Aaron Sorkin Says Monica Lewinsky Scandal Delayed Season 1 of ‘The West Wing’: ‘There Was a Sense That Everyone’s Going to Roll Their Eyes’

On September 20, creator Aaron Sorkin , executive producer and director Thomas Schlamme, and some of the cast of “ The West Wing ,” including the show’s fictional president, Martin Sheen, celebrated the 25th anniversary of their beloved political TV series with a special event at The White House hosted by the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. It was part of a reunion lap the show has been having the last few months, both in relation to the upcoming election and the release of “What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to ‘The West Wing'” by co-stars of the show Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack.

In reminiscing about the show in a recent interview with The New York Times , Sorkin shared that the timetable for when the show was supposed to be made had to be shifted as a result of a real-life political scandal. “The pilot was supposed to happen a year earlier than it did, and Monica [Lewinsky] happened, and there was a sense that everyone’s going to roll their eyes, let’s hold off for a year,” said Sorkin. “I wanted it to feel like our world.

But I didn’t mention presidents after Eisenhower, maybe even earlier. I didn’t make any pop culture references, because in a world where Britney Spears has the No. 1 hit, Bill Clinton is president.

That’s why everybody on the show loved Gilbert and Sullivan.” Though getting a star like Sheen was a huge deal for the show, Sorkin initially didn’t want to overuse the impact of his presence, instead wishing to focus on the p.