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Season 3 – The West Wing

Play trailer Poster for Season 3 – The West Wing 2001 Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 99% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Cutthroat presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.
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The West Wing — Season 3

The West Wing — Season 3

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Critics Consensus

The West Wing still fires off repartee as if sparkling dialogue were mandated by executive order, but this underwhelming third season finds the series' idealism curdling a bit into smug self-satisfaction.

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Critics Reviews

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Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel If any television dramatist is going to study the national tragedies, Sorkin is the most logical candidate to do it. Jul 7, 2023 Full Review Don Aucoin Boston Globe A remarkably thoughtful, absorbing effort. Moreover, although the show's White House setting imposed a unique burden on The West Wing, Sorkin still deserves credit for grappling with the issues raised by the [9/11] attacks. Jul 7, 2023 Full Review Ken Parish Perkins Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com The best thing about The West Thing is that it has a political point of view. The worst is that those viewers are often watered down. Jul 7, 2023 Full Review Alan Pergament Buffalo News Sorkin need not apologize for trying to pull off the tough mission of entertaining us and lecturing us at the same time. Jul 7, 2023 Full Review Alex Maidy JoBlo's Movie Network By far one of the most exciting political seasons of television that also featured the widest leading cast the show would ever have. Sep 25, 2018 Full Review Robert Keeling Den of Geek The West Wing always raised the bar when it came to end-of-season finales and the closer for the third season was an absolute classic. Sep 25, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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William D This is the greatest show ever made. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/18/23 Full Review Audience Member 3rd season is the darkest season... like literally, I think it was an intentional choice? to have many of the episodes set at nighttime. This season followed 9/11 and so it must have been a difficult to write what is in essence a really optimistic and idealistic show. The final episodes of Season 3 has less of a major storyline compared to other seasons. Season 1 and 2 both end the seasons with Bartlett in a major crisis. Season 3's endings focus on CJ and Bartlett with equal? weight, so the impact is a little divided and the last few episodes seem a little too heavyhanded and kind of out of nowhere. Still, S3 is no less enjoyable than 1 or 2 and all the characters are well written, consistant and 3 dimensional. My favorite episode is Bartlet for America... its shows like this that really makes me miss the 90s. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member It was a great show. Entertainment is what TV does best. Did RT really think they'd try to portray a real working West Wing. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member The first season was not awful. In fact, it was still very good in establishing our main characters and the most scandalous problems that the executive branch faces. Where it faltered is a rush of romantic problems for, well, every character. Josh and his ex who also worked in the West Wing, Toby and his ex wife, CJ and a Wall Street Journal reporter, Leo and his wife, Sam and a sex worker AND Leo's daughter, President Bartlet and Abby, and Charlie and Bartlet's youngest daughter. Good grief. It was not entirely overwhelming, but in retrospect, it was quite typical of late nineties programming to be sure every character had some romantic interest. The second season slowly filtered out that crap, and at this third season, we are treated to a much deeper focus of our main characters. We know what everyone has to face, and the problems do not go away, no matter how many other large-scale issues arise or how much effort they make in brushing away the problems. Sound familiar? The fine details are even more enthralling, culminating in one of the most intense season finales I have seen in years. The West Wing has greatly distinguished itself from other dramas by not only foregoing the romantic and gossipy garbage that sinks other shows, but also sets up an environment where law comes first. No sudden fits of physical rage, no death threats, no permanent goodbyes. Rhetoric will prevail. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member The best of the first three series. Much less smugness and preachiness, more character-based and incident-based stories. Unfortunately, however, Toby was still there... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Outstanding musical writing, compelling characters and storytelling--what else has topped this on network television? Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The West Wing — Season 3

