Josh and Donna... more picspam
Jul. 31st, 2007 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Here's the last of the picspams I did for the blogathon. The entry before this was a discussion about Sorkin’s “Couples” , so what better way to follow that than with some spam of the characters who became (probably) the most popular couple across all his work – The West Wing’s Josh and Donna. I know there are some out there who didn't like them together, but I make no apologies for the fact that I adored them - and it’s my spam, so there!
This one turned into a word and picspam, so it's looooooong... and as this was a Sorkin related blogathon, as with all these entries, I was limited to TWW S1-4. Oh, and I had to bear in mind that some of the people reading it might not be as well-versed in WW and J/D as most of you probably are!
Josh and Donna were never intended to be a couple romantically - in fact, Donna wasn't even going to be a regular character and Sorkin was clearly intending for Josh to get back with his ex-girlfriend Mandy, but thanks to one of those happy accidents of casting, and (apparently) begging by Bradley Whitford, Janel Maloney became a regular cast member more or less straight away.
There was also the small matter of the chemistry between the actors, not something that can be predicted or created, but which was so incredibly good that their scenes together just crackled and which led very quickly to viewers deciding that here was the "couple" they wanted to see get together.
It was a very long wait.
The first time we see them together on screen, in the Pilot:
DONNA: You shouldn't have worn that tie on television. It bleeds.
JOSH: I don't think it's the tie that got me in trouble.
DONNA: Yeah, but I've told you a zillion times.
JOSH: What's that?
DONNA: It's coffee.
JOSH: I thought so.
DONNA: I brought you some coffee.
JOSH: What's going on, Donna?
DONNA: Nothing's goi--
JOSH: Donna.
DONNA: I brought you some coffee.
JOSH: Close the door. Donnatella Moss, when did you start working for me?
DONNA: During the campaign.
JOSH: And how long have you been my assistant?
DONNA: A year and a half.
JOSH: And when was the last time you brought me a cup of coffee? (beat) It was never. You've never brought me a cup of coffee.
DONNA: If you're gonna make a big deal out--
JOSH: Donna, if I get fired, I get fired.
DONNA: Do you think he's gonna do it?
JOSH: (beat) No.
And a whole pile of fanon wank is born – Donna never brings Josh coffee. (And I’ll confess here that I’ve made use of the wank myself, but, you know, whatever…)
From The State Dinner - the very first bow-tie tying scene… *sigh*
I just like this picture… from The Short List after a chunk of ceiling has fallen, with immaculate timing, onto Josh’s desk.
JOSH: That was inches from my head!
DONNA: Josh.
JOSH: Inches!
DONNA: It was not inches.
JOSH: It was inches. A little bit this way, a little bit that way ... bam! Massive head wound.
DONNA: You're fine.
JOSH: Yeah, but there for the grace of God--you know what I'm saying?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: I really think if big chunks of ceiling are going to fall on anyone ... I don't know.
DONNA: What?
JOSH: It should be you.
DONNA: Ugh! I knew you were going to say that!
JOSH: From now on, before I come in in the morning, I want you to test my office.
In Excelsis Deo
“Skis would have killed you?”
But what really makes this scene isn’t the hug, which is very sweet – it’s the looks they give each other afterwards, when the other isn’t looking:
Awwwww….
Coming back from lunch together...
Josh offers to take Donna shoe shopping...
At the end of Season 1, the Presidential party is shot at - but we didn't find out who was shot and who wasn't until the start of the next season.
After a nailbiting teaser to the Season 2 opener, where we're re-introduced to the characters one by one, we discover that Bartlet was shot, but that he was in no danger - and that Josh had been critically wounded.
Donna knows nothing of this until she arrives at the hospital, thinking only of the President's safety. But -
TOBY: Donna ... Josh was hit.
DONNA: (beat) Hit with what?
TOBY: He was shot. In the chest.
CJ: He's in surgery right now.
DONNA: I don't understand. I don't understand, is ... is it serious?
TOBY: Yes. It's critical. The bullet collapsed his lung and damaged a major artery.
Both parts of In the Shadow of Two Gunmen tell the story of how the characters came to join Bartlet's presidential campaign, and in the second part, we find out how Josh and Donna met, as Josh returns to his office at Bartlet campaign HQ to find a strange blonde answering his phone…
JOSH: Hi.
DONNA: Hi.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, who are you?
JOSH: I'm Josh Lyman.
DONNA: Ah.
JOSH: Yes.
DONNA: I'm your new assistant.
JOSH: Did I have an old assistant?
DONNA: Maybe not.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I came in to volunteer and the woman assigned me to you.
JOSH: Which woman?
DONNA: Betsy.
JOSH: You mean Margaret?
DONNA:Yes.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I'll be working as your assistant.
JOSH: I'm going to talk to Margaret.
DONNA: [blocking his way] Actually, Josh --
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: When I said I was assigned to you?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: I may have been overstating it a little.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I drove up here from Madison, Wisconsin?
JOSH: When did your boyfriend break up with you?
DONNA: What makes you think that my boyfriend broke up with me?
JOSH: Well, you're too old for your parents to have kicked you out of the house.
DONNA: I'm here because I want to work for Bartlet. I'm a college graduate, with
a degree in Political Science and Government.
JOSH: Where did you graduate?
DONNA: Hmm?
JOSH: Where did you graduate?
DONNA: Okay, when I said I graduated?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: I may have been overstating a little.
JOSH: Look --
DONNA: I was a couple of credits short.
JOSH: From where?
DONNA: University of Wisconsin.
JOSH: You majored in Political Science and Government?
DONNA: And, uh, Sociology and Psychology.
JOSH: Uh-huh.
DONNA: And Biology for a while, with a minor in French.
