Mrs. Landingham … What’s next? In celebration of 25 years of The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin’s Emmy® Award-winning masterpiece is now available (for the first time ever) on Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. The West Wing: The Complete Series contains all 156 episodes on a 28-disc set with more than 20 commentaries, unaired scenes, gag reels and more. While the series is available on streaming services, the disc set offers behind-the-scenes featurettes that dive deeper into the making of the show, one widely regarded as one of the best dramas in American television.
Originally airing from 1999 to 2006, the NBC drama brilliantly explored the inner workings of the White House under President Josiah Bartlet (played to perfection by Martin Sheen). Director Thomas Schlamme conducted the orchestra of a walking, talking ensemble who contributed to The West Wing’s 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including four consecutive Outstanding Drama Series wins. The awards, along with props, costumes, scripts and more were on display at The Paley Museum’s walk-through exhibit “Inside The West Wing: A 25th Anniversary Salute” in New York City earlier this month.
Sorkin’s intelligent dialogue and play-like structure transformed politics into a character-driven drama, one which television hadn’t seen prior to 1999. But on the heels of Sorkin’s theatrical hit The American President, Warner Brothers foresaw the appeal of good people in high places. And “good” they were. Sheen’s Bartlet is both paternal and presidential, embodying an ideal leader many viewers yearned for throughout the Clinton and Bush administrations. The late, great John Spencer played Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, a right-hand man whose face “had a map of the world on it.”
Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg turned White House press briefings into must-watch television while Richard Schiff’s command of dialogue cemented Toby Ziegler into one of the greatest characters ever created for the screen. The dynamic between Bradley Whitford’s Josh Lyman and Janel Moloney’s Donna Moss provided one of television’s most compelling slow-burn romances; a relationship rich in emotional depth, yet frustratingly devoid of physical intimacy. Rob Lowe, Dule Hill, a young Elizabeth Moss and countless others kept viewers watching when the show originally aired and now, more than two decades later.
For me, The West Wing: The Complete Series box set is a tangible reminder of joy, a relic from the golden age of network dramas when transcendent writing and acting was expected, not an anomaly. In an era of ER, Friends, Will & Grace and Frasier, a show like The West Wing seamlessly fit into the weeknight lineup of NBC. Now, it’s a cherished piece of history. On its 25th Anniversary, it has morphed into beacon of light and hope; 6,000+ minutes of stories that are relevant, inspiring and deeply human. It’s been a pleasure, indeed, Claudia Jean.
