Some months ago, a colleague and I were discussing how much we really enjoy seeing Stockard Channing in her recurring role as the first lady in NBC's "The West Wing." And figuring that even as much as we enjoyed her, it was probably a good thing for the show that she wasn't on all the time.
That, if Abby Bartlett were in every episode, "The West Wing" would be a very different show — "The East Wing," perhaps.
So news that Channing is going to be a regular on "The West Wing" this season might be of some concern — except that it isn't going to change much other than the fact that she'll appear in the opening credits and, apparently, get paid more.
"This year, we're making Stockard really what she's been for a while, which is a series regular," said creator/executive producer Aaron Sorkin.
But her contract calls for her to appear in 12 of 22.
"Well, I'm sort of an irregular regular because my deal is such that I maintain the same flexibility I had before, which is that if my schedule permits and they have a story for me, I show up," Channing said. "It's just financially, it's a little nicer. And in return I can't go do a pilot for another network. Oh, boo-hoo!" she said, making it clear that she had absolutely no intention of doing so under any circumstances.
"But don't tell them that because they don't know they got nothing for something."
While Sorkin said Channing will appear in 12 episodes, the actress seems less certain it will end up exactly that way.
"Everything is a function of Aaron Sorkin's brain," she said. "That's the reality."
She said that, in the midst of shooting the two-hour season premiere, she had "no idea" what was going to happen in the next episode, and she wasn't sure Sorkin did, either — which requires her to remain flexible.
"For two years, we've pulled this off," Channing said. "Everybody works out the days and everybody gets on planes a lot. It's worked up 'til now, so I think it will still work.
"But that's really up to Aaron. He knows what's going on."
For his part, Sorkin seems to have definite plans for Abby. She's going to be caught up in the emerging scandal about her husband, President Bartlett (Martin Sheen), hiding the fact that he has multiple sclerosis from the voters, his staff and the media. And his wife, a medical doctor, participated in that cover-up.
"She's in trouble now with both the (American Medical Association) and the law because of her role in that, so we'll be telling those stories," Sorkin said. "She'll be involved in a lot of stories. I think her character is really important, because it allows us to see a side of Bartlett that we don't otherwise see. She's the only one who doesn't call him Mr. President. So it's nice. She's so great in the part and so great to work with that we were really thrilled when we could get her on a more regular basis."
But not too regular. Channing said that not being completely tied to the series "is very important to me in my life. . . . I can do 'West Wing' and I can also do something like" the upcoming movie "The Matthew Shepherd Story," in which she plays the mother of the murdered University of Wyoming student.
"That's how that works," she said.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com