But HBO is less interested in how many people are watching than in how much the people who are watching are liking the show. They didn't set up their business model to make writers happy. It's just a nice unintended consequence.

The West Wing won multiple Emmy Awards and continued for three more seasons after he left the show at the end of its fourth season in 2003. He began in theatre which involved a largely solitary writing process then moved into film where he collaborated with director Rob Reiner and screenwriter William Goldman and eventually worked in television where he collaborated very closely with director Thomas Schlamme for nearly a decade on the shows Sports Night The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip; he now moves between all three media. In 1998 his television career began when he created the comedy series Sports Night for the ABC network.

The film directed by Rob Reiner became a box office success. Castle Rock Entertainment hired Sorkin to adapt A Few Good Men for the big screen. His writing staff are more likely to do research and come up with stories for him to tell.