The West Wing is a popular and widely acclaimed American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin and produced and co-written by John Wells. The series is set in the West Wing of the White House, the location of the Oval Office and offices of presidential senior staff, during the fictional Democratic administration of Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen). The West Wing is produced by Warner Bros. and is now in its seventh and final season. It first aired on NBC in 1999 and has been picked up by networks in other countries, including the United Kingdom and Japan. On January 22, 2006, NBC announced that the series would end its seven year run on May 14. The show has received positive reviews from television critics, political science professors, and former White House staffers. Overall, The West Wing has won 24 Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. The show's popularity has dropped in recent years, but it still remains one of the most popular shows among high-income viewers.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing_%28TV_series%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1229: Sixth Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared himself King of Jerusalem. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)

1438: Albert II of Habsburg became King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II_of_Germany)

1921: The Polish-Soviet War, which determined the borders between the Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia, formally concluded with the signing of the Peace of Riga. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Riga)

1922: Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi)

1965: Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov donned a spacesuit and ventured outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft, becoming the first person to walk in space. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party." -- John C. Calhoun (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Calhoun)