WHAT'S NEXT

A celebration of all things West Wing from a pair of former cast members.

As the Trump presidency battered the norms of American democracy and Covid-19 forced citizens to nest indoors, the White House TV drama, which originally aired from 1999 to 2006, enjoyed a second life as a tribute to steady leadership. Fitzgerald and McCormack, who played assistant press secretary and deputy national security adviser, respectively, strive to evoke the show’s upbeat, pro–public service spirit throughout this book, dishing anecdotes about the series and spotlighting the charitable endeavors of its cast and crew. The authors gained excellent access to key figures on the show, from creator Aaron Sorkin (who wrote the foreword) to stars like Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, and Alison Janney, down to the Steadicam operator (a crucial role on a program infamous for its “walk-and-talks”). There’s plenty of insider trivia—e.g., Eugene Levy was once a candidate to play grumpy communications director Toby, Hal Holbrook was in the running to play President Jed Bartlet, and Sheen financed regular cast-and-crew trips to Las Vegas. The authors dedicate chapters to a handful of episodes especially beloved by the show’s fans (aka Wingnuts) and explore the show’s legacy since its end among creative and political communities. (Lin-Manuel Miranda notes cases where he unconsciously borrowed West Wing patter for Hamilton.) The book is mainly hagiography, with participants celebrating the close-knit family vibe on the set and lamenting low points like the death of John Spencer, who played Bartlet’s chief of staff; touchy subjects, like Lowe’s departure over salary, are handled gently, almost apologetically. A nonpartisan history of the show remains to be written, but this is satisfying on its own terms, determinedly refusing to see “government” as a four-letter word.

A gauzy but thorough exploration of a prestige-TV standard-bearer.