Allison Janney: Nobody Expected 'The West Wing' To Be A Hit (VIDEO)

Allison Janney wasn't sure "The West Wing" would be the hit it was.

"[W]e knew it was brilliant writing, but we thought it's too smart," Janney said during a recent visit to HuffPost Live to promote her new movie "The Way, Way Back." "It's about politics -- no one is going to watch it. We thought we had a job, a good pilot. What does it take to shoot a pilot? Two weeks, three weeks? We were going to film it and I'd go back to New York and then I ended up having to relocate to Los Angeles."

Janney won four Emmys for playing C.J. Cregg on "The West Wing," the White House Press Secretary who became the White House Chief of Staff. Her character's secret service codename, the Flamingo, influenced the name of her on-set trailer, the Flamingo Lounge. Janney said she began decking out her on-set home. "I was given a lot of things," she said. "They were forced upon me. Bottles of liquor and neon signs and stripper poles ..."

Janney can next be seen on the small screen in CBS's new comedy "Mom," which premieres on Monday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET.