From West Wing to the real thing

There's a reason why the parallels are so uncanny: "I drew inspiration from (Obama) in drawing this character," says "The West Wing writer and producer Eli Attie, a former Al Gore speechwriter, who wrote many of the Santos episodes.

Attie tells the Guardian: "When I had to write, Obama was just appearing on the national scene. He had done a great speech at the convention (which nominated John Kerry) and people were beginning to talk about him."

Attie even called Obama's aid to say, "'Tell me about this guy Barack Obama.'" As The Guardian puts it, "The result is a bizarre case of art imitating life -- only for life to imitate art back again."

[The Guardian via TV Tattle]

emily | 3:54 PM | TV series and characters - why the appeal |
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