It's a special one.

I'm your host, Stephen Colbert, and I'm very excited because tonight we'll take a break from talking about what happened in the West Wing and instead talk about what happened on The West Wing, specifically a West Wing special to benefit when we all vote on HBO.

Max.

It's a huge event next Thursday, October 15th, bringing together the cast and creators of one of the most iconic shows off the last 20 years.

Plus, it's on HBO, so maybe we'll finally get a peek at Josiah Bartlet's South Wing.

I'm talking Martin Machine pain.

Don't let us down, Marty.

It's all the benefit Michelle Obama's voter initiative when we all vote.

Oh, I know that 1 November third.

Do it.

Tonight I'll be interviewing West Wing stars Mark Sheen, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and creator Aaron Sorkin in honor of Sorkin.

I want to do the whole thing is a walk and talk, but right now office hallways air just a disease vector.

So we zoomed it in prepping for tonight.

It's been a treat to turn my attention to the happiest time in American history fiction When it comes to fictional presidents, no one inspired our country.

Like President Josiah Bartlet.

He led the country, at least on TV, from 1999 to 2006 at which point he retired and found love with Sam Waterston.

You know, Donald Trump could take a page out of Jed Bartlet's book, especially when it comes to handling illness.

When Jed Bartlet developed M s, he initially tried to hide it from the country, but fortunately, Bartlett had another condition.

Trump never tested positive for a conscience.

I may not have had sinister intent at the outset, but there were plenty of opportunities for me to make it right.

No one in government takes responsibility for anything anymore.

We foster, we obfuscate, we rationalized, Everybody does it.

That's what we say.

So we come to occupy a moral safe house where everyone's to blame.

So no one's guilty.

I am to blame.

I was wrong.

I was wrong.

The only three word combinations you're less likely to hear from Trump are finished.

My fries.

Too many Nazis and I love vegetables.

Well, the truth came out about his M s.

Bartlett was clear that he didn't want anyone to lie on his behalf.

If you lied to protect me, if you lie just once, if you lie just little if you lie because you can't stand what's happening to me and the people making it happen.

If you ever ever lie, you're finished with me.

You understand.

Trump's version is a little bit different if you lie to protect May.

If you lie just once.

If you lie just a little, that's not lying enough.

You keep that light, shoot you a chugging and I'll pick you up at Pardon Junction.

Whoa!

It might be unfair to compare the two presidents, but it's also kind of fun.

For example, when Trump gets angry, he tweets from the toilet.

When Bartlett got angry, he castigated God in Latin Hate crater on my day, Appeal a day or you store a day Yoshito Kruky, Otto's and Creature tuition.

Terror, Sir, was noon.

Tia's fuII official Perfection.

Gucci.

Otto's in Christian A Ahsan Kruky.

Um, which God responded?

Take it down a notch, Nerd.

The West Wing wasn't just a romantic vision of the White House.

At times, it was straight up romantic.

We got international tracking polls.

Times it's 44.

44 were tied.

We're tied nationally.

Holy God Way fuel The romantic payoff this White House has given us.

Who's when Trump finally Consummated his will there, won't they?

With the coronavirus, My heart is beating so fast.

Oh, my lungs were working so hard.

This virus really plays easy to get, But enough reminiscing about the West Wing.

Let's talk to the people who made it happen.

Joining me Now, 20 years and 26 Emmys later, the cast and creators of the West Wing please welcome Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Aaron Sorkin and Bradley Whitford.

Hey, folks, thanks for being here.

Good to see you, E.

I'm really happy you're here.

The one thing that bums me out is that I wish we had the entire live audience of the L.

Sullivan Theater so you could feel the thunderous, roaring applause that you could literally lean against When each of you walked out on stage.

I could Onley glow it you, but they would actually give you the love you deserve.

Um, Aaron West Wing fans are giddy that that you put together this West Wing special, but you're being adamant that this is not a re union.

What?

What is What does that mean?

That it's not a re union?

That's right.

It's not a reunion show.

Uh, you know, reunion shows have, ah, certain stigma attached to them that you feel like it's gonna be a very Brady Christmas eso.

Over the years, I've resisted, uh, the opportunity to do a reunion show.

But this opportunity came along to do something at a crucial time for when we all vote on DSO.

While it is a group of people coming back together after having not been together for a while, it is not a re union.

Uh, it has ah, purpose and what we've done.

Uh, my producing partner on the West Wing, Thomas Salami, was also our principal director.

He's taking an episode of the show, and he has re staged it as a play.

Haven't changed a word.

He's just re staged.

The whole thing is a play.

And then we shot that play as if it were in the style of a modern playhouse 90.

So again, not a reunion show.

It's something else.

I don't know what to call it.

