Carlsberg don't make TV drama openings.......but if they did
They'd be shit compared to Sorkin.
I thought I had seen it all having watched through The Sopranos,(Four times) The Wire(Three), Six Feet Under,(Twice) and Deadwood(Twice)..But then last month I FINALLY embarked on TWW. Peerless. Absolutely peerless.
I love Sam, but he did use the word "me" incorrectly in his magical speech: "You, *I* and 60,000 of your fellow students ... are going to be the first..."
At 10:25 am EST, 11-25-11, NASA will launch the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. She's a 1 ton rover the size of a small SUV designed to seek evidence of life &/or conditions needed for life. Curiosity is scheduled to land on Mars sometime in August 2012, with an expected mission time of ~23 months.
Just thought it was relevant. Carry on bickering about grammar. :)
Well I feel very strongly about Grammar, and will defend it. If we don't - we will all be grunting, the writing will be nonsense and nobody will understand anyone else. Actually I was rather hoping you might as an English student re-examine the grammar, change your view and admit what you wrote was not in fact correct, and then there would be two of us defending the structure together, against The West Wing writers and the rest of the world! No offence intended at all, I can assure you.
@UfosaFoundation I am perfectly open to the two of us banding together to defend the English language against those who mean it harm. Perhaps we could tackle dangling modifiers or preposition placement. We should be okay as long as we avoid pronouns.
Hi, Grammar of the English Language is surely not something to be disregarded over something such as 'the rhythm of the sentence', although I know what you mean by that. The rules of grammar - certainly on such a basic and simple structure as here - are perfectly clear, & it's because people don't practise (not practice!) them properly that confusion arises. There is absolutely no 'inherently flawed' anything in what I was saying. What I wrote is correct, what you wrote isn't. Sorry!
@UfosaFoundation I didn't miss the point you were trying to make. I was merely pointing out that your logic was inherently flawed.
The basic - and not-so basic - rules of grammar are among my favorite things, but sometimes you have to take a step back and just think about how something sounds. Even if we can't agree on the "proper" way, the rhythm of a sentence is louder than anything I could yell.
@UfosaFoundation Oh, and I suppose "I are going to be the first to see what it sees," makes perfect sense.
Silly me. I'll just write the bank and tell them that I'm going to quit making student loan payments seeing as my English degree was obviously a waste of time.
Wonderful intro... especially the part that begins at 3:22. The first few background musical notes play, Sam is reciting the intro, and President B giving him that "knowing" look all the while. Such an incredible moment. Well done, I wish there was something on TV now that was half as good as this.
It's a great opening - apart from the grammar gaff in Rob Lowe's own text ('You, ME and 60,000... are going to be the first to see what it sees' has to be 'You, I and 60,000... are going to be the first to see what it sees' as it's case is subject). But it's great they said 'very unique' is wrong, as it is, and 'extremely historic' is wrong, because it is. And the other words are truly stirring!
@UfosaFoundation Actually, because the pronoun (me) and the objective pronoun (you) are the object of the verb (see), "You, ME, and sixty-thousand," is the correct usage.
(Brought to you by the girl whose own grandmother calls her The Grammar Nazi. My uncle calls me The Blinker Nazi, but that is an entirely different story.)
Why is this sped up... West Wing dialogue is quick and pithy enough without making them all sound like munchkins.
YourGoodTwin 4 weeks ago
@YourGoodTwin It does seem a bit faster than usual in the very beginning, but it wasn't like that before. Not horrible though throughout, I think.
Irishwillmooney 4 weeks ago
Goosebumps.
Xdohls 1 month ago
Carlsberg don't make TV drama openings.......but if they did
They'd be shit compared to Sorkin.
I thought I had seen it all having watched through The Sopranos,(Four times) The Wire(Three), Six Feet Under,(Twice) and Deadwood(Twice)..But then last month I FINALLY embarked on TWW. Peerless. Absolutely peerless.
romanvanpersie 2 months ago
He said it right.
mufasa20 3 months ago
I love Sam, but he did use the word "me" incorrectly in his magical speech: "You, *I* and 60,000 of your fellow students ... are going to be the first..."
zhudson 3 months ago
At 10:25 am EST, 11-25-11, NASA will launch the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. She's a 1 ton rover the size of a small SUV designed to seek evidence of life &/or conditions needed for life. Curiosity is scheduled to land on Mars sometime in August 2012, with an expected mission time of ~23 months.
