NBC’s The West Wing will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its series premiere at The White House on Friday, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
First lady Jill Biden will host the inside-the-White House TV series’ creator Aaron Sorkin as well as star Martin Sheen and other castmembers. The celebration, which could see a replica of the political drama’s Oval Office set originally built on a Los Angeles soundstage exchanged for the real one in Washington, D.C., follows the premiere of The West Wing in September 1999 and its idealized depiction of a virtuous Democratic administration in the White House.
The series, which rewrote the nation’s highest office for TV and starred Sheen as Democratic President Jed Bartlet, ran for seven seasons. For its scripted TV success, The West Wing won 24 Primetime Emmys out of 89 nominations, while also picking up Golden Globe, DGA, SAG, TCA and WGA awards, in addition to three Humanitas Prizes and a pair of Peabodys.
That was a significant feat for a TV series that took Hollywood out of its comfort zone by featuring politicians and bureaucrats, and not the cops, doctors, detectives and lawyers that traditionally inspired network TV drama characters.
The West Wing cast led by Sheen, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff and Allison Janney had a recent reunion at the 2024 Emmys. “It’s hard to believe that just 25 years ago, Aaron and the writers actually had to use their imaginations to create interesting plotlines for The West Wing,” Janney quipped from the Emmys stage.