So you guys are in character that we are doing.

We are doing episode of the West Bank.

Sorry.

Go ahead, read.

No, I was just gonna say we are, however, now doing the Brady opening credits.

Thank you.

Because for a moment there, I really sound like Aaron was talking smack about the Brady Bunch.

And I'm not gonna sit here and let him run down an American treasure.

I'll be honest with you.

I was a little disappointed with the second reunion.

The first one out of the park.

Okay, The the episode that you are staging, um, is a 2000 and two episode called Hartsfield Landing.

Bradley.

What's it like returning to the character of Josh after this thing?

Period of time?

Oh, my God.

It was, I think, emotionally, uh, lovely for all of us to go back, You know, there's a little have a little vain fear that people are gonna wondering who the old fisherman playing Josh is, but way love.

Um, uh, I'm not just saying this.

I really think the key moment that made the cast chemistry come together.

Uh, waas was Martin because we feel such affection and protection for him.

A czar characters Thio.

It was a little intimidating.

There's a certain pace to Sorkin's writing.

I don't know if he's aware of that.

Um, and you could feel like 1st 2nd, you'd be like, Oh, God, did I lose this?

And then you could see in others when you were You were riding the pace of the words and all of us got to riot errands, writing like a glorious motorcycle on.

It was great to have that feeling again.

Um, when you guys one of the of course, one of the hallmarks everybody knows about the Sorkin esque.

A writing, if I could use that word, is that there are moments when the character finds exactly the words they would need in that moment.

It's a fantasy of having just the right thing to say it exactly the right moment when you were reading throughout the seasons, would you go through and, like, see a full block of text on the page and go?

I have I have one of them This episode Did you guys go through that?

I did.

Personally, I I lived for those those those moments for C.

J.

Because I get very nervous.

Public speaking, I don't have a lot of confidence and to be ableto memorize and own errands, words and and make them my own empowered me.

It was exhilarating to say that even the press briefings I just love sounding like I was the smartest woman in the room, which I you know, all my lovely castmates that everyone knows that I'm I'm I'm not so it was really It was just a thrill.

Martin.

I have a question for you from a super fan who was on the show last night.

It's Mr Jon.

Bon Jovi asked me to ask you this question.

Who it says, Hey said I'm a Jon Bon Jovi as well.

He said, President Bartlet was my man.

What's President Bartlet doing in retirement?

Yeah, well, the Bartlett is in retirement, but I'm still at it, you know?

Uh, Richard?

What about what about some of the other characters?

Richard, What's Toby doing these days?

What did Toby go onto?

Dio?

Well, in in the fictional world, I would imagine that Toby would have gotten so apoplectic about the political situation in this country that he would have gone back to a more of a grassroots situation and maybe taken out a specific enemy, say Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

He would go down and join and help the candidate.

In this case, Harrison Hey, would go and help one candidate kind of surreptitiously without being visible, kind of in the basement.

He'd write him speeches and yell in his ear piece during debates.

So that s so that we could we could have won victory.

He would.

He would be focusing on one important victory, I think.

Well, Toby was a speechwriter.

Aaron, as a writer yourself.

How What do you think of the plot of the year 2020?

Because every so often I just want to yell.

Okay, 2020.

That's a little too on the nose.

That's a that's a That's a little too much, really.

The person who is spreading the coronavirus is named Hope.

Why?

Why did you Why did you name the character?

Hope 2020 jumped the shark a long while ago.

But I think that the problem in terms of writing it, you know, writer is gonna have plenty to write about thes thes last four or five years.

But I think that you will very seldom see Donald Trump as an onstage or onscreen character.

He'll be off stage.

He'll be a news footage because he's implausible and, in fact, the one place right now where you see him as a character.

Steven is on your show.

It is on our cartoon president, which is by far the most generous portrayal of Donald Trump I've ever seen.

Yes, because in every episode he does what a TV character does.

He changes.

By the end of the episode, Hey, learned something by the end of the episode, that is, the hardest thing about Donald Trump is a character is how can you play a man who doesn't change it all.

That's right.

You can't.

You can have a bad guy.

You can have a good guy.

But there's no such thing as an interesting character who doesn't have a conscience E country, except on your show, where you kinda like him.

Hey, kind of like George Stein.

Kinda like George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld.

It always be off camera and the voice that's exactly right.

Yeah, Larry David, voice something.

We'll just see the back of his head.

I think if there is a God, yes, she's a terrible writer uh, she can't even pick a genre.

I don't believe the beginning.

The second act goes on forever, and the ending is terrible.

We don't know the ending yet.

2020 Could could end on a high note.

Please, everybody breathe.

It might well be right back with more.

Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Aaron Sorkin and Bradley Whitford stick around.