Toby Ziegler actor Richard Schiff has the "right idea" for a West Wing reboot
In these tumultuous times for the West Wing, could we see the return of Aaron Sorkin's political drama?
Paging Aaron Sorkin! Toby Ziegler actor Richard Schiff has an idea for a West Wing reboot – and he's keen to get the ball rolling.
Schiff has been furiously (and despairingly) tweeting about President Donald Trump's first two weeks in the White House, and it seems to have given him inspiration.
The actor who played a fictional White House Communications Director is not a fan of his new real-life equivalent Sean Spicer.
In response to an interview with Sorkin collaborator Tommy Schlammer in The Hollywood Reporter suggesting it's about time for the drama to return, Schiff tweeted: "I've got the right idea for it. We'll see. #WestWingReboot".
The American TV series ran from 1999 to 2006, beginning when Bill Clinton was in office.
More like this
As George W Bush entered the White House in 2001, the drama became something of a refuge for liberals, as it instead told the story of a fictitious Democratic administration led by Josiah Bartlett (Martin Sheen).
West Wing producer Tommy Schlammer argued that although series like House of Cards have changed the dynamic of political drama, he said there was still a place for a series like The West Wing to re-emerge.
"The pain for me in our world today is the lack of belief in an institution I so strongly believe in — the American government," he said. "Does it have its faults? Yeah, sure. But we've so demonised anyone who says they're in politics. That's what I think, as much as anything, that Trump exploited.
"I wish somebody did emerge, a young Aaron Sorkin, with a way to tell stories, out of this mud, that celebrate public service. Whoever reads this, write that show."
The West Wing was created and written by Sorkin, though he later left the show. Schiff himself even directed two episodes.
So is it time for a West Wing revival?
