what's next?

October 9, 2020 7:23 AM

HBO have released the official trailer for A West Wing Special, a reunion of the cast of The West Wing for a stage production of the episode 'Hartsfield's Landing' (season 3, episode 14). The special event, titled A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, drops on Oct. 15 on HBO Max, ahead of the 2020 presidential election and in support of When We All Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization co-chaired by Michelle Obama.
posted by fight or flight (23 comments total)

Leo? :(
posted by saturday_morning at 7:25 AM on October 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

Leo?

I know, right? :(

Leo will be played by Sterling K. Brown, in a piece of sadly necessary and pretty inspired casting. Sorkin has previously said he'd like Sterling to play the President if they ever do a reboot of the series.
posted by fight or flight at 7:33 AM on October 9, 2020 [5 favorites]

I refuse to sign up for HBO Max until it's on Roku. But this comes awfully close to changing my mind!
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:36 AM on October 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

I'll watch it at some point, but otherwise, meh.

Sure, TWW was enjoyable at the time, but things have changed and anything less than constant dunks on Republican policies to hurt the country and/or people is not something I want to watch.

What is best in life?
"To crush those fuckers, to see them hauled off to jail, and to hear the lamentations of their media sycophants."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:42 AM on October 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

I’m hard-pressed to imagine a more smugly milquetoast affair than, just...this particular list of names and adjectives.

It's a fantasy, it's always been a fantasy, even when it was first airing. People like fantasy when they're going through tough times. Nothing wrong with wanting to dream about a more pleasant world for a little while.
posted by fight or flight at 7:42 AM on October 9, 2020 [18 favorites]

Yeah, but these days it’s sitting back and fantasizing about a perfect world as wild dogs maul your children to death right in front of you.

I love the show and I’ll watch this, but I feel it brings us back to the days when smugly posting Jon Stewart clips to your Tumblr was how most people “fought the power”.

But, the least effective get out the vote effort is better than none.
posted by sideshow at 8:08 AM on October 9, 2020 [8 favorites]

The special premieres Thursday, October 15; the day before, there's this related Biden fundraiser:

Virtual Trivia Night with The Cast of the West Wing
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 6:00 p.m. PDT / 9:00 p.m. EDT

"Video conferencing details will be sent to all confirmed participants 24-48 hours prior to the event. Reasonable accommodations, such as closed captioning, will be available at request after RSVP."
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:33 AM on October 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

"In any event, the mere persistence—indeed, the continued, mammoth popularity—of the show signals a curious sort of social contract, ratifying and institutionalizing one of the striking themes of America's post-1960s civitas: the selective (yet ever didactic) liberal retreat into political fantasy." -Chris Lehman, 2001
posted by belarius at 10:26 AM on October 9, 2020 [4 favorites]

I tried to find a piece I read a few years back by googling “west wing ruined liberals” and the first and second pages of Google results basically shrugged and said: Take your pick.

(My guess is that it was this CA.)
posted by supercres at 11:26 AM on October 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

Yeah definitely that one. Much recognition for What we see throughout its seven seasons are Democrats governing as Democrats imagine they govern
posted by supercres at 11:28 AM on October 9, 2020

I'm re-watching TWW because reality is a bit much. A lot of the politics is dumb, unlikely, etc., Sorkin's ego is an uncredited character. Even so, the writing is exceptional, the acting and direction is very, very, good, sets are great, Sorkin is fantastic at casting. It's doing its escapist job.

Haha, remember when White Supremacists going after politicians was fiction? Good times.
posted by theora55 at 11:36 AM on October 9, 2020 [5 favorites]

I'd rather have the Veep cast reunite and give their most profane speeches from the show. That's the inspiration I need right now.
posted by gladly at 11:50 AM on October 9, 2020 [5 favorites]

OK, that WOULD get me to sign up for HBO Max!
posted by Frayed Knot at 12:16 PM on October 9, 2020

I'd rather have the Veep cast reunite and give their most profane speeches from the show. That's the inspiration I need right now.

I've said this elsewhere but I really wish Iannucci had written The Trial of the Chicago Seven instead of Sorkin.
posted by thecaddy at 12:18 PM on October 9, 2020

I can't help it: I know it's complete fantasy, but the music and the faces totally sucked me in. A lotta nostalgia there.

(I'm still not signing up for HBO Max, though)
posted by suelac at 12:22 PM on October 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

It’s a fundraiser. It will give TWW fans a little bit of that fantasy we love(d), and will direct funds to a GOTV effort. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
posted by third word on a random page at 3:04 PM on October 9, 2020 [5 favorites]

They're so . . . old.
I'm . . .
I'm . . . so old.
posted by The Bellman at 3:16 PM on October 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

They're so . . . old.

Except Richard Schiff, who's apparently been in his late fifties for about twenty-six years now.

This is him in Speed.
posted by MrVisible at 3:32 PM on October 9, 2020 [9 favorites]

I don't dream of a world where the president and his entire senior staff are white men except for one white woman. The sexism of the writing and the racism in the casting has been well-documented, but even in-world the president has very patriarchal attitudes and treads perilously close at times to various other types of prejudice, including in some of the clips it looks like they chose to recreate for this special. None of which is that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it just bothers me when people say they wish they could vote for Bartlett in real life, because most if not all of the Democratic candidates would be and indeed are better by 2020 (or 2016, etc) standards.

Sterling K. Brown is brilliant, and I'm sure Aaron Sorkin is very impressed with himself to find a second Black actor in 20 years that he wanted in this cast.

The West Wing is still enjoyable from a story and character perspective, but I don't find it comforting at all. Kristin Chirico may have hit the nail on the head recently when she tweeted

Rewatching The West Wing now is a lot like watching The Sopranos or Babylon Berlin: It's a show about people at the end of an era, and the beginning of something catastrophic, but they don't know it yet, and they can't see the clues around them for the ominous signs they are

All that said, I will check this out and I'm even "going" to the virtual fundraiser, out of curiosity and TV nerdiness and sheer blind loyalty to Allison Janney.
posted by lampoil at 4:11 PM on October 9, 2020 [9 favorites]

Haha, remember when White Supremacists going after politicians was fiction?

Not really, no.
posted by belarius at 5:03 PM on October 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

That tweet summarizes my feelings pretty well, too. But even beyond the fantasy of a functional Executive Branch that worked hard to get their agenda accomplished, what puts me over the top for not revisiting the show is the juxtaposition of conservatives in the show vs. real life.

The show has an ongoing narrative of conservatives who may be partisan, who may be machiavellian in their schemes, but who ultimately stand on a rational platform of principles which, though they may differ from their opponents, can nevertheless at least be defended as a viable alternative to running the country. That's so fucking far from the reality of today, where you're mostly up against a cadre of boneheaded fools whose only goal is to fleece their poor constituents, fondle their rich donors, and tear the whole system down as they head out the door from their grift.

I can't really bear it. The juxtaposition is too jarring.
posted by Brak at 5:10 PM on October 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

The cast is on Colbert tonight. Check local listings.
posted by neuron at 10:07 PM on October 9, 2020

President Bartlet spends this episode going back and forth between two games of chess (with Sam and Toby) while also narrowly avoiding an escalation to war between China and Taiwan.

Near the end, Sam marvels “I don’t know how you do it.”

Bartlet replies:

“ You have a lot of help. You listen to everybody. And then you call the play.”

We are so far gone from even the hint of such wisdom in the Oval Office.
posted by wabbittwax at 12:33 PM on October 10, 2020 [1 favorite]