A ‘West Wing’ reunion is coming to TV this fall and the original cast is on board

Fans of “The West Wing” have been waiting a long time for a reunion show. Now, nearly 15 years after the NBC political drama aired its finale, the stars of the hit series are coming together for a one-night-only TV special to highlight the importance of voting in the upcoming 2020 election.

“A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote” will stream on HBO Max later this fall, according to Variety. As word filtered out online about the reunion, a number of the show’s original cast, including Bradley Whitford, who played Joshua Lyman on the series, confirmed the news on their social media feeds, much to the delight of fans.

Whitford will participate in the reunion show along with other original cast members including Martin Sheen, Alison Janney, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Rob Lowe and Dulé Hill, who also tweeted out the news, writing “#TheWestWing cast reunites for the first time in 17 years to get out the vote!”

The special event is being produced to support When We All Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing participation in voting for every age group and demographic. The organization was created in 2018 by Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul and Michelle Obama.

The production will be different than a typical reunion show. Cast members will come together in October at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles for a theatrical stage presentation of a season 3 episode called “Hartsfield’s Landing,” which focuses on a primary vote in a small New Hampshire town that has majorly influenced the overall election.

Series creator and writer Aaron Sorkin is also on board for the project and will write original material for the production, Variety confirmed.

“Tommy [Schlamme, an original series director and producer] and I are incredibly excited to be getting ‘The West Wing’ cast back together for this staged reading and to support When We All Vote in their efforts to get all of us involved in this election,” Sorkin said.

However, there is no word, yet, on who may take over the role of President Bartlet’s chief of staff Leo McGarry. Sadly, actor John Spencer, who won an Emmy award for his performance of this role, died in 2005, during the show’s final season.