“The West Wing” cast members reunited on stage at the Emmys Sunday night in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary next week.
Stars Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney and Richard Schiff were all on stage during the ceremony to present the award for best drama series.
Although it was brief, the cast appeared in a replica of the set. They made a crack at the modern political climate.
“It’s hard to believe that just 25 years ago, Aaron [Sorkin] and the writers actually had to use their imaginations to create interesting plotlines for ‘The West Wing,’” Janney quipped.
“Unlike today, where storylines could be plucked right off the news, storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous, 25 years ago,” Schiff added.
Bradley Whitford, who played deputy chief of stuff Josh Lyman, was unable to attend the Emmys due to being in production for a show in Budapest but wrote a touching post on X/Twitter.
“It breaks my heart not to be able to be with my ‘West Wing’ family at the Emmys tonight or at the White House later this week to celebrate our 25th birthday, but I’m in Budapest on another White House set pretending to work for another administration. (I know. I need to work on my range),” he wrote. “My God, the writing on ‘The West Wing.’ Those characters. Played by people I love and admire and get to be part of a family with for the rest of my life. As Janel said in her beautiful piece, it was, and somehow continues to be, a privilege. A gift.”
“The West Wing” premiered on NBC on Sept. 22, 1999, exactly 25 years ago from next Sunday. It starred Sheen as President Josiah “Jed” Bartlett, Janny as press secretary C.J. Cregg, Hill as Bartlett’s personal aide Charlie Young, Moloney as senior assistant Donna Moss and Schiff as communications director Toby Ziegler.
During its run, “The West Wing” won 27 Emmy awards out of 98 nominations. It also picked up six Screen Actors Guild awards and 20 nods; two Golden Globes out of 20 noms; three Directors Guild Awards, four Producers Guild Awards; five Television Critics Association awards and many, many more. It ran for seven seasons between 1999 and 2006, peaking with Season 3 which drew an average of 17.2 million viewers. More than 25 million viewers tuned into the Season 2 premiere, a high point for the series.
Since it ended, “The West Wing” is often considered one of the best shows of all time. Its “ping pong” dialogue and style have been parodied on many other TV series, talk shows and real-life political campaign videos. In 2020, the cast reunited virtually to raise awareness and drive voter registration ahead of the election. During this election year, many similar political shows, like “Veep,” “Scandal” and “Parks and Recreation,” have gone viral online due to the oddly prescient storylines that are now similar to real-life headlines.
Like last year’s Emmy broadcast, this ceremony is bringing together several famous TV reunions, such as the casts of “Happy Days” and “SNL.”
