"West Wing" VP Disses Bill O'Reilly; Praises Brian Williams

TV Guide ^ | July 17, 2002 | Daniel Coleridge

[stanleyromoli]

West Wing VP Disses Cable Talkers Wednesday, July 17, 2002

Tim Matheson is a brave actor. It takes chutzpah to show your face after playing the werewolf sheriff on CBS's Wolf Lake! Hey, at least he's still recurring as The West Wing's Vice President John Hoynes. Come fall, expect more drama between him and prez Martin Sheen as their re-election campaign heats up.

"[Creator] Aaron Sorkin [modeled their relationship on] the dynamic that Jack Kennedy had with Lyndon Johnson," Matheson tells TV Guide Online. "Johnson had a bit of an outsized ego and Kennedy had his group of intellectuals, and they were just different. Johnson didn't feel he was being utilized enough; I think Hoynes feels the same way. He was the majority leader of the Senate and like all senators, he feels he could be president and should be!"

Matheson compares West Wing's vision of the White House with the idealized newsroom on his new Bravo drama, Breaking News. "I spent about a week with MSNBC's Brian Williams," he reveals. "My character is loosely based on him. I didn't copy his style, but I must say I used him as a template for the way to dress — right down to his cufflinks or holding a pen. I was impressed by his integrity and how hard he works. He's not just some guy that reads from a teleprompter."

The 54-year-old News star is less affectionate toward cable's other talking heads, though. "I don't admire Bill O'Reilly at all," he asserts. "I think he's a blowhard, a bully and preaching to the choir." Asked what he thinks of CNN's Larry King, Matheson slams King for emceeing a Bush inauguration bash in 2000 and says: "I do find his journalistic ethics questionable." Ouch!

On the lighter side, Matheson doesn't scold the prying paparazzo who snapped those topless photos of Jennifer Aniston. "There's nothing wrong with that," he concedes, laughing. "I think that person should be well paid!" — Daniel R. Coleridge

Breaking News debuts tonight on Bravo with two episodes beginning at 8 pm/ET.

[stanleyromoli]

I'm curious to see what kind of political bias this program has, especially since it was created by Turner and TNT.

[TADSLOS]

Timmie boy, back when he was funny and entertaining as "Otter"

[Callahan]

With a pedigree like that, you can bet this show will be a cess pool of liberal bias. In the Sorkin model, characters "struggle" with conservative attitudes, but ultimately choose "correctly" (i.e., liberal).

[finnman69]

Brian Williams struggles with his eternal tan.

[Timesink]

"I didn't copy his style, but I must say I used him as a template for the way to dress — right down to his cufflinks or holding a pen."

Wow, Brian must be truly honored. He copied his wardrobe.

Hi, that was Tim Matheson, clueless moron. He was damn glad to meet ya.

[arly]

The WESTWING??... what is the Westwing?... is that the socialist propaganda tv show for liberals?. I would rather throw a rock thru my TV picture tube then watch this vile crap!

[nonsporting]

Are we sure it is socialist? I've never seen an entire
episode, but have "dwelled" while channel surfing. Last
night I actually "remained" for a few minutes because I
saw Sheen and guest playing chess. I knew something was
amiss when Sheen (playing black) answers P-K4 with P-K4
and calls in an "Evans Gambit". The script writers are
total patzers! Several moves would have to be played
in order to determine if this king pawn opening was in
fact a "Guioco Piano" and whether it was a certain
variation (Evan's Gambit). When Sheen mentioned he had
been taught chess by a friend with a "ranking" of 1800,
I bolted. Chess players are "rated" not "ranked".
I thought socialists were supposed to know how to play
chess. American socialists must be dumbest of the lot.