Just thought it was relevant. Carry on bickering about grammar. :)
sakar181 3 months ago
it's insane how much this opening made me smile
IndyWhipped 3 months ago 3
Still my favourite West Wing opening. Not even close.
evanfoster2110 3 months ago
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adhair 3 months ago
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adhair 3 months ago
if someone decided to study english-major after watching this , i wont laugh at them.
ipekatomang 3 months ago 2
Don't dare think you are better at writing than Sam Seaborn
bluesboy25000 4 months ago
Well I feel very strongly about Grammar, and will defend it. If we don't - we will all be grunting, the writing will be nonsense and nobody will understand anyone else. Actually I was rather hoping you might as an English student re-examine the grammar, change your view and admit what you wrote was not in fact correct, and then there would be two of us defending the structure together, against The West Wing writers and the rest of the world! No offence intended at all, I can assure you.
UfosaFoundation 4 months ago
@UfosaFoundation I am perfectly open to the two of us banding together to defend the English language against those who mean it harm. Perhaps we could tackle dangling modifiers or preposition placement. We should be okay as long as we avoid pronouns.
brandnewleigh 4 months ago
@UfosaFoundation ur a tool. defend that.
lennybaseball 4 months ago
Hi, Grammar of the English Language is surely not something to be disregarded over something such as 'the rhythm of the sentence', although I know what you mean by that. The rules of grammar - certainly on such a basic and simple structure as here - are perfectly clear, & it's because people don't practise (not practice!) them properly that confusion arises. There is absolutely no 'inherently flawed' anything in what I was saying. What I wrote is correct, what you wrote isn't. Sorry!
UfosaFoundation 4 months ago
@UfosaFoundation I guess that's what I get for trying to be the bigger person.
Also, congratulations on finding a way to insult both me and my birthplace at the same time.
brandnewleigh 4 months ago
Lol, you're missing the point! You would say (if single subject):
'I am going to be the first to see...'
or (if more than 1 pronoun form the subject):
'You and I are going to be the first to see....'
You would 100%-for-sure never ever say:
'You and me are going to be the first to see...' (Classic mistake!)
Therefore the correct sentence structure is:
'You, I and 60,000 [people] are going to be the first to see ...'
UfosaFoundation 4 months ago
@UfosaFoundation I didn't miss the point you were trying to make. I was merely pointing out that your logic was inherently flawed.
The basic - and not-so basic - rules of grammar are among my favorite things, but sometimes you have to take a step back and just think about how something sounds. Even if we can't agree on the "proper" way, the rhythm of a sentence is louder than anything I could yell.
Agree to disagree?
brandnewleigh 4 months ago
Nonsense. The subject is 'I', not 'me'. Break the sentence down:
You.. are going to be the first to see what it sees;
60,000 [people]... are going to be the first to see what it sees;
and you can't possibly say:
Me... are going to be the first to see what it sees.
Therefore the correct sentence has to be:
You, I and sixty thousand [people] are going to be the first to see.
UfosaFoundation 4 months ago
@UfosaFoundation Oh, and I suppose "I are going to be the first to see what it sees," makes perfect sense.
Silly me. I'll just write the bank and tell them that I'm going to quit making student loan payments seeing as my English degree was obviously a waste of time.
brandnewleigh 4 months ago
Wonderful intro... especially the part that begins at 3:22. The first few background musical notes play, Sam is reciting the intro, and President B giving him that "knowing" look all the while. Such an incredible moment. Well done, I wish there was something on TV now that was half as good as this.
thfpt 5 months ago
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TheKingOfCarmel 5 months ago
Probably the best episode ever.
jetforme 5 months ago
It's a great opening - apart from the grammar gaff in Rob Lowe's own text ('You, ME and 60,000... are going to be the first to see what it sees' has to be 'You, I and 60,000... are going to be the first to see what it sees' as it's case is subject). But it's great they said 'very unique' is wrong, as it is, and 'extremely historic' is wrong, because it is. And the other words are truly stirring!
UfosaFoundation 5 months ago
@UfosaFoundation Actually, because the pronoun (me) and the objective pronoun (you) are the object of the verb (see), "You, ME, and sixty-thousand," is the correct usage.
(Brought to you by the girl whose own grandmother calls her The Grammar Nazi. My uncle calls me The Blinker Nazi, but that is an entirely different story.)
brandnewleigh 4 months ago
@brandnewleigh I believe you are correct.
bornbillsmith 4 months ago
Writing this good is literally off the planet.
ALL of the West Wing opening sequences are good, but some are quite literally 'great'. This is one of them.
Aaron Sorkin is a god
RealWorldDesign 8 months ago 22
This has been flagged as spam show
@RealWorldDesign pass me the sick bucket. Sorkin is an Israeli lobbyist and propagandist.
pengo2008 4 months ago
He said it right!
Kotori32 1 year ago 3
WG Walden really nailed the segue into the opening theme.
digitdean 1 year ago
I...LOVE...this opening. It's awesome in every way.
jonmelsa 1 year ago 18