8.5/102,159 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1999
The senior members of the White House staff are summoned to the office early in the morning to handle difficult situations: Hundreds of Cubans are on their way across the Atlantic Ocean in search of freedom; and klutzy President of the United States Josiah Bartlet accidentally sprained his ankle riding a bicycle into a tree.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.0/101,563 votes#2 - Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1999
The Vice President refuses to fall in line with Bartlet. Sam discusses the problem of Laurie with Josh and Toby. Bartlet hires Mandy as his consultant.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.6/101,542 votes#3 - A Proportional Response
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1999
Still enraged at Morris's death, Bartlet makes a show of deadly force. C.J. is upset about being kept out of the loop about Laurie. Josh hires Bartlet's new personal assistant.
Director: Marc Buckland
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.1/101,394 votes#4 - Five Votes Down
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1999
Five votes keep a very important gun-control bill from being passed and the staff has 72 hours to track down the errant congressmen. Toby is accused of manipulating the stock market by having a friend testify to Commerce on internet stocks. Leo's wife gets fed up with his long hours.
Director: Michael Lehmann
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Patrick Caddell, Lawrence O'Donnell
8.5/101,553 votes#5 - The Crackpots and These Women
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1999
The staffers spend the day ("Big Block of Cheese day") dealing with private organizations, aka the crackpots. Throughout the day, Sam deals with a UFO nut, CJ gets a proposal to build a wolves-only road, Toby and Bartlet clash over everything, and Josh is overwhelmed by guilt regarding his sister's death.
Director: Anthony Drazan
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.6/101,506 votes#6 - Mr. Willis of Ohio
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/3/1999
Toby and Mandy push for a commerce bill with a census-counting provision, with three votes as the deciding factor. Sam tutors CJ on the finer points of the census. Josh & Sam take Charlie out for a beer and are joined by Zoey and Mallory.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.2/101,320 votes#7 - The State Dinner
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/1999
The president of Indonesia is honored at a state dinner. The staff deals with Hurricane Sarah, a potential teamster strike, and a raid involving children in Idaho while a reporter flirts with CJ.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Paul Redford
7.9/101,253 votes#8 - Enemies
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/17/1999
Bartlet and Hoynes argue in front of the Cabinet. CJ fends off Danny's advances when she suspects he's after a big story. Mallory asks Sam out. The staff leaps hurdles to pass a banking bill.
Director: Alan Taylor
Writer: Patrick Caddell, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rick Cleveland, Jeff Reno, Ron Osborn
8.6/101,335 votes#9 - The Short List
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/24/1999
Bartlet struggles to name a nominee to the Supreme Court when the perfect nominee turns out to be not so perfect. A congressman attacks the staff, claiming that 1 in 3 use drugs.
Director: Bill D'Elia
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Patrick Caddell, Dee Dee Myers
9.1/102,019 votes#10 - In Excelsis Deo
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/15/1999
Toby tries to arrange a proper funeral for a homeless veteran. Josh and Sam try to set up a preemptive strike against Lillienfield, who is attacking Leo because of his prior drug and alcohol problem. CJ tries to get the staff to revisit the hate crimes issue. Bartlet sneaks out to do some last minute shopping.
Director: Alex Graves
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Rick Cleveland
8.1/101,270 votes#11 - Lord John Marbury
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/5/2000
War breaks out between India and Pakistan and Bartlet consults with Lord John Marbury. Toby accuses CJ of being too friendly with the press when she objects to being kept in the dark. The staff realizes that Lillienfield's efforts to bring down Leo are going to get ugly when Josh gets a subpoena.
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Patrick Caddell, Lawrence O'Donnell
8.6/101,280 votes#12 - He Shall, from Time to Time
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/12/2000
Bartlet collapses before his first State of the Union address. Leo publicly admits to his former alcoholism and drug abuse. Things get interesting romantically for both Sam and CJ. Lord John Marbury helps the staff negotiate an agreement between India and Pakistan.
Director: Arlene Sanford
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.3/101,226 votes#13 - Take out the Trash Day
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/26/2000
Josh and Sam are able to make a bargain to keep Leo from going through a hearing, at the expense of a new sex education report. Mandy doesn't think a couple should be present at the signing of a new hate crimes bill instigated by the death of their son. Toby contends with some of PBS's detractors.
Director: Ken Olin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.8/101,515 votes#14 - Take This Sabbath Day
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/9/2000
After the Supreme Court refuses to stay the execution of a convicted murderer, Bartlet has forty-eight hours to decide whether or not to commute the sentence. Josh faces off with Joey Lucas about his staff's not backing her candidate as vigorously as she'd like.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Lawrence O'Donnell, Paul Redford
8.9/101,514 votes#15 - Celestial Navigation
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/16/2000
Toby and Sam travel to Connecticut to get Roberto Mendoza released from jail; Josh must run a press briefing when CJ has an emergency root canal.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Lawrence O'Donnell, Dee Dee Myers
7.8/101,199 votes#16 - 20 Hours in L. A.
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/23/2000
Bartlet and the senior staff fly to California to attend an important fundraiser. Hoynes must decide whether he will support Bartlet's stance or go with his convictions when the Senate is deadlocked on an ethanol tax bill.
Director: Alan Taylor
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
7.7/101,129 votes#17 - The White House Pro-Am
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 3/22/2000
Abbey keeps the staff busy with the fallout when she leaks her personal preference for a Federal Reserve Board appointment and discusses child labor on a talk show, prompting a Congresswoman to offer an amendment which could shoot down the entire international tariff bill. Charlie's date with Zoey is cancelled because of threats by a white supremacist group.
Director: Ken Olin
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Lawrence O'Donnell, Paul Redford
8.0/101,201 votes#18 - Six Meetings Before Lunch
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/5/2000
Mendoza is confirmed by the Senate; Mandy needs Toby's help to replace a dead panda bear; Sam angers Mallory when she reads a position paper that he wrote supporting school vouchers; Josh meets with Jeff Breckenridge, who is irritating certain Congressmen with his stance on slavery reparations.
Director: Clark Johnson
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.9/101,394 votes#19 - Let Bartlet Be Bartlet
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/26/2000
Mandy's old memo about Bartlet administration weaknesses surfaces; Josh tries to get administration nominees appointed to the Federal Elections Committee; Sam works to get a better policy on gays in the military.
Director: Laura Innes
Writer: Aaron Sorkin, Patrick Caddell, Peter Parnell
8.1/101,150 votes#20 - Mandatory Minimums
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/3/2000
Andrea Wyatt insists that mandatory minimums be added to a new drug policy the staff is developing; C.J. makes a mistake and sets them back.
Director: Robert Berlinger
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
8.5/101,178 votes#21 - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/10/2000
Bartlet gets closer to making the FEC campaign finance reform-friendly, but his opponents strike back by making Sam's former dalliance with the call girl public knowledge; CJ waits anxiously for the administration's approval rating.
Director: Don Scardino
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
9.2/101,535 votes#22 - What Kind of Day Has It Been
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2000
The staff deals with the crisis of an American pilot who was shot down in Iraq; Toby's brother is in danger on a space shuttle whose doors won't close; Bartlet and the senior staff walk into trouble as they leave a town meeting.
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
The Best Episodes of The West Wing Season 1
Every episode of The West Wing Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The West Wing Season 1!
The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential...
Genre:Drama
Network:NBC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "The West Wing" season 1. It scored 8.5/10 based on 2159 votes. Directed by Thomas Schlamme and written by Aaron Sorkin, it aired on 9/22/1999. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc".