MONDO EXTRAS

Shepherd and Janie get into an elevator. Janie tells POTUS: "Mr. Rothschild asked to have a moment with you this morning." Shepherd wonders whether he is upset about the speech last night. Janie indicates as much. Shepherd dryly replies, "Well, it wouldn't be a Monday morning unless Lewis was concerned about something I did Sunday night." As the doors of the elevator open, Michael J. Fox -- or rather, Lewis, is standing there, complaining, "You skipped a whole paragraph." Shepherd: "And Monday morning it is!" Lewis starts to pedeconference with POTUS and Janie, stating, "'Americans can no longer afford to pretend that they live in a great society'...and then nothing. You dumped the whole handguns paragraph." Shepherd tells Lewis that this is a time for prudence. Isn't it always? It never seems to be time for recklessness. Or maybe I just keep missing that. Lewis objects that the paragraph Shepherd skipped was "the kick-ass section." Shepherd counters, with cordial sarcasm, "Well, I thought what with being the President and all..." Lewis backpedals: "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to imply..." Shepherd thought Lewis would be ecstatic this morning, since Shepherd currently has 63\% job approval. Yeah, Lewis thinks that's great and all. At this point they're walking through the portico outside the White House as they run into a gardener who greets the President heartily and without missing a beat, the President returns the greeting as Janie discreetly supplies the fellow's name ("Charlie") just in time. Lewis continues: "Sir, the press is gonna need an explanation." Shepherd wants to know what for. Lewis explains that, "Because you dropped the whole kick-ass section, now we've got this thing hanging out there." Shepherd: "There's this thing hanging out there?" Lewis: "'Americans can no longer afford to pretend to live in a great society.' And then ...nothing. I mean, no explanation. No context. It's just this thing." Shepherd: "And it's hanging out there?" Enough with the Seinfeldian dialogue already. Lewis: "Yes, sir." I don't know; seems to say plenty to me. They enter the building, where Shepherd greets a staffer named Maria and says, "Did they tell you I'm gonna need..." She replies, all hyper-efficiently, "...overall consumer spending and not just first homes. Yes, sir. We'll have it for you in fifteen minutes." Shepherd thanks her and the pedeconference continues -- or rather, Lewis's haranguing does. Shepherd announces, "Lewis, however much coffee you drink in the morning, I want you to reduce it by half." Lewis claims that he doesn't drink coffee. Shepherd: "Then hit yourself over the head with a baseball bat, would you please?" Hee! As they reach the Oval Office, Shepherd greets his secretary, Mrs. Chapil (played by the late Anne Haney, a consummate HITG!), who hands him a coffee mug. She informs him, "Mr. Kodak left the detailed breakdown of the approval poll for you. He seemed to indicate that it was very good news." Shepherd responds, "Sixty-three percent of it, at any rate." Mrs. Chapil also tells him, "Lucy called just a moment ago. You forgot to sign her permission slip for her class." Janie: "The museum trip. I'll go get it." Shepherd asks Janie, "What time does she get home today?" Janie tells him, "Three-twenty." He asks how his afternoon looks; she indicates that it's very crowded. He instructs her to schedule some time for him at 3:45.