Thomas Schlamme Movies

As anyone with even a nodding acquaintance with Star Trek can tell you, the (future) birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk is Riverside, Iowa. But how many of those people could tell that there really is a Riverside, Iowa, population 928? It is this cozy little farming community that serves as the locale of the four-part Spike TV reality series, Invasion Iowa. Imagine the surprise and delight of the Riverside citizenry when William Shatner himself shows up in town, ostensibly to film a big-budget sci-fi epic titled "Invasion Iowa," in which he is to star as "Colonel Shane Yeager." And not only Shatner, but a veritable army of filmmakers likewise descend upon Riverside, including Shatner's personal "spiritual advisor" Steve, short-tempered female studio executive Max, vainglorious leading lady Gryffyn, clumsy production assistant Herb, and Shatner's body double (and favorite nephew), Tiny. As the people of Riverside open their hearts, their homes and their businesses to the visitors from Hollywood, not a single one of them suspects that the entire affair is a hoax: there is no film in production called "Invasion Iowa" -- and except for Shatner, the movie personnel are all phonies! Of course, this being Spike TV, the cruel deception is played for all it is worth (and the worth is considerable!), climaxing with the episode in which we get to savor the reactions of the locals when they find out they've been hoodwinked. Debuting March 29, 2005, Invasion Iowa ended its brief run, appropriately enough, on the first of April. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Threats of terrorism, and problems with a welfare-reform bill, lead to dissension and quarrels amongst the staffers. Donna (Janel Moloney) acts as President Bartlet's representative at a riotous North Dakota state-party caucus, while Toby (Richard Schiff) tries to prevent Bartlet (Martin Sheen) from coming face to face with political opponent Robert Ritchie at a New York fundraiser. Sam (Rob Lowe) must grit his teeth and vote against pro-ecological legislation. The search continues for a new secretary for the president. And FBI agent Donovan (Mark Harmon) proves his mettle in a most decisive fashion while guarding C.J. (Allison Janney). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Its scheduled telecast delayed because of news coverage of the 9/11 tragedy, this "official" opening episode of The West Wing's third season (the first of two parts) finds the Bartlet White House in turmoil after President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) has made public the fact that he has multiple sclerosis. Inasmuch as there is talk of impeachment because the president kept his medical condition a secret for too long, Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) is bombarded with nagging and downright hostile questions from a group of reporters -- an experience that causes C.J. to lose her famous cool entirely. In other developments, Bartlet's decision to run for a second term has caused friction between Jed and First Lady Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing); the growing crisis in Haiti is sorely affecting the work performance of National Security Advisor Nancy McNally (Anna Deavere Smith); and Chief Counsel Oliver Babish (Oliver Platt) advises presidential aide Charlie Young (Dulé Hill) to hire a lawyer in case he is accused of complicity in the MS "cover-up." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by the prolific David E. Kelly, the Fox network comedy-drama series Boston Public is as quirky, volatile and overpopulated with colorful and eccentric characters as any other Kelly effort. Set within the walls of Boston Public High School, the series is told from the viewpoint of the dedicated but harried principal Steven Harper (Chi McBride). The challenges facing Harper include aging teacher Harvey Lipshultz (Fyvush Finkel), whose often nonsensical rambling indicates that senility is quickly settling in; ongoing clashes between faculty and the students' parents, who are convinced that not enough/too much is being done for/to their youngsters; various student cliques, ranging from a girls' group that rates the potential sexual prowess of the teachers to a bunch of bullying punks; and such one-day-at-a-time crises as the teacher who decides to counter potential student violence by bringing a gun to class and firing it over his charges' heads. In addition to McBride and Finkel, the huge ensemble cast includes Loretta Devine as Marla Hendricks, Jessalyn Gilsig as Lauren Davis, Anthony Heald as Scott Guber, Rashida Jones as Louisa, Nicky Katt as Harry Senate, Sharon Leal as Marilyn, Thomas McCarthy as Kevin Riley, Joey Slotnick as Milton Buttle, and Sarah Thompson as Dana Poole. Boston Public first aired on October 23, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After obsessing about a particularly expensive camera -- instead of obsessing over the infidelity of her boyfriend Gordon (Ted McGinley) -- Dana (Felicity Huffman) finally buys it and brings in her new equipment to take a picture of the Sports Night crew. Casey (Peter