shares the job of penning teleplays with other writers. His writing staff are more likely to do research and come up with stories for him to tell. His trademark rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues are complemented, in television, by frequent collaborator Thomas Schlamme's characteristic visual technique called the "Walk and Talk".
After graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre in 1983, Sorkin spent much of the 1980s in New York as a struggling, largely unemployed actor. He found his passion in writing plays, and quickly established himself as a young promising playwright. His stageplay A Few Good Men caught the attention of Hollywood producer David Brown, who bought the film rights before the play even premiered.
Castle Rock Entertainment hired Sorkin to adapt A Few Good Men for the big screen. The movie, directed by Rob Reiner, became a box office success. Sorkin spent the early 1990s writing two other screenplays at Castle Rock for the films Malice and The American President. In the mid-1990s he worked as a script doctor on films such as Schindler's List and Bulworth. In 1998 his television career began when he created the comedy series Sports Night for the ABC network. Sports Night's second season was its last, and in 1999 overlapped with the debut of Sorkin's next TV series, the political drama The West Wing, this time for the NBC network. The West Wing won multiple Emmy Awards, and continued for three more seasons after he left the show at the end of its fourth season in 2003. He returned to television in 2006 with the dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, about the backstage drama at a late night sketch comedy show, once again for the NBC network. While Sorkin's return was met with high expectations and a lot of early online buzz before Studio 60's premiere, NBC did not renew it after its first season in which it suffered from low ratings and mixed reception in the press and on the Internet. His most recent feature film screenplay is Charlie Wilson's War.
After more than a decade away from the theatre, Sorkin returned to adapt for the stage his screenplay The Farnsworth Invention, which started a workshop run at La Jolla Playhouse in February 2007 and which opened on Broadway in December 2007.
He battled with a cocaine addiction for many years, but after a highly publicized arrest he received treatment in a drug diversion program and rid himself of drug dependence. In television, Sorkin is known as a controlling writer, who rarely shares the job of penning teleplays with other writers. His writing staff are more likely to do research and come up with stories for him to tell. His trademark rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues are complemented, in television, by frequent collaborator Thomas Schlamme's characteristic visual technique called the "Walk and Talk".
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 5, 2024
The West Wing is one of my favorite shows. One of the most perfect mixtures of wholesome content and hard-hitting drama, there's not a character in this show that lacks dignity and just all-around coolness.
A huge part of that is the writing. If you watch the show, you won't go long without noticing the snappy and fun dialogue. Aaron Sorkin calls himself "a playwright who pretends to write movies." Each episode is less of a TV episode and more of a great work of theatre...and you don't have to go to a performing arts center to see it.
This collection of scripts lets you see the writing behind such theatrical episodes. I wish that more were included. (Also, if you've never seen the show, all of the voices might sound the same. Many people criticize Sorkin for that but, personally, it doesn't hinder me.)
A huge part of that is the writing. If you watch the show, you won't go long without noticing the snappy and fun dialogue. Aaron Sorkin calls himself "a playwright who pretends to write movies." Each episode is less of a TV episode and more of a great work of theatre...and you don't have to go to a performing arts center to see it.
This collection of scripts lets you see the writing behind such theatrical episodes. I wish that more were included. (Also, if you've never seen the show, all of the voices might sound the same. Many people criticize Sorkin for that but, personally, it doesn't hinder me.)
July 28, 2011
If only the real government worked this way
March 11, 2022
If I could give a book 1000 stars I would and since this is my goodreads I can and I will. Aaron Sorkin has me in the palm of his hand and I could read these for the rest of my life.
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July 22, 2025i like the bits about rob lowe leaving and what happened when sorkin and schlamme left. more honest insight
July 17, 2008
Three words: Aaron Sorkin rocks! I'd already seen all the episodes and I was still laughing out loud (especially over the train with comic timing in Season 4's "20 Hours in America"). While I think Sorkin needs someone to check his punctuation (Lynne Truss, perhaps?), I was fascinated by the scenes in the scripts that didn't make the cut -- including two entire teasers. Who knew?
September 22, 2010
One word... superb. A master class in the art of TV writing. As good, if not better, than volume one.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews