8.7/103 votes#1 - The Debate
Season 7 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2005
Santos and Vinick battle it out in primetime live. Forrest Saywer the moderator poses questions and attempts to ensure that the candidates remain within bounds. Ellen DeGeneres guest hosts the show on behalf of American Express and their new credit card.
Director: Alex Graves
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
8.2/109 votes#2 - 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
8.2/105 votes#3 - 18th and Potomac
Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 5/9/2001
The staff prepares for the worst as they make arrangements for the public announcement of the President's condition; Sam and Babish grill Abbey about her medical treatment of the President's MS; a crisis erupts in Haiti; Josh deals with two Democratic senators who won't support the administration's suit against tobacco companies; Mrs. Landingham buys her first new car, with tragic consequences.
Director: Robert Berlinger
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
8.0/106 votes#4 - 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
8.0/108 votes#5 - 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.8/108 votes#6 - 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.8/105 votes#7 - The Drop-In
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 1/24/2001
The test of a missile defense program meets 9 of 10 essential criteria. But the 10th is the sticking point: hitting the target. Sam is livid when a speech he wrote is changed without consulting him.
Director: Lou Antonio
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.7/106 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.5/102 votes#9 - In the Room
Season 6 Episode 8 - Aired 12/8/2004
Penn and Teller roll a lesson about the First Amendment into their entertainment at Zoey's White House birthday party, setting off a media frenzy and public relations nightmare; Baker drops out of the race, leaving the field free for Russell, who asks Josh to run his campaign; Jed takes a hard line on making significant gains on substantive issues in his last China summit; Vinick turns down Jed's offer of the U.N. ambassadorship to run for president; a fully ambulatory Donna has difficulty scheduling a meeting with Josh; Jed has an MS relapse which leaves him partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
Director: Alex Graves
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.5/102 votes#10 - Message of the Week
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2005
It's three weeks into the presidential campaign and Vinick meets with Frost out on the trail. Santos pulls a stunt which leads to higher approval ratings and jolts the Vinick camp. Vinick and Santos try to kick each other politically while they focus on their messages of the week.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.5/102 votes#11 - The Last Hurrah
Season 7 Episode 20 - Aired 4/30/2006
While Santos is busy trying to select a new vice president, his wife finds her new responsibilities staggering. Meanwhile, Vinick ponders his next move.
Director: Tim Matheson
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.4/105 votes#12 - The Lame Duck Congress
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/2000
The president considers recalling the Senate to push ratification of a nuclear-test-ban treaty. Meanwhile, Donna lobbies new legislation introducing ergonomic standards in the White House; A Ukrainian politician shows up at the White House drunk demanding to see the president.
Director: Jeremy Kagan
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.0/102 votes#13 - In God We Trust
Season 6 Episode 20 - Aired 3/23/2005
Senator Vinick, now the Republican Presidential nominee, receives advice from former Bartlet political consultant Bruno Gianelli on how to win all 50 states in the general election, and more specifically in the near term how to present his religious views to the public and pick a running mate. Meanwhile, Bartlet wrestles with getting a minimum wage hike passed by attaching it to a bill necessary to raise the debt ceiling, and with how to unify his party in the face of a three-way race for the Democratic nomination.
Director: Christopher Misiano
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
7.0/102 votes#14 - Two Weeks Out
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 3/19/2006
There are only two weeks left before Election Day and both candidates must make difficult choices at a time when they are both extremely tired. Vinick meets a famous athlete who greets him with a welcome that sings possible campaign trouble. Santos doesn't have such trouble with the athlete. Both candidates are campaigning in California with the hopes of stealing the election from the other guy in the hopes of thereby winning the election. Santos' briefcase falls into the hands of the Vinick campaign.
Director: Laura Innes
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
6.6/107 votes#15 - 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: Lawrence O'Donnell
6.5/102 votes#16 - Full Disclosure
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 2/25/2004
He's back, Former VP John Hoynes, who resigned in sex scandal, makes a bid for political resurrection by trashing Barlet and Leo in a tell-all book. But it's C.J. who's taking the news the hardest,
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Writer: Lawrence O'Donnell
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Lawrence O'Donnell Ratings Summary
"The Debate" is the best rated episode written by Lawrence O'Donnell. It scored 8.7/10 based on 3 votes. It was directed by Alex Graves. It aired on 11/6/2005 and is rated 0.5 points higher than their second-best episode, "Celestial Navigation".