Aaron Sorkin would bring back "The West Wing" with Sterling K. Brown as president

Two years ago, in another West Wing thread, I wrote:

... And I stand by that. Heck, Trump was elected in large part on his promise to Drain the Swamp, meaning that, to some degree at least, the notion that our government and politics have been completely hijacked by moneyed interests is a bipartisan one. So a West Wing revival would either have to ignore that, and remain a la-la fantasy show, or somehow gloss over the idea that said reality could have set in over the course of just a few years.

Also, though I too loved the show at the time, I can't help feeling that its fantasy depiction of DC/politics as a world dominated by principled disagreements rather than deeply corrupted oligarchism, though certainly comforting in the depths of the W. Bush era, was a tangibly dangerous one that allowed the deeply corporatist Obama to soothe liberals with the notion that if we just elected an enlightened, cosmopolitan corporatist like him, we could all sit back, relax, and enjoy our gay marriage and nominally progressive White House while doing virtually nothing to fix our Swamp-filled politics other than re-elect him and wait for a right-wing SCOTUS justice to die under his watch. Well, he was re-elected, and Scalia did die under his watch, and what did we get for it? Young Scalia 2.0, plus one of the worst presidents in history. So maybe The West Wing, brought to us by megacorporation NBC, itself owned by mega-mega-corportation Comcast, wasn't quite as benign as we thought.

Not only that, this is a world without the Clinton presidency, 9/11, or the Iraq War. Okay, Santos was based on then-Senator Obama, so there's some correlation there, but at this point, to bring back and expand upon that rosy alternate reality strikes me as nuts.

Since The West Wing, Sorkin has done great work telling historical stories in Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, and Moneyball, while floundering with Studio 60 and The Newsroom. If it were up to me, he'd only write historical dramas for the remainder of his career. :[

 

I think it'd be great to have a political show that addressed the role of social media in current politics, and the way the rules are in flux due to the ease of dispensing propaganda into anger echo chambers.

If Sorkin can pull this off with characters closer to his personal ideals, great.

 

I would love to see a new WW show! I always enjoyed how, despite the usual political kabuki, the two sides still tried to refrain from toxic vitriol (like they do now) and actually try to work things out. I wonder how such a world would play out in today's political climate? Might be more of an escapist scenario than one of moralistic parable like the first version. I just hope it has the same smart writing and compelling characterizations that the original had. I miss Newsroom for that reason.

Curious if it will be set in the same universe as the original, set immediately after the Santos presidency, with cameos of the original cast. Statistically, though, I don't think there has been a time (at least, in recent history) where three presidents of the same political party held the White House consecutively like that. The pendulum always swings back and forth - one of the few known political constants. There would almost have to be at least one Republican president in between them to make it more realistic.

 

Which they could have been given the timeline

2006 Santos Elected

Which would mean an Election in 2010, 2014 with one due in 2018 so a new show could start with a newly elected President

 

At this point, this is Sorkin spitballing, nothing more.

 

No reason Sterling K. Brown couldn't work on two shows at once, especially if they start a new WW series with the President taking a back seat (as the original was supposed to do - have POTUS only appear occasionally).

 

I'd think Sorkin would only do it as a limited series anyway. The legends have it that he's only and ever in a constant state of writing, but to make it easier on everyone he'd probably be best doing a 10-episode season every other year, letting him write movies and such in between. I loved the Newsroom but hated the odd season lengths (three of which added up to 22 episodes total, or one WW season).

And I think a WW-like show about what a modern Republican era of politics COULD be like would be fun to see, especially as a contrast to what we're currently suffering. The Sorkin-less season showrunners actually thought about continuing the show at some point with Arnold Vinnick (or some Republican) as the winner but ultimately decided to quit while ahead. A new show could have plenty of cameos, and I like the idea of having Will or Charlie being parts of it too. If anyone knows the WWW podcast, they know Josh Malina is completely shameless on asking for work and will soon be in need of some, so I'm sure he'd be up for it. :P

As it stands, the masses have Designated Survivor, Madam Secretary, and (I guess) House of Cards among a slate of political shows to fall back on, at least for now. I think Sorkin longform TV is still above average when it's not so great, but I'd rather have more only when Sorkin wasn't coked out of his mind.

Mark

 

One has to wonder how they would have the President first appear in any new WW show, given how he first appeared in WW

 

I'm not sure where you got that idea, but the 7th season was going to be the last. NBC almost canceled it after the 6th season but picked it up for a finale one. However Vinnick was going to win right up until John Spencer died and then they figured that be to depressing an ending.

Unless you are from the other universe, then go get up seasons 8-13+. (Bonus points if you get that reference.)

 

A Vinnick victory was never the original plan, it was a rumour started by the NY Times...

The so called 8th season with a new Administration was a hope from some of the writers but it was clear early on that NBC was winding down the show due to ratings.

 

I had to look it up. You are right... probably. John Wells and Lawrence O'Donnell also deny there was any random, odd time jump of a year between seasons 5 and 6, which there clearly was. So I don't always trust what they say after the fact.

I really liked the 7th years, besides the horribly lame space shuttle BS, so either way I'm happy how the show ended. Vinnick winning would have been fine with me too.

 

The 7th season was a worthy way to end a great show, I simply adore West Wing to bits. The first 4 seasons are outstanding but the show does lose it's way in the 5th season despite a strong start with the Zoey storyline with the addition of the always brilliant John Goodman as Walken. Also I enjoyed the shut down storyline though the treatment of Josh by the President & Leo was odd. I enjoyed the ending of season 5 too but the middle section of the season is the weakest of the entire show's 7 year run. Season 6 & 7 are helped by the new blood for the campaign stuff as the White House stories aren't what they used to be.

 

I remember Josh’s line about Walken, “The man opposes background checks for grenade launchers!” Or something like that. God, I miss that show!

 

I think the cast of season 5 call it 'yelling year' because all the characters seem to be themselves but really bitchy. I mean there are so many random fights that make no sense at all.

 

Yeah, aside from the opening and closing arcs of season five, the only true highlight of that season was "The Supremes." I find myself watching it every time talk about filling a Supreme Court seat comes up.

...which has been rather often relatively recently.

 

Excellent episode

 

That's one of my favorites, along with Shutdown. I just wish that during the finale episode they could have gotten Glenn Close back to sworn in Santos.

 

Which nowadays makes him pretty much a moderate republican.

 

Yep I got the "Fringe" reference but I wonder how that show played out when the White House was destroyed on their 9/11.

Jason

 

Don't forget that even Obama came out and admitted he's an 80s Republican.... and it showed.