JOSH: Okay.
DONNA: And, uh, drama.
JOSH: You had five majors and two minors in four years?
DONNA: Two years.
JOSH: Okay, listen...
DONNA: I had to drop out. I had to drop out.
JOSH: Your boyfriend was older than you?
DONNA: I think that question's of a personal nature?
JOSH: Donna, you were just at my desk, reading my calendar, answering my phone,
and hoping that I wouldn't notice that I never hired you. Your boyfriend was older?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: Law student?
DONNA: Medical student.
JOSH: And the idea was that you'd drop out and pay the bills till he's done with
his residency.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And why did Dr. Freeride break up with you.
DONNA: What makes you think he broke up with me?
JOSH: Donna, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take
more seriously than that. This can't be a place where people come to find their confidence and start over.
DONNA: Why not?
JOSH: I'm sorry?
DONNA: Why can't it be those things?
JOSH: Because --
DONNA: Is it gonna interfere with my typing?
JOSH: Donna, we're picking up today and going to South Carolina. If you want to
stay in the Manchester office -
DONNA: I want to come to Charleston.
JOSH: I can't carry you, Donna. I got a lot of guys out there not making the trip.
DONNA: I'll pay my own way.
JOSH: With what?
DONNA: I'll sleep on the floor, I'll sell my car. Eventually, you're going to put
me on salary.
JOSH: Donna.
DONNA: Look. I think I can be good at this. I think you might find me valuable.
The phone rings.
JOSH: Go ahead.
(They both look so young!!)
DONNA: [into phone] Bartlet for America, Josh Lyman's office. Uh, yes, I think I'm
going to have someone from the press office get back to you if it relates to --
yes.
And what I love here is the stage direction – that Donna takes the badge trying not to show it’s the first piece of jewellery anyone’s ever given her.
In The Lame Duck Congress - yet another of many examples throughout the series where we see just how “informal” Josh and Donna’s working relationship is – I mean, can you see Margaret doing this to Leo?
DONNA: Do you know how many people acquire Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
JOSH: It shouldn't surprise you to learn that I do not.
DONNA: 600,000 Americans a year. Do you have any idea how painful it is?
JOSH: Donna, in the scheme of things, who really cares?
DONNA: Do you have any idea how painful it is?
JOSH: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
CAZ: Heh – five years later, and he’ll be saying that to her in a completely different context. I’m just sayin’.
DONNA: Pain in the forearm, no grip, you lose the ability to pinch.
JOSH: People who lose the ability to pinch, I got to tell you, I don't know from
Where they summon the will to go on.
I also can’t see Leo slapping Margaret on the ass –
“Atta girl.”
In The Portland Trip, Josh puts his foot in it, telling Donna she has terrible taste in men and no sense of self-worth, which, while in effect true, was nonetheless not a very nice thing to say. But by the end of the episode he’s redeemed himself –
"You looked really great in that dress tonight, Donna. You should buy it for yourself."
I like this picture, from The War at Home -
- the first episode in which there’s any overt mention of the fact that Josh and Donna might like “like” each other – and there are a lot of them, from Josh’s admission that he intentionally sabotages Donna’s dates, to Joey Lucas’ statement that If you polled a hundred Donnas and asked them if they think we should go out, you'd get a high positive response. But, the poll wouldn't tell you it's because she likes you. And she's knows it's beginning to show and she needs to cover herself with misdirection.
It actually looked as though Josh might be starting to get a clue on his own, when he asks Donna why she keeps trying to fix him up with Joey –
She says it’s because they wouldn’t have to get their towels re-monogrammed if they got married –
Oh, Donna... *shakes head.*
Aaaaand on to 17 People a wonderful episode in which Toby confronts the President about concealing his illness, but which also provided some quintessential J/D moments.
I’m sorry – I have to quote all of this, ‘cause I’m such a shipper whore…
JOSH: How you doin'?
DONNA: I'm doing fine.
JOSH: Did you get the flowers?
DONNA: Yes, I did.
JOSH: Did you like 'em?
DONNA: They were very pretty.
JOSH: Do you know why I sent them?
DONNA: I know why you think you sent them.
JOSH: It's our anniversary.
DONNA: No, it's not.
JOSH: I'm the sorta guy who remembers these things.
DONNA: No, you're the sorta guy who sends a woman flowers to be mean. You're really the only person I've ever met who can do that!
JOSH: I'm quite something.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: I sent them to mark an occasion.
DONNA: Are we really gonna do this every year?
JOSH: For I am a man of occasion.
DONNA: I started working for you in February, this is April, and you're an idiot.
JOSH: Well, you started working for me once in February.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And then you started working for me again in April. That's the one I
choose to celebrate, 'cause it's the only one where you started working for me and it wasn't followed by your not working for me and going back to your boyfriend. And how, in comparison to that and him you can call me mean is another in a long...
DONNA: Oh, shut up! Honest to God, do you ever get tired of the sound of your
own voice?
JOSH: Noooo, no, no, no.
DONNA: Well, where are you going now?
JOSH: Sam and I are gonna punch up the thing for tomorrow. Hey, we need funny people.
DONNA: Yeah?
JOSH: You know any? See,right there was a joke. It's the oldest joke in the book...
DONNA: I'll say.
JOSH: You know what, Ado Annie, I sent you flowers! I think what you're trying to say is, 'Why, thank you, Josh! They're beautiful! Not many bosses would have been that
thoughtful...'
DONNA: Yeah? 'Cause I think what I was trying to say was 'Shove it!'
JOSH: Okay, well then I guessed wrong.
DONNA: You want help with the thing?
JOSH: Yes, I do, because you are such an hysterically funny person... did you notice how I used 'an' there properly?
