Why ‘The West Wing’ has gone from a bipartisan hit to polarizing comfort viewing over two decades, reflecting profound shifts in media and politics

When The West Wing premiered in the early 2000s It returns on Netflix in December 2025It sparked conversation about how the ideal political drama would play out in Donald Trump’s second term.

The series features a democratic presidential administration led by the president Josiah “Jed” Bartlett, played by Martin SheenHis loyal staff in the White House negotiate political challenges with character, competence and a fair amount of humor.

It sparked cultural commentary long after it went off the air in 2005.

In 2016, Brian Moylan of The Guardian confirmed “The West Wing” was attractive because it depicted “a world in which the political system works. It reminds us of a time, not so long ago, when people in political office took their jobs seriously and wanted to actually rule this country rather than settle scores and appeal to their bases.”

In 2025, Vanity Fair’s Savannah Walsh opined that “The West Wing” might be dismissed by younger audiences as a “movie.”A form of science fiction“Or praised by the demographic currently watching”Jed Bartlet fancams video scored Taylor Swift’s “Father Figure” song on TikTok.

Audiences have been comfortingly watching “The West Wing” since Trump’s first term. Interest in the series It rose after Trump’s election in 2016And it was like Escaping the controversial 2020 campaign.

when The cast reunites for the 2024 Emmy AwardsKatherine L. Hensley of The Daily Beast Notice that the series’ “sense of optimism about how the American government actually works…was hollow, as if you were watching a show from another planet.”

However, Collider’s Rachel Labonte hailed Netflix’s late 2025 return as “A balm for these confusing times“.

Transfer of “The West Wing” from Television broadcast giant for “A cozy, bittersweet hour“In today’s streaming era it reveals a lot about how much our media and political landscape has changed in the past 25 years.

As a professor of media studies and political communication, We are examining the cracking of our media and political Environments.

The shifting appeal of “The West Wing” over the past quarter-century raises a troubling question: Will political competence and idealistic respect for democratic norms lose popularity in 2026? Or does the new political reality require dealing with the more ambiguous side of politics?

The big, upbeat “West Wing” tent

“The West Wing” premiered on NBC in the fall of 1999. Mixing political intrigue with workplace drama In a format that the audience found irresistible. the offer Viewing ratings increased in its second and third seasonsIt also depicted the Democratic administration’s responses to the values ​​and ideology of newly inaugurated Republican President George W. Bush.

But the series was underpinned by an ethic of political cooperation, which reinforced the idea that, according to Walsh, “We’re all more compatible than we realize“. In 2020, Shane noted In an interview with the writer, “Aaron Sorkin was never about tearing down dissent,” choosing instead to portray “people with differences of opinion trying to serve.”

In 2019, The New York Times noted that “The West Wing” presented “opposition Republicans, for the most part, as equally honorable,” and noted that the show garnered fan mail from viewers across the political spectrum.

At the height of its popularity, it garnered episodes of The West Wing. 25 million viewers. These numbers are reserved today only for live broadcasts. Mass culture events such as Sunday Night Football.

Of course, “The West Wing” aired in a television environment radically different from today’s.

Despite competition from cable channels, free-to-air broadcasters of the era such as NBC prevailed Nearly half of all television viewership in the 2001-2002 season. They are currently being held accountable For only about 20%.

Gone are the days of TV power To create “big tents” for diverse audiences. Instead, since the original broadcast of “The West Wing,” television has been collecting smaller segments of viewers based on political ideology and very specific demographic markers.

A darker and more polarized media environment

The division of television audiences parallels divisions in American political culture, where viewers and voters increasingly turn to… Partisan echo chambers. Taylor Sheridan replaced Sorkin He opposed this decade, pumping out conservatively consistent hits Such as Yellowstone and Landman.

Conversely, liberals now see “The West Wing” alumni reformulating their own sordid critiques of contemporary conservatism. Bradley Whitford went from President Bartlet’s political strategist to… A calculated racist in the movie “Get Out,” directed by Jordan Peele.“And A commander in The Handmaid’s Tale’s misogynistic army.

Allison Janney, who played the no-nonsense, meticulous press secretary on “The West Wing,” is now an actress. A duplicitous and possibly traitorous American president in the movie “The Diplomat”.“,” whose creator actually got his start in “The West Wing.”“.

Even Shin was demoted from service America’s favorite fictional president To play the role of J. Edgar Hoover in the movie “Judas and the Black Messiah” Which Shane described As a “wretched man” and “one of the worst villains imaginable.”

Television as a tool for life

philosopher Kenneth Burke He argued that stories function asLiving equipment“Novels, films, songs, video games, and television series are important because they not only reveal our cultural predispositions, they shape them, providing us with strategies for navigating the world around us.

Films and series such as “Get Out,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Diplomat,” and “Judas and the Black Messiah” challenge audiences to confront the racism and sexism ever-present in media and politics. This includes, as is the case with some Scientists and Viewers She noted the often casual misogyny and second-string roles of some black women and men on “The West Wing.”

American citizens are also protesting Tyranny in the streets From Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, a cozy party of the series in White House Press SecretaryAs Vanity Fair put it, “The Jackal’s obnoxious performance that wouldn’t dream of restricting access to the West Wing—even on the administration’s worst press days” is attractive.

But indulging the appetite for what one critic called “Fast food nostalgia for a time that probably never existed“It may leave audience members less prepared to build the healthy democracy that ‘The West Wing’ characters have always sought. Or it may energize them.”