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What’s next? A reunion for the cast of The West Wing. The award-winning political drama is the latest program to reunite following a Mean Girls Zoom reunion and a TV special from Parks and Recreation. Check out behind-the-scenes photos from the iconic TV show’s original run and get details on the upcoming TV special that airs Oct. 15, 2020.

'The West Wing' Season 3 Cast
The West Wing Season 3 Cast | James Sorensen/NBCU Photo Bank

‘The West Wing’ cast is recreating ‘Hartsfield’s Landing’ episode 

HBO Max is reuniting the original cast, creator Aaron Sorkin, and executive producer/director Thomas Schlamme. A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote will feature the cast on stage recreating The West Wing Season 3 Episode 14: “Hartfield’s Landing.” 

The episode originally aired on Feb. 27, 2002. It featured the president playing chess with Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) and Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe).

Meanwhile, Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) stressed out about all 42 votes being cast in a small New Hampshire town. They were important because historically the town always predicted the winner of the state primary. 

Martin Sheen filming a scene for 'The West Wing'
Martin Sheen filming a scene from The West Wing | Eric Liebowitz/NBCU Photo Bank

Back at the White House, C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) and Charlie Young (Dulé Hill) played pranks on each other after an incident involving a copy of the president’s daily schedule. 

Sheen, Hill, Janney, Lowe, Janel Moloney, Schiff, and Whitford are reprising their roles for the reunion special. According to the trailer HBO Max posted to YouTube, Sterling K. Brown of This Is Us will take part in the production too. 

There will also be appearances by former first lady Michelle Obama, Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, and former President Bill Clinton during breaks. 

The cast filmed the ‘West Wing’ special in October 2020

According to The Hollywood Reporter, filming took place at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre over the course of a few days in early October 2020. The special will benefit When We All Vote, Obama’s nonprofit nonpartisan organization whose mission it is to increase voter turnout in U.S. elections. 

‘The West Wing’ didn’t offer set tours because it looked so real

The West Wing didn’t film at the actual White House because it’s not permitted. So they did the next best thing.

Martin Sheen on the set of 'The West Wing'
Martin Sheen on the set of The West Wing | Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank

According to Collider, they created such an accurate version of the real West Wing tour guides at the Warner Bros. studio weren’t allowed to show it to visitors. 

Stockard Channing and Martin Sheen on the set of 'The West Wing'
Stockard Channing and Martin Sheen on the set of The West Wing | Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank

Check out the cast during a table read on the set.

'The West Wing' cast does a table read
The West Wing cast during a table read | Mitch Haddad/NBCU Photo Bank
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‘The West Wing’ Scene Dulé Hill Says ‘Still, To This Day, Warms My Heart’

‘The West Wing’ is 1 of the most award-winning shows in TV history

The West Wing almost didn’t get made but luckily for fans of the iconic series it did. Sorkin’s political drama about the fictional Bartlet administration premiered on Sept. 22, 1999. It ran for seven seasons before going off the air in May 2006. 

During that time, the show won 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, according to Business Insider, and amassed 95 nominations. The West Wing took home the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series four times in a row.

When the Bartlet administration said goodbye to TV viewers, the show had already solidified itself as one of the most award-winning programs ever.

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