Political dramas are always a good watch.
Nowadays, there’s Scandal, House Of Cards and Veep all readily available for your immediate consumption.
Of all the political dramas to gain a cult following, there’s one original that always stood out – The West Wing.
The West Wing ran from 1999-2006, gaining fans for its complex characters and the hot storylines surrounding President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his staff in the White House.
Actress Allison Janney, who played the character of press secretary CJ Cregg, has expressed her interest in the return of the show.
Speaking to the Press Association, the multiple Emmy-award winner said considering the potentially disastrous political future of America, fans of the show were almost left hoping for fictional President Bartlet to take charge – as opposed to potential presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The actress, currently starring in the US sitcom Mom, spoke of how delighted she’d be to reunite with her former cast:
“I love all my compadres from the West Wing. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately. I would love to walk the halls again with them at a fast pace walk and talk. It would be a thrill. Here people are looking at the political scene and wishing there was a Jed Bartlet again. I’m with Hillary. I hope she can bring back some sense.”
Janney recently turned up in character as CJ at the real White House press room (she was in the real West Wing to talk about the problem of opiate addiction in the US).
.@AllisonBJanney
AKA CJ Cregg
AKA Bonnie on @MomCBS
drops by the White House press briefing. https://t.co/TK4NJ7TEyM— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) April 29, 2016
She also reunited with co-star Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman) for a jokey sketch on James Cordon’s US talk show:
Elsewhere right now, Joshua Malina (who played Will Bailey in the show from season 4 onwards) is c0-hosting a weekly podcast in which he revisits every episode of The West Wing. He’s currently reaching midway through the first season, but has already had one-time co-stars Dule Hill (Charlie), Janel Maloney (Donna) and Richard Schiff (Toby) make guest appearances.
I promise our @WestWingWeekly episode with @Richard_Schiff turned out better than @JoshMalina's selfie did. pic.twitter.com/0pgSMCbPvq
— Hrishikesh Hirway (@HrishiHirway) May 25, 2016
So there’s definitely a West Wing nostalgic moment happening right now. But does that mean a reunion series or one-off special is on the cards?
Perhaps the biggest indication of all that this might happen is the fact that the cast are due to reunite for a retrospective tribute at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas next month.
Variety reports that the panel, which marks the 10th anniversary since the series ended, will feature original creator Aaron Sorkin, director and executive producer Thomas Schlamme, and cast members Whitford, Hill, Malina, Schiff and Moloney, with more to be announced.
Why is this significant?
Well, this time last year, cult favourite Gilmore Girls, which, like The West Wing is streamed on Netflix in the US, staged a similar reunion at the ATX Festival.
A few months later, Netflix announced that it would be creating a series of four movie-length Gilmore Girls reunion specials, which are currently in production for release later this year.
So the precedent is there for a West Wing comeback in some form. It’s complicated by the fact that Sorkin wasn’t involved with the show for its final three years, and that Bartlet left office in the very last episode.
But, if The West Wing, taught us anything, it’s that the seemingly impossible is more than achievable.
