Aaron Sorkin ’s hugely popular political drama, which ran on NBC from 1999 to 2006, would seem ripe to revisit given the current chaos in D.C. So it was only natural that actor Bradley Whitford , who earned an Emmy playing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, was asked about a possible reboot during an appearance in Arlington Wednesday.

But the success of “Roseanne” 2.0 proves there’s an appetite for old shows, so you can’t blame Hollywood for riding the wave of nostalgia. Of course, some shows are more worthy of a second take than others, like, say, “The West Wing.”

When people are talking about reviving “Miami Vice” — and they are, with Vin Diesel producing — we can all agree that the reboot craze is officially out of control.


His answer? Definitely maybe.

“People have been saying, ‘Oh you should bring it back,’ ” Whitford said to enthusiastic applause. “I always say you want to go before your banana turns brown, and that’s great life advice.”

Apparently the banana hasn’t turned brown yet.

“It was an idiotic idea a few years ago. Aaron sort of entertained the notion in an interview, with [“This Is Us” star] Sterling Brown as president. He’s an incredible actor,” said Whitford. “There’s been a wave of successful reboots, which, economically, makes sense because the world is so fractured and these things have a built-in audience.”

But Whitford acknowledged it wouldn’t be easy.

“I don’t know how you’d do it now,” he said, a reference to the absurd goings-on in Washington. “I mean, what do we pretend? There’s a pretty big elephant in the room at the moment.”

Whitford, who was interviewed on stage at Arlington High School by his older brother, journalist David Whitford, had been invited to speak by Arlington Community Education. Though best known for his role in “The West Wing,” Whitford also starred in writer-director Jordan Peele’s hit “Get Out” — he thinks Peele’s brilliant, by the way — and “The Post,” the Steven Spielberg film in which he costarred with Meryl Streep.


Proceeds from Wednesday’s event will be used to buy books for Arlington’s new Gibbs Sixth Grade School library.