DONNA: Yes, I did.
JOSH: You crack me up...
DONNA: You know, there are times?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: When, to put it quite simply, I hate your breathing guts.
JOSH: So the flowers really did the trick, huh?
DONNA: Oh, yeah.
And then later, the real story of what happened when Donna came back to the campaign –
DONNA: You feel, I believe, because you're quite addle-minded, that this job was my second choice.
JOSH: Hey, I'm just grateful we were your last choice.
DONNA: I'm gonna give you a little gift right now, which you don't deserve.
JOSH: Donna, if you've got your old Catholic-school uniform on under there, don't
get me wrong, I applaud the thought, but...
DONNA: Okay, what I need is for you to stop being like, you, for a second.
JOSH: Okay.
DONNA: When I came back, you remember I had a bandage on my ankle?
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: I told you I slipped on the ice on the front walk?
JOSH: Yeah. You know why? 'Cause you didn't put down the kitty litter.
DONNA: I was actually in a car accident.
JOSH: You were in a car accident?
DONNA: It was...
JOSH: Seriously, you were in an accident?
DONNA: It was no big deal.
JOSH: You told me it was a late thaw.
DONNA: Yes. I did. Anyway, they took me to the hospital and I called him and he came to get me and on the way he stopped and met some friends of his for a beer.
JOSH: He stopped on the way to the hospital for a beer?
DONNA: Yes. And that's why I left him. Which was the point of my telling you this. I left him. So stop remembering that. What I remember is that you took me back when you had absolutely no reason to trust me again, and you didn't make fun of me or him,
and you had every reason to.
JOSH: Donna...
DONNA: You're gonna make fun of him now, aren't you?
JOSH: No.
DONNA: 'Cause that's why I didn't tell you in the first place.
JOSH: I'm not gonna make fun of him.
DONNA: Good.
JOSH: But just what kind of a dumpkiss were you...
DONNA: He was supposed to meet some of his friends. He stopped on the way to tell
them that he couldn't.
JOSH: And had a beer?
DONNA: Does this make you feel superior? Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend.
JOSH: I'm just sayin' if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer.
DONNA: If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights. Thanks For taking me back. Oh, and the flowers are beautiful.
And finally, from Season 2, one of those fabulously flirty exchanges…
"I'm not cheap, nor am I xenophobic. I just think it's time for some tough love."
"Well, not right here in front of everybody, Donna, but if you want to run home and get your equipment..."
Hee!
So on to Season 3, in which Josh was hotter than a hot thing on a hot tin roof but Donna, sadly didn’t get to take advantage of it… :(
But, we did get more bow tie tying – one of the most intimate scenes I’ve ever seen where two people are fully clothed!
DONNA: Why don't you just wear a pre-tied tie?
JOSH: 'Cause it's not the same.
(But just look at the expression on his face!)
DONNA: It looks the same.
JOSH: At the end of the night, you want to be able to pull it open, like Tony Bennett.
DONNA: You think the tie is the only thing standing between you and Tony Bennett?
JOSH: He's also shorter than I am.
And then later…
JOSH: My tie's falling apart.
DONNA: Give me that.
JOSH: It's not going to be...
DONNA: It's not going to be Tom Jones tonight.
JOSH: Tony Bennett.
But everything goes to pot in the next episode as Josh commits a Federal Crime to protect the administration during the hearings. Well, that, and to keep Donna out of jail…
Things relax a couple of episodes later …
JOSH: Did you get me a flight?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: Excellent. One that gets me there in time for dinner?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And I don't have to change planes in Atlanta?
DONNA: No, even better. You do have to change planes in Atlanta.
JOSH: I told you that-
DONNA: You have to change planes in Atlanta, deal with it.
JOSH: There must be something.
DONNA: There's a 6:10 to Orlando, it gets in at 9:15, but that's too late for dinner. You could get a C141 leaving from Andrews for Homestead, but there's a problem with that, too.
JOSH: It would trigger a Congressional investigation?
DONNA: [beat] All right, two problems.
JOSH: Find me... something.
DONNA: Why is this being done last minute?
JOSH: And remember to scold me a couple times before I leave.
DONNA: Did you only just decide you were going home for Thanksgiving?
JOSH: No, but I thought I was going to Connecticut.
DONNA: Why?
JOSH: 'Cause that's where the house is.
DONNA: Your mom sold the house ten months ago.
JOSH: I made a mistake.
DONNA: You forgot where your mother lives?
JOSH: I'm from Connecticut, okay?! And like a swallow to Capistrano, I have to... Just, find me a flight, would you? And call Russell Angler at the State Department and tell him I need to see him about the kid in Georgia, he'll know what I'm talking about.
DONNA: I'm telling your mother you forgot where she lives.
JOSH: You're the girl I made fun of in elementary school, you know that?
DONNA: Yes, I do.
In 100,000 Airplanes - another hug…
And… looking at this one, I guess we’d be forgiven for thinking they were about to kiss each other stupid…
And then, in Stirred, Donna is trying to get Josh to honour her old schoolteacher by instigating a national "Molly Morello Day". Needless to say, he gives her a hard time about it -
JOSH: Did I leave a folder called Southeast Targets and ... (Donna hands it to him) Thank you.
DONNA: I've been putting together a folder of my own--all the things that need to be done in order for the President to issue a proclamation.
JOSH: What has to be done?
DONNA: Let me check. Nothing.
JOSH: Donna--
DONNA: Nothing has to be done.
JOSH: He can't just issue a proclamation.
DONNA: He can.
JOSH: No, I'm saying he can't just because you want him to. What's next--executive clemency if you're having a bad hair day?
