President Barack Obama's State of the Union address is coming up on Tuesday, Jan. 20. This year, the White House has enlisted some old colleagues to encourage us to participate in a new tradition surrounding the speech.
OK, so these people never worked at the real White House. They just did so on TV.
Yes, The West Wing cast reunited to star in a video promoting the White House's second annual Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day, and it was glorious. In the two-minute spot, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest discusses the plans for the Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day on Jan. 21, where citizens can ask senior officials questions online, with the cast of the Aaron Sorkin political drama that aired for seven seasons on NBC from 1999 to 2006.
Unfortunately, The West Wing cast members in the video, which include Martin Sheen, Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford, don't actually appear in the same room together. They're just all on this big conference call with Earnest. But we do get to hear them all say cheese puns, so you feta believe this promo is well worth your time.
This new promo is also an improvement over last year's video in anticipation of the first annual Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day, which just featured Whitford and Joshua Malina. More West Wing cast members together equals more happiness always.
Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day was inspired by the day President Andrew Jackson brought a 1,400-pound block of cheese into the White House in 1837. He did this as a way to invite citizens into the White House to freely discuss their concerns. Obviously, if you bring the cheese, people will come. That sentiment is as strong as ever today. As an online forum for Americans to discuss what's on their minds with White House officials, this year's Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day will be like Reddit "but without the weird stuff," Earnest says in the video.
As exciting as this promo is, this isn't the first time The West Wing cast has reunited. In fact, they almost make it an annual thing. The cast reunited for Entertainment Weekly's 2010 Reunions Issue, a Funny or Die video in 2012 and a political ad for then-Michigan Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack also in 2012.
Having the old Bartlet administration get together as much as possible? I'd vote for that.
