As the on-air promos have been promising, something different will be delivered on Wednesday's third season premiere of NBC's "The West Wing." The show will begin with Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet, and other cast members speaking directly to viewers, to prepare them for the episode inspired by the attack on America. "A couple of days after the events of Sept. 11, Aaron (Sorkin, the show's creator) said he had something that he wanted to say, and he thought it would be important in the history of 'The West Wing' to be able to say it," NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker told the Associated Press. "We did not want to make any decisions in the emotion of the moment, in the heat of the first week," Zucker said. "We wanted to see what Aaron had to say." The episode was rushed into production, displacing the planned debut hour (now set to air Oct. 10). Plot details are being kept under tightly secure wraps. Sorkin reportedly delivered the new script within a week. Because the story deviates from the show's time line (last season concluded with the cliffhanger of whether or not Bartlet would seek a second term), the episode will be introduced by cast members in front of a black backdrop, explaining that Wednesday's hour is meant to stand on its own. While Sorkin declined an interview request by the Los Angeles Times, "West Wing" producer Llewellyn Wells told the paper that the episode represents a formidable logistical challenge for the directors, editors and cast, who in the last instance "had to learn a tremendous amount of dialogue in very little time."