I love The West Wing. It’s one of my favorite TV shows.
If you’ve never seen it, let me provide a little context for this post. The show follows the presidency of Josiah (Jed) Bartlet and his staff. In the final season, his former Chief of Staff (Leo) becomes the VP candidate for the next election, run by his former Deputy Chief of Staff (Josh).
There’s a scene where Bram (campaign staff) asks Josh and Annabeth if they saw a particular comic in the newspaper clippings of their candidate cowering in fear.
Of course, they never show the comic on screen, but every time I watch this episode, I imagine what that comic might look like. Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) dressed as Dorothy? Leo McGarry (John Spencer) as a big floating head? Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as the wizard behind the curtain? Incredible.
So during my last rewatch, I asked my old Iconfactory friend Anthony Piraino (who drew political cartoons for a local newspaper) if he could make this a reality. And boy, did he deliver! The little DNC donkey in the basket as Toto is a great addition.
