X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Watch The West Wing's C.J. Cregg Make Her Triumphant Surprise Return to the White House

Watch the fictitious former Press Secretary give an actual press briefing at the White House

liam-mathews
Liam Mathews

For seven seasons on the beloved political drama The West Wing,Allison Janney played White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg, giving daily press briefings on behalf of President Bartlet (Martin Sheen). And on Friday, she reprised the role from the actual podium in the actual West Wing, as she briefly replaced President Obama's Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Janney-as-Cregg entered the room to murmurs of surprise and recognition from reporters, and began by saying that Earnest is out getting a root canal but, "let's be honest, I'm better than he is at this anyway."

She announced that the president is still working on his jokes for Saturday's Larry Wilmore-hosted White House Correspondents' Dinner, but promised that they will be "very funny."

Inside Joshua Malina and Hrishikesh Hirway's West Wing Podcast

She also said that after the conference she'll be doing a public performance of "The Jackal" in her office, "if anyone remembers or cares." How could we forget:

Janney then dropped the act and explained her real reason for being there: She's attending the Correspondents' Dinner with 10 people who are being honored by the White House Champions for Change initiative who are leading the fight against drug addiction, a cause that's near and dear to her heart as the star of the recovery sitcom Mom.