TV Revivals: How The West Wing season 8 would be instantly relevant
Should The West Wing season 8 exist in the universe? While it’s been an awfully long time at this point since the political drama was last on the air, one thing does feel clear: We’re at a time when it’s far more relevant than ever before.
Granted, there is always scrutiny around the Presidency. That goes with the territory of the office. It’s a little different when it is this particular administration and people like Steve Bannon and Sean Spicer are household names. How often does the average American remember people like the Press Secretary? Rarely ever. There is so much scrutiny right now surrounding the entire series, and as a result of this, it makes the prospect of getting to see a revival all the more interesting.
Sure, you can’t just put Martin Sheen in office again and expect everything to be as it was. Yet, at the same time you can capture another character — whether it be someone who was previously a part of the show or someone altogether new — and bring them into this world. That wouldn’t be altogether difficult. With Aaron Sorkin’s vision and tone, you could present a different side to the political story, one that does still have shreds of optimism and is not so inherently reliant on such things as darkness or TV tropes in order to allow it to take center stage.
As for relevant stories, that are so many that The West Wing could take on now that it couldn’t at this point a year ago. We are speaking specifically in terms of social media, the ever-expanding media, hacking, transgender rights, and of course the ever-changing international landscape. There is potential here for there to us to see the most complicated season of the show to date.
Could it actually happen?
It’s almost certainly not going to happen, given that you’d need either almost a completely new administration or some way to throw everyone back into the White House, which would only work under specific scenarios. Sorkin’s moved on, as have many of the cast members. The best thing you can hope for is some sort of reboot more so than a sequel, where you’d have a new cast and maybe a couple of returning people here and there.
By and large, we don’t consider reboots to always be smart. In this case, though, any opportunity to get back a landmark show with a visionary like Sorkin is a chance worth taking. NBC should at least make the calls and see if there’d be any interest. Given that they are bringing back Will & Grace, anything is possible in theory.
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