Product Details

• Actors: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford
• Directors: Thomas Schlamme, Chris Misiano
• Format: Dolby, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 6, 2005
• Run Time: 946 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BB1MIM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,703 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Two administrative changes rocked The West Wing's fifth season. Offscreen, the ship of state steered a tad off-course with the departure of series creator Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schalmme. Onscreen, President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) relinquished the power of his office to Speaker of the House Glenallen Walken (John Goodman) in the wake of his daughter's kidnapping. In the season opener, "7a WF 83429," Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) wonders if this wasn't a mistake. What if the citizenry prefer Walken to Bartlet, he ponders. What if Walken comes off more presidential? Is he kidding? Sheen's Bartlet is the president of Hollywood's dreams, and the stuff of Rush Limbaugh's nightmares. (In a character profile included as one of the bonus features on this six-disc set, Bartlet is described as an amalgam of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton!). Not to worry, though, Bartlet is back in the Oval Office by the end of the season's second episode, "The Dogs of War." The next order of business: choosing a vice president to replace the disgraced John Hoynes. Enter Gary Cole as "Bongo Bob" Russell, who, as the season unfolds, will confound misperceptions of him. Hoynes himself (Tim Matheson) returns in "Full Disclosure," in which the former vice president dishes dirt on Bartlet and chief of staff Leo McGrarry (the late John Spencer) in advance of a tell-all book. Formidable and usually unflappable press secretary C. J. has an intensely personal reason to spearhead damage control and thwart Hoynes' publishing plans.

Allison Janney, as C. J. earned The West Wing's sole Emmy this season. One of her showcase hours is "Access," a format-breaking episode presented as a Frontline-type "day-in-the-life" documentary. Other memorable episodes that helped to right The West Wing's course include "The Supremes," featuring Glenn Close as a Supreme Court nominee; the battle-of-wills episode, "Shutdown"; "Gaza," in which Donna (Janel Moloney) is severely wounded during a fact-finding mission to the Middle East; and "Memorial Day," a flashback episode that echoes "Bartlet for America" from season 3, and which ends the season on a strong note, and almost make viewers forget the Sesame Street Muppet cameos in the episode, "Eppu Si Muove." Almost. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Follow the drama when the government is temporarily passed from a Democratic Administration to the Republican Speaker of the House, as President Bartlet copes with the kidnapping of his youngest daughter, Zoey.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...Get it to fill your collection. June 14, 2007

By Constance Anderson

Format:DVD

After the great first four seasons, season five of the West Wing is, quite frankly, terrible. Aaron Sorkin, the architect of the four first seasons and creator of the show, was fired mid-story arc by NBC and probably had a hard time watching this season, as many familiar characteristics were stripped away. Donna has suddenly gone from being a bright-eyed optimist to a jaded Washington insider, constantly speaking in a bizarre low voice. Toby is no longer quirky, but simply mean and uninteresting. The assasination of Abdul Sharif, a story arc that had existed for over a season, is ended unceremoniously in a matter of a few minutes, shoved into the end of an episode and never spoken of again. Josh's character, once funny and energetic, is reduced to screaming at the capital building, a scene, intending to be a dramatic, more likely to produce laughter than further unerstanding of his character. Will Bailey, a great replacement for Sam in season four, takes a job with the new vice president, and loses his sharp wit along the way. Despite no longer working for the president, Will is still often at meetings determining presidential policy(?).

And all of a sudden, everyone's having sex. It turns out C.J. and the Vice President were once together, an absolutely absurd story line that is difficult to believe to say the least.Then, C.J. encourages Donna to "broaden her horizons" beyond Josh, and as a result, she sleeps with a guy before getting blown up while on a fact-finding mission to the Gaza strip.(Don't ask... just don't ask.)

The fast-paced dialogue that was a trademark of the show through its first four seasons disappears. Meetings in Leo's office or the Roosevelt Room that were once fast-paced now consist of short, bland dialogue, lacking real meaning.... There were a couple of episodes that I simply couldn't get through.

And then there's the president. A man who was once, as he described himself, "full of mirth", has changed. His character is as dull as a pencil after the SATs. His part becomes bland and predictable, except for the truly bizarre storyline in which he shuts down the federal governement for five days, a decision that left even hardcore fans scratching their heads.

