Nineties liberal fantasy that it was, The West Wing had the ideological shortcomings of, well, any other Aaron Sorkin show. Few shows this side of Parks and Recreation have riled viewers’ sense of civic duty as effectively. Allison Janney, our erstwhile C.J. Cregg, agrees, revealing that she’d welcome more West Wing for exactly that reason. Janney told Variety, “Gosh, it would be just a great time for ‘West Wing’ now, for whoever is disillusioned by what’s going on today … Those are the people you want working in Washington: People whose hearts are in the right place, people who reach across the aisle, people who want to do the right thing.â€
Still, Janney doesn’t think a straightforward revival would work, given that wide-eyed idealism tends to go hand-in-hand with the innocence of youth. Instead, she suggests something of a revival-reboot hybrid: “They could do it with a whole new cast, and Aaron should. I know everyone fell in love with our characters, and I love that, but it seems like ‘West Wing’ should be filled with young, idealistic, visionary people. Maybe, I don’t know, they could give us some other jobs in the White House.†The West Wing did hammer in hard the necessity of compromise, so let’s go ahead and call it a deal. In lieu of more West Wing proper, the people would also settle for more footage of Janney doing the Jackal, thanks.