The West Wing was created by Aaron Sorkin.
The West Wing is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22 , 1999 , to May 14 , 2006 . For the first four seasons , there were three executive producers : Aaron Sorkin ( lead writer of almost all of the first four seasons ) ; Thomas Schlamme ( primary director ) ; and John Wells . The show 's ratings waned in later years following the departure of series creator Sorkin after the fourth season ( Sorkin wrote or co-wrote 85 of the first 88 episodes ) , yet it remained popular among high-income viewers , a key demographic for the show and its advertisers , with around 16 million viewers .