The original post: /r/television by /u/WySLatestWit on 2026-01-25 05:18:27+00:00.
This has no doubt been talked about before but I wanted to bring it up again because I didn’t see it anywhere at least any time recently with a quick search. Apologies if it has come up recently and I missed it. I’ve been re-watching the show and I had a thought I’ve frequently had before, but a recent thread on the West Wing subreddit about Rob Lowe and the discussion regarding him and his relationship with the rest of the cast spurred me on to write a post.
It’s been said from the beginning that Sam was originally conceived as really being the central protagonist of the show. With Rob even getting paid more than the rest of the main cast, and being given “top billing” in the show. As I’m doing my re-watch I’ve actually been paying close attention to the show with that idea in mind and I’m just curious, did West Wing fans ever really view Sam that way? Was he the “focal point character” in the minds of the viewers when the show was first airing?
I realize that a lot of it might just be hindsight bias, because I know where the show goes having seen the whole thing so many times before, but I find myself thinking I just don’t see it. Even as early as the pilot it feels to me like Josh is the primary focus of the story, and he is the central character of the show as a result. By comparison Sam and his prostitute dilemma feels decidedly like B-Story filler. As the season goes on it feels like it really becomes a show about Josh, Toby, Leo, and Bartlet. With Allison’s CJ gaining in prominence the further into the season you get. Sam just feels…I don’t know…so much more hollow and so much less interesting by comparison to basically every other character in the core cast of the show.
Anybody else feel the same way?