Finale: 'West Wing'

5:00 AM PDT 5/12/2006 by Ray Richmond, AP

In seven seasons and two terms, 'The West Wing' rewrote politics on television -- and gave Americans an administration worth looking up to.

When NBC's "The West Wing" ends its two presidential terms with Sunday's series finale, it won't be just another show putting out the "closed" sign. Throughout its 156 episodes, "West Wing" has held office during one of real-life America's more contentious and controversial periods -- and attempted to mirror parts of that reality back to its viewing audience -- while stepping through another kind of minefield: the politics of television.