--Sheen is just incredible in that role, like born to play it. He has a real life moral authority, being a lifelong activist and reputed good guy, that comes through in this role.

--That said, acting-wise, Richard Schiff is my favorite, and Toby is maybe my favorite TV character OAT. The scene where he cries talking to CJ about his brother's suicide is so well done, so carefully and expertly modulated, getting the most emotion from the moment by underplaying it. Schiff does more with his eye movement than most actors do with a hundred page script.

--Thought they kept the writing quality admirably high, despite there being an inevitable dropoff from the solo Sorkin seasons. S7 gets a little predictable and normal TVish, but you felt them trying to wrap up a lot of plot threads, likely anticipating it was the end, so it's easy to give it a pass.

--Knowing about John Spencer's real life death makes watching the heart attack stuff in S6 and 7 pretty difficult. The real life synergy with that is one of the stranger and sadder things in TV history.

--Just an amazing show all around. I agree with OP that it's the GOAT network show, and probably a top fiver.

- Agreed. So glad he stayed on full time, rather than the part time character he was going to be originally.

- Toby is a fantastic character. The opening spot in the episode where he figures out Bartlett may not be running for a second term is excellent... just bouncing that ball and you can see the gears in his head running. My favorites of his might be when he and Bartlett go toe to toe.. particularly the moment in the Oval Office leading up to Bartlett firing Toby.