We’re very excited to announce a new series here on The West Wing Weekly, discussing the Netflix hit political thriller The Diplomat, episode by episode. Coming soon!

Join us LIVE in London for the season 1 finale, on Saturday November 14. Tickets here: thewestwingweekly.com/live

We're discussing the 1976 Oscar-winning classic directed by Alan Pakula and written by William Goldman (one of Aaron Sorkin's screenwriting heroes). WOODSTEIN! 

If you'd like to watch the video version of this episode, subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/thewestwingweekly.

Here are some extra tidbits:

Did you order the Code Red? You're goddamn right I did!—if by "Code Red" you mean an hour of Josh & Hrishi discussing this Aaron Sorkin / Rob Reiner classic. (We're not in the Marines, but we still like giving things code names.) We wanted to pay tribute to the late Rob Reiner and this film that, in some ways, would eventually lead to The West Wing. Plus, A Few Good Men was Josh's film debut, based on the play that was his Broadway debut, so he has lots of stories. We hope—we strenuously hope—you'll join us for this conversation about one of the all-time great courtrooms drama.

We've got a bonus installment of the Film Fest—with special guest Adam Scott! In addition to his work on Severance, Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and so much more, he's just a genuinely thoughtful and kind person, so we are thrilled to have him back on the podcast. We're discussing the 1992 film Bob Roberts, a satirical mockumentary by Tim Robbins.

You can find The West Wing Weekly lapel pin, t-shirts, and more at thewestwingweekly.com/merch.

We're trying to savor the Capra-esque quality of this experience by wrapping up with Mr. Smith.

Supplemental materials:

Thank you so much for joining us again for this series!

Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Kevin Kline. This one was a Patreon subscriber pick!

Additional materials:

Is The Candidate, in fact, the anti-West Wing? A political story that ends not with a bang, but with a question of existential dread.

Let us know what you thought of the film!

Did this movie predict Trump back in 1957? We discuss the film debut of Andy Griffith in a role so dark, anyone who knows the Andy Griffith show might experience some uncomfortable dissonance.

Some goodies that came up in our conversation:

What did you think of the film, on a scale of 1–10 grains of inert matter? Let us know!

This week, we dive deeper into the role of the fourth estate, as we discuss Network, the Oscar-winning film that was meant to be a wild satire at the time it was released, but ended up uncannily predicting the future.

Some additional reading material:

Mad As Hell, Dave Itzkoff's book about Network

Directors' Guild of America post about Sidney Lumet at a 2003 screening of Network

Vanity Fair article on the legacy of Network (which includes thoughts from Aaron Sorkin)

This week, we're discussing the 1998 film Bulworth, which features a rapping Warren Beatty, a young Josh Malina, a few problematic moments, and some wonderful and strange ones, too.

For a real treat, watch the music video for Ghetto Supastar, which also features a young Josh Malina!

What did you think of Bulworth? Join the conversation over on our Patreon and let us know on a scale of 1–10 forced calls!