The West Wing’s President Bartlet and his staff reunited at the Emmys.
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The not-so-secret reunion saw Martin Sheen, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney and Richard Schiff appear in a replica of the Oval Office before presenting best drama series.
Sheen opened by saying, “From 1999 to 2006 I had the honor of playing the President of the United States on an extraordinary series created by Aaron Sorkin and produced by John Wells.”
“The name of that series was The West Wing, and we all had the honor of serving your administration,” added Hill.
Janney said, “It’s hard to believe that 25 years ago, Aaron and the writers actually had to use their imaginations to create interesting plot lines for The West Wing .”
Schiff replied, “Unlike today, where story lines can be plucked right off the news, storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous 25 years ago.”
Moloney concluded, “Our political landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. But two things have not changed, the importance of everyone, making sure to be registered to vote.” “And the quality of drama,” added Sheen.
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It comes 25 years after The West Wing launched on NBC, on September 22, 1999.
Bradley Whitford, who played Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, revealed earlier today that he was unable to be at the reunion as a result of being in Budapest filming.
Everyone knows Sheen played President Josiah Bartlet, the wonky former economist who became Commander-in-Chief, leading the country through two terms, despite suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Janney, who won the most Emmys as a cast member on the show, played C.J. Cregg, the jackal dancing press secretary who eventually becomes Chief of Staff. Schiff was Toby Ziegler, the cranky Communications Director, who is often seen as Bartlet’s liberal conscious and author of his major speeches, before he is fired from the administration in later seasons for leaking classified information about a secret space shuttle. Hill begins the series as Bartlet’s body man Charlie Young, otherwise known as personal aide to the President, who dated Bartlet’s daughter Zoey, played by Elisabeth Moss.
The political drama series, which ran for seven seasons through 2006, was an Emmy darling during its run, scoring 95 nominations and 26 wins.
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Its first season, which ended with an assassination attempt at Rosslyn, Virginia, scored nine Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, beating shows such as ER, Law & Order, The Practice and The Sopranos . The first season also saw wins for Richard Schiff for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and Allison Janney for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
The series also won the Outstanding Drama Series in 2001, 2002 and 2003, tying with Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Mad Men and Game of Thrones for most wins in this category. Alongside Hill Street Blues , The West Wing was the drama with the most Emmy wins until Game of Thrones came along and broke its record in 2016.
Surprisingly, Martin Sheen never won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, despite being nominated six times, losing out to James Gandolfini three times, Michael Chiklis, James Spader and Kiefer Sutherland.
Jimmy Smits was also a presenter at the Emmys, but was there for his role on NYPD Blue rather than his turn on The West Wing , where he played Matt Santos, a congressman from Texas who eventually becomes President of the United States,
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The West Wing reunion was never officially announced by the producers of the telecast, but with Hill, Janney, Schiff and Sheen on the list of presenters, it was heavily rumored.
In fact, such nostalgia was one of the goals for Jesse Collins Entertainment.
“The response to January was incredible, and we felt like people really connected to the nostalgia,” said Dionne Harmon, who executive produces along with Collins and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay. “We wanted to figure out a way to bring that nostalgia to the show on Sunday without doing the exact same thing. We really focused on television shows that everyone loved in January and Sunday, we’re going to focus on the characters, individual characters from all kinds of shows.”
The West Wing has received a lot of press recently, as it often does in every election cycle.
Melissa Fitzgerald, who played Carol Fitzpatrick, assistant to C.J. Cregg, and Mary McCormack, who played Deputy National Security Advisor Commander Kate Harper in seasons five through seven, recently wrote a book — What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service.
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During a mini-cast reunion to promote the book, creator Aaron Sorkin, who left after the fourth season, said such a show could exist in today’s political climate, but things would be slightly different. “This is simply what would be different. I’m afraid to say that right now, and maybe things will be different a year from now or two years from now. But right now, it would be implausible that the opposition party, that the Republican Party, was reasonable. People would watch that and it would be unfamiliar to them as the country they live in. On the show, while the Republicans were the opposition, they were reasonable.”
Sheen has also been on the campaign trail with Vice President Kamala Harris and popped by his old joint, otherwise known as the real White House, to exchange salutes on the South Lawn with President Joe Biden.
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