Krause) eagerly awaits a visit from his son Charlie (Cory Buck), who told his dad of some amazing feats while playing baseball. When Charlie shows up, Casey is out of the studio on assignment but Dan (Josh Charles) wastes no time in greeting the youngster -- and promptly calls him on his clearly embellished baseball accomplishments. Meanwhile, Gordon shows up and calls off his wedding engagement with Dana, who insists on knowing why. Gordon declares that Dana was more upset to learn that Casey had slept with Sally than learning that he had and therefore Dana must have some unresolved feelings for Casey. While disagreeing with him, Dana resignedly agrees to call off the engagement and then -- still obsessing with her new camera -- tries to take a second picture of the crew with the same horrible results as the first time she tried earlier that day. Just as she makes a very loud plea for something good to happen today, Isaac (Robert Guillaume) makes his first appearance in the studio since having his stroke. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) keeps a dispute between President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) from becoming a run-away story in the media, while Sam Seaborn continues to see a high-priced call girl (Lisa Edelstein) despite the warnings of nearly everyone on the president's staff. Political consultant Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly) is unable to convince her senator client to act in his best political interests. Meanwhile, Bartlett selects Captain Morris Tolliver (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) as his new personal physician. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The rumors continue to fly about Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) possible firing, which comes to a head when Isaac announces that tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be featuring a story about his and CEO Luther Sach's ongoing feud. While the crew speculates what this will mean for Sports Night, Dan (Josh Charles) describes to Casey (Peter Krause) the beautiful woman named Rebecca (Teri Polo) he met on the elevator this morning and how Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) said Rebecca thought he was nice and that he should call her. After accidentally running into Rebecca some time later, Dan learns Natalie was lying as Rebecca barely even remembers him -- while his ego takes a hit at the realization that he's not as much of a lady's man as he likes to think he is. After the article comes out the following morning, Isaac takes a meeting with network representative J.J. (Robert Mailhouse), who denies Mr. Sachs had any involvement with the story -- which leads Isaac to believe that perhaps J.J. may be complicit in this mess. Meanwhile, Dana (Felicity Huffman) begins to fret over her suspicions that Gordon is on the verge of dumping her, and Natalie suggests she go talk to Casey about her fears. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Debuting September 22, 1999, NBC's multi-award-winning The West Wing was America's first truly successful political drama series. Producer Aaron Sorkin had allegedly created the property to make fuller use of the White House interior sets built for his 1999 theatrical film, The American President. Whatever the case, the weekly, hour-long series disproved the long-held theory that the American TV viewing public was bored stiff by fictional political intrigue. The series was largely set during the administration of U.S. president Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (Martin Sheen), a Liberal Democrat (and a devout Catholic) from New Hampshire. The first lady was Dr. Abigail "Abby" Bartlet (Stockard Channing), who, though she publicly supported her husband in every aspect, privately expected him to hold to his promise that he would serve only one term. The Bartlets had three daughters, the youngest of whom, free-spirited Zoey (Elizabeth Moss), was a great source of consternation in many ways. President Bartlet was backed up by a fiercely loyal staff, including his venerable chief of staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer); his blunt-talking deputy chief of staff, Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford); Josh's wisecracking assistant, Donna Moss (Janel Moloney); witty, idealistic press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney); deceptively unkempt-looking communications director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff); and deputy communications director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), who had trouble keeping his tempestuous private life from spilling over into his work. As originally conceived, Sam was to have been the main character, with President Bartlet merely a recurring presence. Rob Lowe left the series near the end of season four, reportedly distressed by his ever-diminishing screen time; it was explained that Sam had gone off to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. He was replaced by Joshua Malina as the new deputy communications director (and later the vice president's chief of staff) Will Bailey.

