Times and sensibilities change, in Hollywood and in Washington. There always was an elegiac undertone to “The West Wing,” a sense that it was calling back to a bygone era of politics, a bygone spirit of sacrifice, a bygone kind of TV drama.

Centered on the senior staff who make the White House run every day, The West Wing seemed like a bit of a long shot, a political fantasy about an idealistic Democratic president in the wake of Clinton scandals and amid rising Republican power.

The West Wing” was the ideal TV show for adults who spent their childhood watching the “Schoolhouse Rock” segment “I’m Just a Bill” on repeat: It was a cultural phenomenon that made it cool to care about government,