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9 Episodes 2003 - 2003
Episode 1
Fri, Jan 10, 2003 60 mins
In the series pilot, William Sterling Jr. (Josh Brolin) is appointed to the Senate when the scandal-plagued incumbent suddenly dies. He's the son of a popular former governor (James Whitmore), but on his first day in office, Sterling Jr. demonstrates that he's very much his own man. Jackie Brock: Audra McDonald. Tommy: William Russ. Governor Marino: Bob Gunton.
Episode 2
Fri, Jan 17, 2003 60 mins
Sterling (Josh Brolin) meets the press, and one question sure to come up is whether he has ever used drugs. Meanwhile, the majority leader sends Artie (Stanley Kamel) to California to find someone---preferably a "self-financing candidate"---to run against Sterling in the next primary; and a Native American senator (Graham Greene) Sterling has idolized for years asks him to cosponsor a questionable bill. Porn star Jenna Jameson has a cameo. Sterling Sr.: James Whitmore. Gov. Marino: Bob Gunton.
Episode 3
Fri, Jan 24, 2003 60 mins
Sterling (Josh Brolin) has been in office just three days, but Gov. Marino's son is already challenging him, so "we're in campaign mode," Jackie (Audra McDonald) tells him. And Anthony Marino (David Starzyk) might not be the only Democrat in the race: Arthur (Stanley Kamel) is wooing a coffee-shop billionaire (Jeff Allin). On the Republican side, the Minority Leader (Gerald McRaney) has a billionaire of his own (Colette O'Connell) lined up. So Sterling will have to use political skills he might not know he has just to stay in the game. That is, if he wants to. Gov. Marino: Bob Gunton. Leon: David Norona. Laura: Chandra West.
Episode 4
Fri, Jan 31, 2003 60 mins
Sterling might be on the Finance Committee but his own finances are a mess, and that's before he learns that he's personally responsible for his pricey hotel suite. He also attends his first committee hearing. The subject: "technical corrections" to a tax bill, but debate turns out to be anything but technical. Meanwhile, Arthur (Stanley Kamel) wants to hire Jackie and Tommy for Clooney's Senate campaign. Sen. Robinson: Kathryn Harrold. Chairman Wilson: Harris Yulin. Jackie: Audra McDonald.
Episode 5
Fri, Feb 7, 2003 60 mins
Sterling (Josh Brolin) spars with the INS to allow a Senate janitor (Diana-Maria Riva) awaiting her green card to return to the U.S. after visiting her dying mother in Guatemala. Elsewhere, Sterling breaks Senate protocol while trying to force a vote on a minimum-wage bill, and sees firsthand the Federal tax code's complexity when he does his own taxes. So he introduces a measure to force members of the Finance Committee to prepare their own returns. Commissioner Jarvis: Lawrence Pressman. Minority Leader: Gerald McRaney. Majority Leader: Randy Oglesby. Tommy: William Russ. Jackie: Audra McDonald. Leon: David Norona.
Episode 6
Fri, Feb 21, 2003 60 mins
Sterling gets lessons in power politics and racial politics when a one-time college roommate (Steven Flynn) is nominated for a senior Treasury Department post and must be approved by the Finance Committee. Meanwhile, his Senate office has run out of stamps for nonofficial business. How to pay for more? Sterling finally gives Jackie the go-ahead to begin fund-raising. "Doesn't mean I'm running, though," he notes carefully. But both Sarah Burwell and coffee-mogul Clooney announce that they are.
Episode 7
Fri, Feb 28, 2003 60 mins
With the campaign for Sterling's seat underway, Jackie and Tommy decide it's time for a "statewide swing." But it's not a "campaign trip," Jackie assures the reluctant senator (Josh Brolin). Good thing, because one event on the schedule is the funeral of an L.A. cop killed in the line of duty, and the slain officer's widow is furious about Sterling's opposition to the death penalty. Meanwhile, Tommy learns that he can't play on the DNC's softball team because he now works for an independent.
Episode 8
Fri, Mar 7, 2003 60 mins
A movie star (Portia de Rossi) with a political agenda lobbies Sterling on behalf of her pet after-school arts program. He thinks it's a fine idea (he's also attracted to her), so he invites her to testify before the Appropriations Committee, which is also considering Sterling's prisoner-education measure and a computers-in-schools proposal submitted by Nevada's Senator Robertson (Kathryn Harrold). Meanwhile, Leon's complaining about a constituent-mail backup; and Sterling runs into a very irate Anthony Marino (David Starzyk) in an L.A. men's room. Chairman Morris: George D. Wallace. Minority Leader: Gerald McRaney.
Episode 9
Fri, Mar 14, 2003 60 mins
Sterling goes "all the way." He filibusters his prison-education proposal, even though Senate rules make it futile and it's "the most politically unpopular idea of all time," as his aide Derek (Dean Cameron) puts it. Perhaps because of that, Sterling isn't getting much help from fellow senators. (The vote on the floor against the measure was 98-2.) But he does have one helpful public ally: his new girlfriend, movie star Lauren Barnes (Portia de Rossi). And a technicality involving the national-debt ceiling might come in handy. MSNBC's Chris Matthews has a cameo.