West Wing Writer Talks TV Politics

Harvard Hall 104 filled up like an easy Core class during shopping period, as almost every seat full by 3:30 last Sunday afteroon when the discussion began with Mark Goffman, the story editor for the popular NBC Wednesday night drama, “The West Wing.”

“The West Wing” attracts audiences of all types—particularly Harvard’s many government junkies, not to mention those who think actor Bradley Whitford is hot. The show’s devoted fanbase pulled in many excited pre-frosh, including Matthew T. Valji, who thought it was “such a cool event—it really shows Harvard’s clout.”

Multiple Emmy winner “The West Wing” peeks into the hectic life of Democratic President Bartlet and his accompanying Washington orbit. While characters practically run down corridors saving the country from each new disaster, audiences watch personal and professional dramas play out at the government’s highest levels.

Goffman began his discussion by vouching that story ideas for “The West Wing”’ almost all come from personal experiences, emphasizing that the more personal and emotional the idea, the better.

The writers’ personal dilemmas are then given to a particular character as a conflict they must surmount in order to reach their goals.

“These characters represent the better angels in life,” he said. While these characters are Washington insiders, their attempts to find workable solutions to real-world problems make them widely relatable—and supposedly, unpartisan—though the seemingly universal democratic nature of the show reflects that in many ways the Bartlet administration is a wish fulfillment for the Clinton administration.

In response to criticism of this stance, Goffman promised a more bipartisan future for the show, including seeing more of “Friends’” Matthew Perry as a Republican attorney. Perhaps problematic for these attempts to balance party coverage more evenly, Goffman admitted to being the only registered Republican working on the show.

No matter their political affiliation, Goffman proclaimed that audiences should, as always, expect upheaval in this season’s finale.

“It’s a tradition of this show to end with a bang—so far Bartlet has had a very trying presidency,” said Goffman. “We’ve ended with an assassination, the President’s multiple sclerosis, a reelection, and a kidnapping in past years.”

This year, Goffman said, the climax delves into the Middle East, particularly focusing on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

“It won’t be like other seasons but it will still be a pretty hefty episode. Expect several disasters,” Goffman laughed.

Even the dramatic season finales have to go through rigorous scrutiny: Goffman stressed the show’s constant consulting with experts and retired government officials in the hope of keeping every episode a realistic reflection of Oval Office decision making.

The climax this year won’t completely revolve around the newest catastrophe: Goffman hints that the season’s final three episodes will resolve the subtle flirtation between Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and his assistant Donna.

“The characters have great chemistry, but we fear that the story might end [if they get together] and we always want that to feel fresh to the audience,” explained Goffman.

But even with Josh and Donna’s romantic tensions, the Harvard audience was more intrigued by Ryan Pierce, a recent Harvard graduate interning for Josh Lyman. Pierce is a wealthy final club boy with powerful family connections in Washington, a character that Goffman said sprang from writers’ meetings being dominated by Harvard University alumni.

Goffman himself graduated from Emory College, but spent a semester at Harvard and later returned for a degree from the Kennedy School of Government.

Many students, hoping for a similar path to writing success, asked Goffman’s advice on the right way to put together scripts for getting a job as a writer in Hollywood. “Write as many spec scripts as you can,” Goffman advised, also emphasizing the need to constantly be thinking of new ideas.

“When you’re writing a spec script, you want to follow the basic structure of a well known show, but add some twist and excitement,” he said. “It’s a little like pornography because you have to have that excitement on the page.”

Goffman cautioned that getting a writer’s job in Hollywood is difficult: writers need to get an agent or be selected out of the thousands of candidates to partake in a workshop program held by one of the networks. “Most writers are lucky to even get two years on a show because they’re cancelled so easily,” said Goffman. “I’ve been lucky with ‘The West Wing.’”

Mark Goffman seemed as articulate as his characters, especially when discussing the show’s ideals. “We’d like to think the president is always weighing what’s best for America, for the situation and for the administration, just as President Bartlet does,” said Goffman.

“We always try to do the best show we can,” he added. “This is one of the few shows on television to portray the aspirations and nobility of government work.”