DONNA: I never have a bad hair day, and Molly Morello was a public school teacher for 41 years.
JOSH: Which is nice, but these things are for important causes, not individual perks for staffers--
DONNA: National Digestive Diseases Awareness Week.
JOSH: When was that?
DONNA: Right now. It began after General Polaski Memorial Day
JOSH: Look, if you're going to mock the dead--
DONNA: February was National Sewing Month, by the way.
JOSH: It's still the President's name and reputation. We haven't vetted this woman.
DONNA: You're saying what if she's a lesbian?
JOSH: If she were a lesbian, we could talk. I'm saying, what if she's a bicycle thief?
DONNA: I doubt it--
JOSH: Don't doubt it, know it. Do a Google search, then talk to me.
But of course, at the end of the episode, Donna is surprised when the President informs her that his Deputy Chief of Staff has in fact written him a briefing paper about Ms Morello - and Donna gets to call her from the Oval Office.
He moaned about it, but he did it anyway. Seriously, how could you not love the guy? ;)
Aaaaaand so, on to Season 4.
Lost in Indiana in 20 Hours in America - I just love the expression on Donna’s face here. If looks could kill…
Then, in Arctic Radar, Donna wants Josh to fix her up with Nancy McNally’s new aide, Jack Reese. There’s also stuff about a Star Trek fan! I can’t remember exactly what’s going on here, but I like the picture!
But here... yeah, he's got it bad.
“Those stories would make me like you.”
Oh, Josh…
And he slips up again in the next episode, Holy Night - several times…
DONNA: What did you mean when you said it's not what it looks like?
JOSH: Jack's already down there?
DONNA: Yeah.
JOSH: I'll call him and apologize.
DONNA: What did you mean?
JOSH: I meant that I wasn't keeping you here on purpose.
DONNA: Why would I think you were doing that?
JOSH: I wasn't.
DONNA: Why would I think you were?
JOSH: I don't know. It was just something I said. Listen, it doesn't have to be a disaster, you know. C.J.'s staff is going to make little snowmen and stick them on the seats in the Press Briefing Room and take a picture. We can do that and then I'll get you drunk at the Hawk and Dove.
DONNA: That sounds nice.
But that, alas, was not to be.
One of my favourite moments comes from Guns Not Butter -
JOSH: Shake it off. And don't listen to the naysayer. You've got a big future as
a stalker.
DONNA: I always felt like I had the makings.
JOSH: I just had an interesting moment. I just recommended to the President that
he buy a yea vote for a $115,000 and the Bill of Rights.
DONNA: Don't you mean a $115 million?
JOSH: Jimmy Hoebuck wanted to fund a study on remote prayer for $115,000.
DONNA: Is it me or is this getting harder?
JOSH: It's getting harder. I'd say we're going to make more enemies in the second
term, but I don't know if there's anybody left on the list.
DONNA: You took funding for remote prayer to the President?
JOSH: I did it with gusto.
DONNA: That's 'cause you don't know the story of Fishhooks McCarty.
JOSH: Is this a real person or a Donna person?
DONNA: Corrupt politician on the Lower East Side in the '20s. Every morning he stopped at the St. James Church on Oliver Street and said the same prayer, "O Lord, give me health and strength. We'll steal the rest."
JOSH: Not that there needs to be, but... was there a point?
DONNA: You've got health and strength, both of which, coincidentally, I prayed for after hot lead was shot into your body.
JOSH: Yeah... You're going to need some Kryptonite, by the way.
DONNA: Okay, settle down.
JOSH: All right.
DONNA: So you've got health and strength.
JOSH: And we'll steal the rest?
DONNA: Bet your ass.
Inauguration : Over There…
Donna screws up, Josh goes to fetch her to the Inaugural Balls anyway in one of the most romantic scenes in the show’s entire seven year run.
Escorted by Toby, Charlie, Will and Danny, Josh (whilst looking quite delectable, I might add!) throws snowballs at Donna's window to, um, attract her attention.
When she emerges, he has to tell her off a bit -
- but gets distracted...
“You look amazing.”
Well really. What’s a girl to say to that?
“You’re going to have to sit on someone’s lap…”
Somehow, I don’t think she’s looking on that as a bad thing. Heh.
But – despite all that, we’re still drowning in the UST as we head towards the end of the season, and the end of the Sorkin years of TWW.
Angel Maintenance
JOSH: How come you go out with so many Republicans?
DONNA: I don't.
JOSH: You do. Cliff, Commander Wonderful, Dr. Freeride.
DONNA: I don't know. I get a pretty good response to the personal ad I put in
Roll call-- "Seeking 30-something male into motions to recommit." I'm not kidding. I
can do more. I want to learn how.
JOSH: Do you know how to lock the landing gear?
DONNA: No.
And in Evidence of Things not Seen, the flirting steps up a notch…
DONNA: Can I say something?
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: This guy...
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: There are some who would consider him handsome. I don't personally, 'cause you're the only one I think is handsome.
JOSH: Uh-huh.
DONNA: But for the sake of appearances, here, around the offices, so that other
people wouldn't suspect, I'd pretended I thought this guy was handsome if you hired him. Of course, all along it would be a lie, because of how handsome you are... and powerful.
JOSH: Your sense of humor's a bit of a high wire act isn't it? You're really trying to thread the needle.
DONNA: And half of it you don't even get.
It took them best part of another three seasons, but eventually, they got from here –
To here –
Okay, so I know Tomorrow wasn’t a Sorkin penned episode – but he was in it, so I think it counts!!
Donna finally gets her man, a plum job and a massive office!
And they lived happily ever after! :)
Oh, who cares – I can’t do a J/D spam without including this - so sue me!
