John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television
I’ve been on a two-term internship at the White House under the Jed Bartlet administration thanks to the maestro of the walk and talk, Aaron Sorkin. The West Wing ran for seven seasons starring Martin Sheen as the Commander in Chief. With the chaos of the current campaign looking more like reality TV, I needed to escape to a White House full of idealism and intelligence. And The West Wing’s look at the day-to-day lives of White House staffers addressing the union’s most pressing issues, was just the remedy.
The Sorkinian tribe is tight in this series, he brought in 17 actors from Sports Night and 3 from The American President. Standout actors on The West Wing include Rob Low, Joshua Malina, John Spencer, Dule Hill, Bradly Whitford, and Richard Schiff. And while Sorkin as often been accused of not always painting women in the best light, including in this series, he did showcase the strongest actresses onscreen with Allison Janney as CJ Cregg, Stockard Channing as the first lady, Janel Moloney as self-starter Donna Moss, and recurring guest stars Mary-Louise Parker and Lily Tomlin. Better still is the fangirling dream come true when Felicity Huffman guest starred to share screentime with Allison Janney, successfully bringing two of the strongest, most intelligent, funny and simply amazing actresses together. SWOON, I say, SWOON.
While Season 4 on may have taken a turn with the departure of showrunners Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme, including some questionable cast additions, and the loss of Toby’s nuance, Seasons 1-3 deliver the rapid fire, whip smart escape from reality that this fangirl so desperately needed.
10 years since the series finale, The West Wing flame still shines bright with regular spoofs of the infamous White House staffers’ walk and talks, the newly launched podcast The West Wing Weekly with Hrishikesh Hirway and Josh Melina, and most recently, Allison Janney reprising her CJ Cregg role while stepping up to the podium in the real White House Press Room.
We still have months to go to the election in November. It’s a marathon, people, not a sprint. If you need to recharge and rehydrate, I suggest you take to Netflix and let The West Wing bing begin.