To sum this seaons up, I would say that this is definitely not a season where every episode deserves watching. Of the seven seasons, season 5 is by far the worst- I would reccomend it to those who are looking to have a compelte collection of West Wing episodes, not someone looking to be entertained. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Still good, but they forgot the funny.... August 31, 2007

By Nancy Docken

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

We're super "West Wing" fans, but have to admit that Season 5 was missing a lot of the humor of the first 4 seasons. Still, it had some great moments, such as the selection of two judges for the Supreme Court. Aaron Sorkin's brilliant writing was sorely missed during this particular season, but keep watching. During seasons 6 & 7, someone found humor once again. Not as great as the Sorkin years, but still definitely worth watching.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best Thing on Television December 7, 2005

By C. Marrott

Format:DVD

There is definitely a change in the West Wing for Season 5, while Aaron Sorkin and Rob Lowe are very sorely missed, it is still the same incredible cast of characters, for the most part, that continue to make this the best show on television.

Season is 5 is far from the best and nowhere near as good as seaons 2 and 3, but there are still some very worthwhile episodes and even those episodes that fall short of the quality of this show, it is still a pleasure to watch Leo, Josh, CJ, Toby and Jed in the West Wing.

I admit, I briefly debated purchasing season 5, but in the end I

found myself at Target today, it's first day of release, buying the second to last set they had on the shelf. My love of these wonderful characters and the show itself, beat out the disappointment I felt in some of the casting, writing and storyline decisions.

I don't watch much TV, there are very, very few shows that I HAVE to see and none that I enjoy as much as The West Wing. I'm glad I got Season 5 to add to my collection, so when the sad day comes when it is only shown in re-runs, I'll know I can just pop in a DVD to get my fix of the best shown on TV.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Strictly a quality in manufacturing issue. December 15, 2005

By Simple Simon

Format:DVD

There are enough reviews involving the quality of content for this excellent show, you don't need mine. My gripe is with the packaging. I prefer the fold-out style of the first three seasons. The fourth and fifth season cases are less appealing. The fifth actually fell apart in my hands upon opening. Binding plastic sleaves with tape; "hey thats quality!". Enough said, I yield the floor.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BUT NOT GREAT AS BEFORE December 9, 2005

By MISTER SJEM TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

There's no doubt the quality of the show has dropped since Sorkin and Schlamme have left. Certain dialogue parts are uneven and in one episode the degree of tension and anger between everyone was very different from the four previous seasons.

Season 4, by the way, for those complaining about the kidnapping, was done that way to give the new writers something to work with since the heavy hitters were leaving.

Overall, I'd say this doesn't measure up to the first four seasons, especially the first three, so, it's a few notches down.

However, as the quality was so high, even though it's dropped a few notches, it's better than almost all of the current TV programs.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy it if you like sex and pizza ... February 3, 2006

By Sebastian K. Wirthmore

Format:DVD

I discovered the West Wing late in 2003, just as the first season became available on DVD. As a person who looked upon TV with some disdain (having not really watched any significant amount of television since I was a kid), the show demonstrated to me that TV really could be something worth watching. I eagerly ate up every available episode on Bravo and bought the DVDs as they came out.

Imagine my pain when I learned of the departure of Sorkin and Schlamme. Season 4 ended on a cliffhanger like no other in all of television, on several levels. Here I was, a person who didn't really even like TV, actually mourning the fact that the situation would never see a "proper" resolution as Sorkin would have imagined it.

In fact, my worst fears were true. The first three or so episodes of season 5 are without a doubt the worst episodes of this series ever made. The climax at the end of season 4 is resolved clumsily, in true "deus ex machina" form. It was almost heartbreaking. However, the show did pick up again, though never achieving its former glory, and there are definitely some worthwhile moments in season 5. Season 6 started out terrific, and I really had hopes for the show's future. But I think interest petered out with the transformation of the show into "The Campaign Trail." Alan Alda notwithstanding, I suppose the show's recently announced finality was inevitable all along.

I'll be buying this DVD set, however, and not just for the sake of completeness. West Wing is much like pizza and sex: even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. In fact, it's better than pretty good. It's still just about the best thing on TV, and the smartest.... With the possible exception of those first three Season 5 episodes (which are personally painful for me to watch), the show is still dazzles with its terrific cast.

Here's hoping the series finale this May is a worthy conclusion and makes for some memorable television (and Rob Lowe, please call John Wells ...) Read more ›