Screencaps from screenmusings, jems,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coloneljack and crossmymind; transcripts from westwingtranscripts.com, and by me from memory (!) and The West Wing Script Books.
This one turned into a word and picspam, so it's looooooong... and as this was a Sorkin related blogathon, as with all these entries, I was limited to TWW S1-4. Oh, and I had to bear in mind that some of the people reading it might not be as well-versed in WW and J/D as most of you probably are!
Josh and Donna were never intended to be a couple romantically - in fact, Donna wasn't even going to be a regular character and Sorkin was clearly intending for Josh to get back with his ex-girlfriend Mandy, but thanks to one of those happy accidents of casting, and (apparently) begging by Bradley Whitford, Janel Maloney became a regular cast member more or less straight away.
There was also the small matter of the chemistry between the actors, not something that can be predicted or created, but which was so incredibly good that their scenes together just crackled and which led very quickly to viewers deciding that here was the "couple" they wanted to see get together.
It was a very long wait.
The first time we see them together on screen, in the Pilot:
DONNA: You shouldn't have worn that tie on television. It bleeds.
JOSH: I don't think it's the tie that got me in trouble.
DONNA: Yeah, but I've told you a zillion times.
JOSH: What's that?
DONNA: It's coffee.
JOSH: I thought so.
DONNA: I brought you some coffee.
JOSH: What's going on, Donna?
DONNA: Nothing's goi--
JOSH: Donna.
DONNA: I brought you some coffee.
JOSH: Close the door. Donnatella Moss, when did you start working for me?
DONNA: During the campaign.
JOSH: And how long have you been my assistant?
DONNA: A year and a half.
JOSH: And when was the last time you brought me a cup of coffee? (beat) It was never. You've never brought me a cup of coffee.
DONNA: If you're gonna make a big deal out--
JOSH: Donna, if I get fired, I get fired.
DONNA: Do you think he's gonna do it?
JOSH: (beat) No.
And a whole pile of fanon wank is born – Donna never brings Josh coffee. (And I’ll confess here that I’ve made use of the wank myself, but, you know, whatever…)
From The State Dinner - the very first bow-tie tying scene… *sigh*
I just like this picture… from The Short List after a chunk of ceiling has fallen, with immaculate timing, onto Josh’s desk.
JOSH: That was inches from my head!
DONNA: Josh.
JOSH: Inches!
DONNA: It was not inches.
JOSH: It was inches. A little bit this way, a little bit that way ... bam! Massive head wound.
DONNA: You're fine.
JOSH: Yeah, but there for the grace of God--you know what I'm saying?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: I really think if big chunks of ceiling are going to fall on anyone ... I don't know.
DONNA: What?
JOSH: It should be you.
DONNA: Ugh! I knew you were going to say that!
JOSH: From now on, before I come in in the morning, I want you to test my office.
In Excelsis Deo
“Skis would have killed you?”
But what really makes this scene isn’t the hug, which is very sweet – it’s the looks they give each other afterwards, when the other isn’t looking:
Awwwww….
Coming back from lunch together...
Josh offers to take Donna shoe shopping...
At the end of Season 1, the Presidential party is shot at - but we didn't find out who was shot and who wasn't until the start of the next season.
After a nailbiting teaser to the Season 2 opener, where we're re-introduced to the characters one by one, we discover that Bartlet was shot, but that he was in no danger - and that Josh had been critically wounded.
Donna knows nothing of this until she arrives at the hospital, thinking only of the President's safety. But -
TOBY: Donna ... Josh was hit.
DONNA: (beat) Hit with what?
TOBY: He was shot. In the chest.
CJ: He's in surgery right now.
DONNA: I don't understand. I don't understand, is ... is it serious?
TOBY: Yes. It's critical. The bullet collapsed his lung and damaged a major artery.
Both parts of In the Shadow of Two Gunmen tell the story of how the characters came to join Bartlet's presidential campaign, and in the second part, we find out how Josh and Donna met, as Josh returns to his office at Bartlet campaign HQ to find a strange blonde answering his phone…
JOSH: Hi.
DONNA: Hi.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, who are you?
JOSH: I'm Josh Lyman.
DONNA: Ah.
JOSH: Yes.
DONNA: I'm your new assistant.
JOSH: Did I have an old assistant?
DONNA: Maybe not.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I came in to volunteer and the woman assigned me to you.
JOSH: Which woman?
DONNA: Betsy.
JOSH: You mean Margaret?
DONNA:Yes.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I'll be working as your assistant.
JOSH: I'm going to talk to Margaret.
DONNA: [blocking his way] Actually, Josh --
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: When I said I was assigned to you?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: I may have been overstating it a little.
JOSH: Who are you?
DONNA: I'm Donna Moss, I drove up here from Madison, Wisconsin?
JOSH: When did your boyfriend break up with you?
DONNA: What makes you think that my boyfriend broke up with me?
JOSH: Well, you're too old for your parents to have kicked you out of the house.
DONNA: I'm here because I want to work for Bartlet. I'm a college graduate, with
a degree in Political Science and Government.
JOSH: Where did you graduate?
DONNA: Hmm?
JOSH: Where did you graduate?
DONNA: Okay, when I said I graduated?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: I may have been overstating a little.
JOSH: Look --
DONNA: I was a couple of credits short.
JOSH: From where?
DONNA: University of Wisconsin.
JOSH: You majored in Political Science and Government?
DONNA: And, uh, Sociology and Psychology.
JOSH: Uh-huh.
DONNA: And Biology for a while, with a minor in French.
JOSH: Okay.
DONNA: And, uh, drama.
JOSH: You had five majors and two minors in four years?
DONNA: Two years.
JOSH: Okay, listen...
DONNA: I had to drop out. I had to drop out.
