Though Aaron Sorkin created "The West Wing," he hasn't watched the entire series. After he left NBC political drama, Sorkin said he did not continue watching the adventures of President Bartlet, C.J. Cregg and the rest of the White House staff.
"I left 'The West Wing' after the fourth season ... Almost as soon as the press release went out saying that I was leaving, I got a call from Larry David, who had left 'Seinfeld' before 'Seinfeld' was over," Sorkin said during The Hollywood Reporter's showrunner roundtable. "He said, 'Listen to me. Under no circumstances can you ever watch the show again. Either it's going to be great and you're going to be miserable, or it's going to be less than great and you're going to be miserable. Either way you're going to be miserable.' I thought, 'Well, it's Larry David, he's kind of professionally miserable.'"
Sorkin said Warner Bros. sent him the fifth season premiere -- episode 89 of "The West Wing," the first episode he didn't write -- and he fired up the DVD player.
"I can't tell you whether it was great or less than great because it was less than 30 seconds after it started that I dove at the DVD player and slammed it off because it was like watching somebody make-out with my girlfriend," Sorkin said. "It was so difficult to watch. And again, not because of the quality -- it could well have been great and likely was given the people who were doing it. It was just so difficult to watch these characters and this world I had created no longer needing me at all. Just doing it by themselves. I've never seen an episode of 'The West Wing' beyond Season 4."
Sorkin isn't alone in giving up on a hit show once departing. "Community's" Dan Harmon -- who recently signed back on to the series after departing for a season -- recently revealed he didn't watch the fourth season.
“Sony said they’re very interested in recording me watching it as a commentary track," Harmon told the crowd at Los Angeles' Silent Movie Theatre about the "Community" Season 4 DVD. “I think I can do anything ... It would move Season 4 DVDs, for sure. But I’ll be checking it out soon, and then I’ll figure out what we’re doing for Season 5."
Sorkin's "West Wing" conversation starts a little before the 22 minute mark in the video above. Click through the slideshow below to see which TV stars don't watch their own shows either.
