The West Wing

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet - S1-E19

Factual error: In the Don't Ask Don't Tell meeting, the USAF Major is wearing a JCS service badge on his right. That is the position for females. It would actually be worn below his ribbons. He is also not wearing a name tag on his blue shirt after he takes his jacket off. That is the one mandatory item required on his shirt.

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet - S1-E19

Continuity mistake: When CJ leaves Toby's office and Josh sits town on the couch next to Toby she closes the door as she walks out and we can hear it close. But the camera switches to a different angle as Josh sits down and the door frame is still in picture and is open as we hear the sound of it closing the door frame is still open. (00:20:40)

Pilot - S1-E1

Laurie: Tell your friend POTUS he's got a funny name, and he should learn how to ride a bicycle.
Sam Seaborn: I would, but he's not my friend, he's my boss. And it's not his name, it's his title.
Laurie: POTUS?
Sam Seaborn: President of the United States.

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Trivia: Martin Sheen also played the President in the mini series "Kennedy" and in another character's vision in 1983's The Dead Zone.

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In Excelsis Deo - S1-E10

Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.

Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.

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