JOSH: Your boyfriend was older than you?
DONNA: I think that question's of a personal nature?
JOSH: Donna, you were just at my desk, reading my calendar, answering my phone,
and hoping that I wouldn't notice that I never hired you. Your boyfriend was older?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: Law student?
DONNA: Medical student.
JOSH: And the idea was that you'd drop out and pay the bills till he's done with
his residency.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And why did Dr. Freeride break up with you.
DONNA: What makes you think he broke up with me?
JOSH: Donna, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take
more seriously than that. This can't be a place where people come to find their confidence and start over.
DONNA: Why not?
JOSH: I'm sorry?
DONNA: Why can't it be those things?
JOSH: Because --
DONNA: Is it gonna interfere with my typing?
JOSH: Donna, we're picking up today and going to South Carolina. If you want to
stay in the Manchester office -
DONNA: I want to come to Charleston.
JOSH: I can't carry you, Donna. I got a lot of guys out there not making the trip.
DONNA: I'll pay my own way.
JOSH: With what?
DONNA: I'll sleep on the floor, I'll sell my car. Eventually, you're going to put
me on salary.
JOSH: Donna.
DONNA: Look. I think I can be good at this. I think you might find me valuable.
The phone rings.
JOSH: Go ahead.
(They both look so young!!)
DONNA: [into phone] Bartlet for America, Josh Lyman's office. Uh, yes, I think I'm
going to have someone from the press office get back to you if it relates to --
yes.
And what I love here is the stage direction – that Donna takes the badge trying not to show it’s the first piece of jewellery anyone’s ever given her.
In The Lame Duck Congress - yet another of many examples throughout the series where we see just how “informal” Josh and Donna’s working relationship is – I mean, can you see Margaret doing this to Leo?
DONNA: Do you know how many people acquire Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
JOSH: It shouldn't surprise you to learn that I do not.
DONNA: 600,000 Americans a year. Do you have any idea how painful it is?
JOSH: Donna, in the scheme of things, who really cares?
DONNA: Do you have any idea how painful it is?
JOSH: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
CAZ: Heh – five years later, and he’ll be saying that to her in a completely different context. I’m just sayin’.
DONNA: Pain in the forearm, no grip, you lose the ability to pinch.
JOSH: People who lose the ability to pinch, I got to tell you, I don't know from
Where they summon the will to go on.
I also can’t see Leo slapping Margaret on the ass –
“Atta girl.”
In The Portland Trip, Josh puts his foot in it, telling Donna she has terrible taste in men and no sense of self-worth, which, while in effect true, was nonetheless not a very nice thing to say. But by the end of the episode he’s redeemed himself –
"You looked really great in that dress tonight, Donna. You should buy it for yourself."
I like this picture, from The War at Home -
- the first episode in which there’s any overt mention of the fact that Josh and Donna might like “like” each other – and there are a lot of them, from Josh’s admission that he intentionally sabotages Donna’s dates, to Joey Lucas’ statement that If you polled a hundred Donnas and asked them if they think we should go out, you'd get a high positive response. But, the poll wouldn't tell you it's because she likes you. And she's knows it's beginning to show and she needs to cover herself with misdirection.
It actually looked as though Josh might be starting to get a clue on his own, when he asks Donna why she keeps trying to fix him up with Joey –
She says it’s because they wouldn’t have to get their towels re-monogrammed if they got married –
Oh, Donna... *shakes head.*
Aaaaand on to 17 People a wonderful episode in which Toby confronts the President about concealing his illness, but which also provided some quintessential J/D moments.
I’m sorry – I have to quote all of this, ‘cause I’m such a shipper whore…
JOSH: How you doin'?
DONNA: I'm doing fine.
JOSH: Did you get the flowers?
DONNA: Yes, I did.
JOSH: Did you like 'em?
DONNA: They were very pretty.
JOSH: Do you know why I sent them?
DONNA: I know why you think you sent them.
JOSH: It's our anniversary.
DONNA: No, it's not.
JOSH: I'm the sorta guy who remembers these things.
DONNA: No, you're the sorta guy who sends a woman flowers to be mean. You're really the only person I've ever met who can do that!
JOSH: I'm quite something.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: I sent them to mark an occasion.
DONNA: Are we really gonna do this every year?
JOSH: For I am a man of occasion.
DONNA: I started working for you in February, this is April, and you're an idiot.
JOSH: Well, you started working for me once in February.
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And then you started working for me again in April. That's the one I
choose to celebrate, 'cause it's the only one where you started working for me and it wasn't followed by your not working for me and going back to your boyfriend. And how, in comparison to that and him you can call me mean is another in a long...
DONNA: Oh, shut up! Honest to God, do you ever get tired of the sound of your
own voice?
JOSH: Noooo, no, no, no.
DONNA: Well, where are you going now?
JOSH: Sam and I are gonna punch up the thing for tomorrow. Hey, we need funny people.
DONNA: Yeah?
JOSH: You know any? See,right there was a joke. It's the oldest joke in the book...
DONNA: I'll say.
JOSH: You know what, Ado Annie, I sent you flowers! I think what you're trying to say is, 'Why, thank you, Josh! They're beautiful! Not many bosses would have been that
thoughtful...'
DONNA: Yeah? 'Cause I think what I was trying to say was 'Shove it!'
JOSH: Okay, well then I guessed wrong.
DONNA: You want help with the thing?
JOSH: Yes, I do, because you are such an hysterically funny person... did you notice how I used 'an' there properly?
DONNA: Yes, I did.
JOSH: You crack me up...
DONNA: You know, there are times?
JOSH: Yeah?
DONNA: When, to put it quite simply, I hate your breathing guts.