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Cast & Crew

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Rob Lowe

Sam Seaborn

Martin Sheen

President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet

Bradley Whitford

Dep. Chief of Staff Josh Lyman

John Spencer

Chief of Staff Leo McGarry

Richard Schiff

Communications Dir. Toby Ziegler

Allison Janney

Press Secretary Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Oct 10, 2001 Manchester The president's bid for re-election could be in jeopardy after Sam realizes Bartlet never apologized for concealing his condition and C.J. makes a crucial mistake at a press conference. Details Episode 2 Aired Oct 17, 2001 Manchester Bartlet refines his re-election speech and contemplates adding a public apology to his remarks; C.J. considers what actions to take to defuse her ill-timed remarks. Details Episode 3 Aired Oct 24, 2001 Ways and Means C.J. fights back when a special prosecutor begins investigating the president's non-disclosure of his illness. Details Episode 4 Aired Oct 31, 2001 On the Day Before President Bartlet vetoes the "death tax" bill, but the staff must move quickly when they learn the House has enough votes to immediately override it. Details Episode 5 Aired Nov 7, 2001 War Crimes The president asks the reluctant vice president to speak at an anti-gun rally in Texas after a church shooting. Details Episode 6 Aired Nov 14, 2001 Gone Quiet A crisis erupts when a U.S. spy submarine disappears in North Korean waters, putting the president in the position of either notifying the enemy or attempting a rescue. Details Episode 7 Aired Nov 21, 2001 The Indians in the Lobby While the president frets about where to spend Thanksgiving, C.J. attends to two American Indians who refuse to leave the White House before speaking to an official. Details Episode 8 Aired Nov 28, 2001 The Women of Qumar Josh meets with a women's caucus to discuss a U.N. treaty banning prostitution; President Bartlet grapples with how much to reveal to the public about a possible mad-cow epidemic. Details Episode 9 Aired Dec 12, 2001 Bartlet for America As the presidential investigation intensifies, Bartlet recalls the circumstances surrounding his decision not to disclose his multiple sclerosis. Details Episode 10 Aired Jan 9, 2002 H.Con - 172 Leo rejects an offer from the Congressional Oversight Committee that would end the investigation into Bartlet's concealment of his illness. Details Episode 11 Aired Jan 16, 2002 100,000 Airplanes President Bartlet and his staff prepare the State of the Union; Sam's former girlfriend (Traylor Howard) interviews him for a Vanity Fair profile. Details Episode 12 Aired Jan 30, 2002 The Two Bartlets The president and his staff ponder countering a verbal assault on affirmative action by a fellow candidate. Details Episode 13 Aired Feb 6, 2002 Night Five The president consults a psychiatrist (Adam Arkin) about a sleep disorder; C.J. lobbies for the release of a White House reporter taken hostage in the Congo. Details Episode 14 Aired Feb 27, 2002 Hartsfield's Landing The president uses chess to illustrate tensions between the United States and China over Taiwan's testing of Patriot missiles. Details Episode 15 Aired Mar 6, 2002 Dead Irish Writers The White House celebrates the first lady's birthday on the eve of her possibly losing her medical license; a British ambassador (Roger Rees) argues against the president's meeting with an Irish terrorist. Details Episode 16 Aired Mar 27, 2002 The U.S. Poet Laureate The newly appointed U.S. poet laureate raises concern in the White House when she threatens to challenge the administration's policy on land mines. Details Episode 17 Aired Apr 3, 2002 Stirred When a uranium-bearing rig crashes in an Idaho tunnel, the White House scrambles to assess the potential crisis; election strategists mull dropping Vice President Hoynes (Tim Matheson) from the Democratic ticket. Details Episode 18 Aired May 1, 2002 Enemies Foreign and Domestic A summit between Bartlet and the Russian president is threatened when satellite photos link Russia to a nuclear-bomb facility in Iran; Bartlet assigns the Secret Service to protect C.J. when public statements prompt death threats from a stalker. Details Episode 19 Aired May 8, 2002 The Black Vera Wang The White House staff responds to a warning of a terrorist attack, while frustrated C.J. deals with an inflexible Secret Service agent (Mark Harmon) assigned to protect her. Details Episode 20 Aired May 15, 2002 We Killed Yamamoto A known terrorist enjoys diplomatic immunity; C.J. develops newfound respect for her Secret Service bodyguard (Mark Harmon); Josh battles his lover (Mary-Louise Parker) over a welfare reform bill. Details Episode 21 Aired May 22, 2002 Posse Comitatus Bartlet encounters his Republican presidential rival (James Brolin) while at a Broadway play; intelligence reveals a high-ranking Middle East official has been supporting terrorism. Details

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The West Wing — Season 3

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Season Info

Director
Alex Graves, Thomas Schlamme, Christopher Misiano, Vincent Misiano, David Nutter, Jeremy Kagan, Paris Barclay
Executive Producer
Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, John Wells
Screenwriter
Aaron Sorkin, Allison Abner, Paul Redford, Kevin Falls, Eli Attie
Network
NBC
Rating
TV-PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date
Oct 10, 2001