| "Pilot" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The West Wing episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 1 Episode 1 | ||
| Directed by | Thomas Schlamme | ||
| Written by | Aaron Sorkin | ||
| Production code | 475151 | ||
| Original air date | September 22, 1999 (1999-09-22) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The West Wingseason 1 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American serial dramaThe West Wing. The episode aired on September 22, 1999 onNBC.[1]
TheWhite House staff is being called into work early to deal with the press fallout afterPresidentJosiah Bartlet has crashed his bicycle into a tree. As the staff try to perform damage control, it is revealed thatDeputy Chief of StaffJosh Lyman made agaffe when, after provocation by Christian activist Mary Marsh on a recent televised debate, quipped "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Also, DeputyCommunications DirectorSam Seaborn spends an evening with Laurie (Lisa Edelstein), unaware that she's acall girl, and then tellsChief of StaffLeo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, about it before he knows whose daughter she is.
While Lyman and Marsh are discussing a proposed public debate on one of several religiouswedge issues, President Bartlet enters and corrects one of the attendees on a theological point (namely, he quotes the First Commandment, settling a dispute on which one it is). He explains that he crashed his bicycle while distracted by anger after discovering that his granddaughter, after expressing herself as pro-choice during a magazine interview, was mailed aRaggedy Ann doll with a knife stuck in its throat. The doll was sent by an extremist group whose activities the attendees, to his displeasure, have not denounced. He tells them that not only will there be no debate, but that they will denounce the extremists publicly, and are barred from the White House until they do so. Bartlet implies to Lyman that he will be allowed to keep his job despite the gaffe.
In a retrospective, Brittany Frederick ofCBR called it the bestpilot in television history and giving it a 9/10 rating, citing the episode's character development and world-building.[2] Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A−, explaining that the episode "had [him] hooked almost instantly."[3]Screen Rant's Amelia Brantley harbored ambivalent feelings, praising the writing, andAllison Janney andBradley Whitford's acting, while opining that the episode "hasn't aged well" in multiple aspects.[4] Under theMedia Research Center,L. Brent Bozell III critiqued the episode and wrote that he felt it had promotedanti-Catholicism.[5]