'West Wing': The documentary?

LOS ANGELES, April 23 (UPI) -- NBC's Emmy-winning drama, "The West Wing," will come off as more of a documentary in this week's episode, a special built around interviews with dozens of real politicians who have worked at the White House -- including former Presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

Besides the former presidents, producers interviewed David Gergen -- who advised four different presidents -- and Ken Duberstein, Ronald Reagan's chief of staff. They also talked with Clinton's personal secretary, Betty Currie, and President George W. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove.

The show also features clips with Marlin Fitzwater, Ronald Reagan's press secretary, and Peggy Noonan, one of former President George Bush's leading speechwriters. Fitzwater and Noonan have worked as consultants on the show.

Executive producer Thomas Schlamme, who won an Emmy for directing "The West Wing" in 2000, said the interview subjects speak about their true-life recollections of working in the White House -- not about the show itself. He and his staff have cut scenes from past shows into the interview footage, to show the correlations -- and the differences -- between art and reality.

Schlamme said it was easy to arrange the interviews -- even with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

"I think they did know that the core of the show -- whether they watch or not -- is that the show itself has a deep, deep admiration for people who are in the sort of public service of politics," he said. "What we found out when we started to interview people is the absolute commitment and passion that they have for the job."

"The West Wing" is, of course, about politics. But Schlamme said the special episode will not grind any particular political ax.

"One of the promises that we made to these people was that we would not present this as any sort of political platform," he said, "not to put them on the spot, to say, 'If you were president or chief of staff right now how would you handle the situation?'"

But Schlamme left little doubt that the former West Wing occupants might have some interesting answers if anybody wanted to ask them such questions.

"You couldn't help but feel that these people still have a lot to offer -- could very easily, if the phone rang, be available," he said. "You also realize the pool of talent that's out there."

He compared them to "extraordinary" actors and directors who are not able to make great films because they are no longer in demand.

In the process of talking with people who have real-life West Wing experience, creators of the show discovered some of the ways in which their fictional Oval Office resembles the real thing.

"We sort of throw time out the window on our show," said Schlamme. "We got that right. These people talk about the absolute commitment to this ... how much they lose out of their personal life to make this sacrifice."

As if to underscore the point, one of President Bush's top advisers -- Karen Hughes -- announced Tuesday that she is leaving the White House to spend more time with her family.

Rob Lowe, who plays deputy communications direction Sam Seaborn on the show, told UPI this week he hadn't seen the special yet but he was anxious to see it.

"I'm curious to know what my real life counterparts think about serving in the real West Wing," he said.

Lowe said he has spoken with people who served in the last two administrations, and they tell him the show gets a lot of things right.

"It always does shock me," he said. "More often than not they say you don't have any idea how right you guys are."

Although producers shot hours of interviews, the special uses less than a half-hour of footage. Schlamme said the goal now is to catalogue the interviews in their entirety and make them available in some other setting.

"These people are true witnesses to history," he said.

When a reporter suggested that the show is just an opportunity for the interview subjects free time to polish their images, Schlamme said he tried to guard against that in the editing room.

"My job as a director is to sort of weed out what feels truthful and what feels false," he said.