JOSH: So the flowers really did the trick, huh?
DONNA: Oh, yeah.
And then later, the real story of what happened when Donna came back to the campaign –
DONNA: You feel, I believe, because you're quite addle-minded, that this job was my second choice.
JOSH: Hey, I'm just grateful we were your last choice.
DONNA: I'm gonna give you a little gift right now, which you don't deserve.
JOSH: Donna, if you've got your old Catholic-school uniform on under there, don't
get me wrong, I applaud the thought, but...
DONNA: Okay, what I need is for you to stop being like, you, for a second.
JOSH: Okay.
DONNA: When I came back, you remember I had a bandage on my ankle?
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: I told you I slipped on the ice on the front walk?
JOSH: Yeah. You know why? 'Cause you didn't put down the kitty litter.
DONNA: I was actually in a car accident.
JOSH: You were in a car accident?
DONNA: It was...
JOSH: Seriously, you were in an accident?
DONNA: It was no big deal.
JOSH: You told me it was a late thaw.
DONNA: Yes. I did. Anyway, they took me to the hospital and I called him and he came to get me and on the way he stopped and met some friends of his for a beer.
JOSH: He stopped on the way to the hospital for a beer?
DONNA: Yes. And that's why I left him. Which was the point of my telling you this. I left him. So stop remembering that. What I remember is that you took me back when you had absolutely no reason to trust me again, and you didn't make fun of me or him,
and you had every reason to.
JOSH: Donna...
DONNA: You're gonna make fun of him now, aren't you?
JOSH: No.
DONNA: 'Cause that's why I didn't tell you in the first place.
JOSH: I'm not gonna make fun of him.
DONNA: Good.
JOSH: But just what kind of a dumpkiss were you...
DONNA: He was supposed to meet some of his friends. He stopped on the way to tell
them that he couldn't.
JOSH: And had a beer?
DONNA: Does this make you feel superior? Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend.
JOSH: I'm just sayin' if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer.
DONNA: If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights. Thanks For taking me back. Oh, and the flowers are beautiful.
And finally, from Season 2, one of those fabulously flirty exchanges…
"I'm not cheap, nor am I xenophobic. I just think it's time for some tough love."
"Well, not right here in front of everybody, Donna, but if you want to run home and get your equipment..."
Hee!
So on to Season 3, in which Josh was hotter than a hot thing on a hot tin roof but Donna, sadly didn’t get to take advantage of it… :(
But, we did get more bow tie tying – one of the most intimate scenes I’ve ever seen where two people are fully clothed!
DONNA: Why don't you just wear a pre-tied tie?
JOSH: 'Cause it's not the same.
(But just look at the expression on his face!)
DONNA: It looks the same.
JOSH: At the end of the night, you want to be able to pull it open, like Tony Bennett.
DONNA: You think the tie is the only thing standing between you and Tony Bennett?
JOSH: He's also shorter than I am.
And then later…
JOSH: My tie's falling apart.
DONNA: Give me that.
JOSH: It's not going to be...
DONNA: It's not going to be Tom Jones tonight.
JOSH: Tony Bennett.
But everything goes to pot in the next episode as Josh commits a Federal Crime to protect the administration during the hearings. Well, that, and to keep Donna out of jail…
Things relax a couple of episodes later …
JOSH: Did you get me a flight?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: Excellent. One that gets me there in time for dinner?
DONNA: Yes.
JOSH: And I don't have to change planes in Atlanta?
DONNA: No, even better. You do have to change planes in Atlanta.
JOSH: I told you that-
DONNA: You have to change planes in Atlanta, deal with it.
JOSH: There must be something.
DONNA: There's a 6:10 to Orlando, it gets in at 9:15, but that's too late for dinner. You could get a C141 leaving from Andrews for Homestead, but there's a problem with that, too.
JOSH: It would trigger a Congressional investigation?
DONNA: [beat] All right, two problems.
JOSH: Find me... something.
DONNA: Why is this being done last minute?
JOSH: And remember to scold me a couple times before I leave.
DONNA: Did you only just decide you were going home for Thanksgiving?
JOSH: No, but I thought I was going to Connecticut.
DONNA: Why?
JOSH: 'Cause that's where the house is.
DONNA: Your mom sold the house ten months ago.
JOSH: I made a mistake.
DONNA: You forgot where your mother lives?
JOSH: I'm from Connecticut, okay?! And like a swallow to Capistrano, I have to... Just, find me a flight, would you? And call Russell Angler at the State Department and tell him I need to see him about the kid in Georgia, he'll know what I'm talking about.
DONNA: I'm telling your mother you forgot where she lives.
JOSH: You're the girl I made fun of in elementary school, you know that?
DONNA: Yes, I do.
In 100,000 Airplanes - another hug…
And… looking at this one, I guess we’d be forgiven for thinking they were about to kiss each other stupid…
And then, in Stirred, Donna is trying to get Josh to honour her old schoolteacher by instigating a national "Molly Morello Day". Needless to say, he gives her a hard time about it -
JOSH: Did I leave a folder called Southeast Targets and ... (Donna hands it to him) Thank you.
DONNA: I've been putting together a folder of my own--all the things that need to be done in order for the President to issue a proclamation.
JOSH: What has to be done?
DONNA: Let me check. Nothing.
JOSH: Donna--
DONNA: Nothing has to be done.
JOSH: He can't just issue a proclamation.
DONNA: He can.
JOSH: No, I'm saying he can't just because you want him to. What's next--executive clemency if you're having a bad hair day?
DONNA: I never have a bad hair day, and Molly Morello was a public school teacher for 41 years.
JOSH: Which is nice, but these things are for important causes, not individual perks for staffers--
DONNA: National Digestive Diseases Awareness Week.
