Wild, wild West Wing.

GAY MARRIAGE IS FIRING UP television's November sweeps this year, starting with NBC's megahit The West Wing. In the episode tentatively set to air November 15, President Josiah Bartlet must decide whether to sign the Marriage Recognition Act, an anti-gay-marriage bill that "sounds an awful lot like DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act]," according to Paris Barclay, who directed the hour. Gay Republican congressman Matt Skinner (out actor Charley Lang) actually wants the president to sign--an idea the actor says he discussed with West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. "We were both curious about how gay Republicans reconcile their orientation with their political stance," says Lang. The congressman's dilemma is just the latest example of West Wing's smarts on gay issues, which both Lang and Barclay credit to straight-but-not-narrow Sorkin. Says Lang: "He's incredibly bright and in the know." Barclay also points to the October 18 episode, in which the president tells off a fictional Dr. Laura. "He just bitch-slaps her, basically," says Barclay, laughing. That's bitch-slapping, Washington-style, of course--not a physical hand to the cheek but a stinging public humiliation.