The West Wing, the White House drama that not too long ago seemed on the long glide toward impeachment at NBC, was considerably revived last season by the arrival of new characters played by Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda and a storyline focusing on presidential-nomination campaigns. The show may be in line for an additional boost—not by adding more new blood but by recalling the man who created the show in 1999 and guided it through its powerhouse first few seasons: Aaron Sorkin.
West Wing executive producer John Wells wants to entice Sorkin to write a few episodes of the show that he left in May 2003. At the time, there were widespread reports that Warner Bros. Television was exasperated by budget-busting production delays and then-executive producer Sorkin’s penchant for delivering scripts late. A ratings slump that season didn’t help matters.
The most likely scenario would be Sorkin’s writing for the show before its as-yet-unscheduled conclusion. “Whenever the series is going to come to an end, I am hoping I can convince him to come back and do some writing,” Wells tells B&C’s Ben Grossman. “I talk to him all the time.”
Sorkin has already engineered something of a West Wing reunion of his own. His play, A Few Good Men, which he adapted for the screen in 1992, is currently on the stage in London, with the part that Tom Cruise played onscreen filled by former West Wing-er Rob Lowe.