JOSH: When was that?
DONNA: Right now. It began after General Polaski Memorial Day
JOSH: Look, if you're going to mock the dead--
DONNA: February was National Sewing Month, by the way.
JOSH: It's still the President's name and reputation. We haven't vetted this woman.
DONNA: You're saying what if she's a lesbian?
JOSH: If she were a lesbian, we could talk. I'm saying, what if she's a bicycle thief?
DONNA: I doubt it--
JOSH: Don't doubt it, know it. Do a Google search, then talk to me.
But of course, at the end of the episode, Donna is surprised when the President informs her that his Deputy Chief of Staff has in fact written him a briefing paper about Ms Morello - and Donna gets to call her from the Oval Office.
He moaned about it, but he did it anyway. Seriously, how could you not love the guy? ;)
Aaaaaand so, on to Season 4.
Lost in Indiana in 20 Hours in America - I just love the expression on Donna’s face here. If looks could kill…
Then, in Arctic Radar, Donna wants Josh to fix her up with Nancy McNally’s new aide, Jack Reese. There’s also stuff about a Star Trek fan! I can’t remember exactly what’s going on here, but I like the picture!
But here... yeah, he's got it bad.
“Those stories would make me like you.”
Oh, Josh…
And he slips up again in the next episode, Holy Night - several times…
DONNA: What did you mean when you said it's not what it looks like?
JOSH: Jack's already down there?
DONNA: Yeah.
JOSH: I'll call him and apologize.
DONNA: What did you mean?
JOSH: I meant that I wasn't keeping you here on purpose.
DONNA: Why would I think you were doing that?
JOSH: I wasn't.
DONNA: Why would I think you were?
JOSH: I don't know. It was just something I said. Listen, it doesn't have to be a disaster, you know. C.J.'s staff is going to make little snowmen and stick them on the seats in the Press Briefing Room and take a picture. We can do that and then I'll get you drunk at the Hawk and Dove.
DONNA: That sounds nice.
But that, alas, was not to be.
One of my favourite moments comes from Guns Not Butter -
JOSH: Shake it off. And don't listen to the naysayer. You've got a big future as
a stalker.
DONNA: I always felt like I had the makings.
JOSH: I just had an interesting moment. I just recommended to the President that
he buy a yea vote for a $115,000 and the Bill of Rights.
DONNA: Don't you mean a $115 million?
JOSH: Jimmy Hoebuck wanted to fund a study on remote prayer for $115,000.
DONNA: Is it me or is this getting harder?
JOSH: It's getting harder. I'd say we're going to make more enemies in the second
term, but I don't know if there's anybody left on the list.
DONNA: You took funding for remote prayer to the President?
JOSH: I did it with gusto.
DONNA: That's 'cause you don't know the story of Fishhooks McCarty.
JOSH: Is this a real person or a Donna person?
DONNA: Corrupt politician on the Lower East Side in the '20s. Every morning he stopped at the St. James Church on Oliver Street and said the same prayer, "O Lord, give me health and strength. We'll steal the rest."
JOSH: Not that there needs to be, but... was there a point?
DONNA: You've got health and strength, both of which, coincidentally, I prayed for after hot lead was shot into your body.
JOSH: Yeah... You're going to need some Kryptonite, by the way.
DONNA: Okay, settle down.
JOSH: All right.
DONNA: So you've got health and strength.
JOSH: And we'll steal the rest?
DONNA: Bet your ass.
Inauguration : Over There…
Donna screws up, Josh goes to fetch her to the Inaugural Balls anyway in one of the most romantic scenes in the show’s entire seven year run.
Escorted by Toby, Charlie, Will and Danny, Josh (whilst looking quite delectable, I might add!) throws snowballs at Donna's window to, um, attract her attention.
When she emerges, he has to tell her off a bit -
- but gets distracted...
“You look amazing.”
Well really. What’s a girl to say to that?
“You’re going to have to sit on someone’s lap…”
Somehow, I don’t think she’s looking on that as a bad thing. Heh.
But – despite all that, we’re still drowning in the UST as we head towards the end of the season, and the end of the Sorkin years of TWW.
Angel Maintenance
JOSH: How come you go out with so many Republicans?
DONNA: I don't.
JOSH: You do. Cliff, Commander Wonderful, Dr. Freeride.
DONNA: I don't know. I get a pretty good response to the personal ad I put in
Roll call-- "Seeking 30-something male into motions to recommit." I'm not kidding. I
can do more. I want to learn how.
JOSH: Do you know how to lock the landing gear?
DONNA: No.
And in Evidence of Things not Seen, the flirting steps up a notch…
DONNA: Can I say something?
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: This guy...
JOSH: Yeah.
DONNA: There are some who would consider him handsome. I don't personally, 'cause you're the only one I think is handsome.
JOSH: Uh-huh.
DONNA: But for the sake of appearances, here, around the offices, so that other
people wouldn't suspect, I'd pretended I thought this guy was handsome if you hired him. Of course, all along it would be a lie, because of how handsome you are... and powerful.
JOSH: Your sense of humor's a bit of a high wire act isn't it? You're really trying to thread the needle.
DONNA: And half of it you don't even get.
It took them best part of another three seasons, but eventually, they got from here –
To here –
Okay, so I know Tomorrow wasn’t a Sorkin penned episode – but he was in it, so I think it counts!!
Donna finally gets her man, a plum job and a massive office!
And they lived happily ever after! :)
Oh, who cares – I can’t do a J/D spam without including this - so sue me!
Screencaps from screenmusings, jems,
coloneljack and crossmymind; transcripts from westwingtranscripts.com, and by me from memory (!) and The West Wing Script Books.