The Bartlet administration, like many before it, had as many tribulations as triumphs. The first season ended with an attempted assassination, which turned out to be directed not at the president but at his personal aide Charlie Young (Dule Hill). During season two, it was revealed that Bartlet suffered from multiple sclerosis, a fact he kept secret from the public until the beginning of season three. Despite his illness and an unpleasant congressional investigation in which both the president and the first lady faced charges of conspiring in a cover-up, Bartlet handily won re-election at the end of the third season, trouncing his conservative opponent (played by James Brolin) and emerging more popular than ever. In other developments, Bartlet was forced to find a new vice president after the defection of John Hoynes (Tim Matheson), who had never truly liked his running mate; "First Daughter" Zoey was kidnapped, compelling Bartlet to briefly relinquish power to avoid conflict-of-interest charges, placing the government under the control of Speaker of the House Glenallen Walken (John Goodman), a hard-line Republican; Leo was sidelined by a massive heart attack; and at the end of Bartlet's second term, a battle royal ensued between Democratic candidate Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Republican senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) for the Presidency. Though decidedly left of center in its political viewpoint, The West Wing used advisors from both parties to ensure a modicum of accuracy. Many felt that the series' quality diminished after producer Aaron Sorkin left the show after season four, but The West Wing made a remarkable recovery, both in terms of its writing and its viewership, during its sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast by HBO from January 13 to March 17, 1999, season four of Tracey Takes On... finds the multi-talented Tracey Ullman utilizing scores of comic characterizations to poke satiric jabs at 12 different topics. This year's crop of single-issue episodes include "Dating," "Drugs," "Scandal," "Hair," "Lies," "Erotica," "Books," "Road Rage," "America," "Hype," "Obsession," and the appropriately yclept series finale, "End of the World." Many of Ullman's familiar "alter egos" are still in attendance, including elderly Hollywood makeup artist Ruby, ageing male homosexual Trevor, suburban Jewish widow Fern, posturing magazine editor Janie, ruthlessly ambitious lawyer Sydney, burned-out rock musician Erin, and washed-up nightclub singer Linda. Breaking a tradition from previous years, this final season of Tracey Takes On... does not conclude with a special hour-long best-of highlights episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having decided to press charges against football superstar Christian Patrick for sexual abuse during preparations for an interview, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) now has to endure the wrath of the troglodyte sportsman's fans that are now bombarding her with hate mail and much worse. As a result, her work on Sports Night has been scattershot at best, which prompts Dana (Felicity Huffman) and the rest of the Sports Night crew to try to cover for her during this rough period. Jeremy (Joshua Malina) also lends Natalie a hand in his own inimitably neurotic way by snooping through her e-mail so as to shield her from some of the more egregious correspondences. Dana suggests he focus his attentions elsewhere, like taking her out to dinner since she has an enormous crush on him anyway. Previously unaware of Natalie's interest in him, Jeremy decides to do just that and sets out to find the perfect restaurant. Still smoldering over Dana's romantic relationship with Gordon (Ted McGinley), Casey (Peter Krause) channels his frustration into on-air rants about his alma mater's head football coach -- but he has a change of heart after having an unexpected informal discussion on the matter with Gordon. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

The date is November 23, which holds special significance for a number of reasons. To begin with, the date marks the five-year anniversary of Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan's (Josh Charles) working relationship -- an event that seems to hold more importance to Dan than to Casey. When Casey fails to remember this milestone, Dan becomes passively hostile toward Casey -- which in turn angers Casey. In frustration, Casey asks the Sports Night crew why November 23 is an important date and Jeremy (Joshua Malina) announces that the date marks the anniversary of the first spoken performance by the ancient Greek actor Thespis, who is universally accepted as the first actor. Furthermore, Jeremy elaborates, Thespis is now a ghost who enjoys haunting any type of production that occurs on November 23rd, and that the crew should be prepared for a night filled with unexpected mishaps. Isaac (Robert Guillaume), in the meantime, is fretting over an argument he had with his wife just prior to her departure for California to be with their nearly full-term pregnant daughter -- only to later learn that his daughter has gone into early labor due to some unexpected and potentially serious complications. Dana (Felicity Huffman) is also worked up over her impending duties as host for her family's Thanksgiving Day festivities, since this is her first attempt at hosting and she'd rather not have to deal with what she believes her mother's reaction will be. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide