Jed Bartlett is back in the White House. HBO Max released the first look at its “West Wing” reunion that features the majority of the cast back together to recreate the Season 3 episode “Hartfield’s Landing.”
The special, which airs on Oct. 15, will see the cast, along with creator Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme, perform the episode on stage at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre. This will be the first time in 17 years that the original cast of “The West Wing” will reunite and features Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen reprising their roles from the episode.
Sterling K. Brown will take on the role of Leo McGarry, who was the chief of staff for President Jed Bartlett (Sheen). He was played by John Spencer during the NBC series’ run. Spencer died in 2005, during the show’s seventh and final season.
The special will also feature guest appearances, including a message from Michelle Obama and others. Additional cast members and special guests will be announced in the coming weeks. Composer W.G. Snuffy Walden will play the score for “The West Wing theme” song. Folk-rock band, The Avett Brothers, will close out the special.
“The West Wing” ran for seven seasons from 1999 to 2006, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of a group of frenzied staffers in the West Wing of the White House and the President’s Oval Office. It won 27 Primetime Emmys. It was created by Sorkin, who executive produced with Schlamme and John Wells (“ER,” “Shameless”).
Watch the video above.
Here is the logline for “Hartsfield’s Landing,” which originally aired Feb. 27, 2002:
Bartlet (Sheen) engages both Sam (Lowe) and Toby (Schiff) in intricate chess matches that mirror the wily game of brinksmanship that Bartlet is playing with the Chinese, who are conducting war games in the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese threaten real war if Taiwan begins test firing its new U.S.-made Patriot defense missiles. Meanwhile, Josh (Whitford) is nervous about the 42 votes in a remote New Hampshire town’s election, which are counted immediately and always predict the winner of that state’s primary. Mischievous C.J. (Janney) tries to upset Charlie (Hill) by hiding his copy of the President’s top-secret daily schedule — prompting a spate of playful tricks.