A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote

TV Special
2020
1h 4m

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Rob Lowe and Martin Sheen in A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020)

Stage version of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing"Stage version of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing"Stage version of the season 3 episode "Hartsfield's Landing"

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
- 1 win & 3 nominations total

Storyline

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Trivia
This special presentation is based on Season 3 Episode 14 of The West Wing (1999), Hartsfield's Landing (2002). All of the main original cast members, as well as four members of the secondary cast, who appeared in the original version participated, except for the late John Spencer. Spencer's role as Leo McGarry was filled by Sterling K. Brown. The original episode's title is a fictionalized version of two real-life towns in northern New Hampshire (Dixville Notch and Hart's Location) that vote first in the nation, just after midnight, in primary and presidential elections.

Goofs
When President Bartlett is talking to the press at ANDREW'S AIR FORCE BASE at night, the words spoken are "and a laquered classic Stanton in boxwood" with the intended meaning that President Bartlett had been given a classic "Stanton Chess Set". Original script failed to correctly spell the word STAUNTON, and this West Wing Special repeats the exact same spelling mistake from the Season Three source material - The West Wing: Hartsfield's Landing (2002).

Every Staunton Chess Set contains a unique style design for each of the chess pieces used to play the game of chess, and was first made available in 1849 by Jaques of London. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke has long been credited with the style design, and he registered his design patent on 1st March 1849. The unique style design is named after the English chess master Howard Staunton (1810-1874), who was generally considered the strongest chess player in the world from 1843 to 1851.

Chess sets are still manufactured in a wide variety of PRE-STAUNTON style designs, often for historical/ornamental reasons rather than practical purposes. In all movies set before 1849, in would be a Factual Mistake for the "Staunton Chess Set" to be used.

Quotes
C.J. Cregg: It's called poetry, me bucko. Maybe, just maybe, just maybe, those 42 people are teaching us something about ourselves. That freedom is the glory of God, that democracy is its birthright, and that our vote matters.

Connections
Featured in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: West Winging It! (2020)

The Right Way to do a West Wing Reunion

A West Wing reunion is definitely not going to sway any independent or unlikely voters because they're really not the audience of the show, but damn it was still very well done. And like Bradley Whitford said at the top of the show, if it gets on more person to the polls then it's worth it. Or maybe it gets one person who watched to volunteer and they get someone to the polls.

The episode selection was perfect for this election both for the themes in it and the lines delivered. Everyone did well stepping back into their old roles, and in Sterling K. Brown's case- filling in for John Spencer. But it was Richard Schiff who stole the show. It's like he never stopped playing Toby. hid delivery of the most impactful line of the episode could not ring more true in 2020:

Then make this election about smart, and not. Make it about engaged, and not. Qualified, and not. Make it about a heavyweight. You're a heavyweight. And you've been holding me up for too many rounds.