Aaron Sorkin on the set of The West Wing Sorkin is arguably best known for his highbrow TV drama, The West Wing, a series originally conceived from leftover dialogue written for The American President, a 1995 feature starring Michael Douglas as the President of the United States. The West Wing was honored with 13 Emmy Awards for its debut season, making the show a record holder for most Emmys won by a series in a single season. The Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series has been awarded to each of the first four West Wing seasons, but not the fifth. Sorkin left the show in 2003 at the end of the fourth season. Before The West Wing Sorkin also created and wrote many of the episodes of the critically acclaimed but short lived TV comedy-drama Sports Night, which ran from 1998-2000 on ABC.
As a writer, Aaron Sorkin has received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (West Wing). In addition, he has received numerous nominations and awards at the Golden Globes, Television Critics Association Awards, Producers Guild Golden Laurel Awards and the Writers Guild of America Awards.
Sorkin is unique among television producers for writing nearly every episode of his shows. The upside is that this gives his shows a continuity and consistency of style and quality. The downside is that his scripts are often late, forcing the cast and crew to work overtime, and making the show far more expensive.
Sorkin was arrested on April 15, 2001 after guards at a security checkpoint at the Burbank Airport found magic mushrooms, marijuana and crack in his carry-on bag. He was later ordered to a drug-diversion program. While the public scrutiny of his drug addiction raised some bad publicity for The West Wing at the time, it also lent credibility to the on-screen portrayal of addiction and substance abuse by one of the show's lead characters.
During the show's fourth season, a major change began. Some fans believed the show had lost its way, and this opinion was not likely to be changed when series star Rob Lowe, who - despite initially being slated for the central character - having been given less and less screen time, chose to leave the series. Soon after, in a move whose motivation was never made public, Executive Producers Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme left the show. Their final episode, the season finale "Twenty Five" concluded with the President's daughter Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) being kidnapped, and President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) stepping down, assigning Republican Speaker Glenallen Walken (John Goodman to the role of Commander-in-Chief.
John Wells, the remaining Executive Producer, assumed full control of the show, and the change of pace and storyline style, reflective of Wells's ER, was embraced by some viewers, and shunned by others.
As of June, 2004, Sorkin had recently completed a screenplay based on the story of Philo Farnsworth, to be directed by Schlamme, and was reported to be signed on to adapt George Crile's Charlie Wilson's War for Tom Hanks's production company.[1] (http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=5207)
Television
- The West Wing (television series; creator, writer, executive producer)
- Sports Night (television series; creator, writer, executive producer)
Films
Plays
- Hidden in this Picture (One Act) (playwright)
- A Few Good Men (playwright)
External links
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