Can You Handle the Truth? History of Aaron Sorkin's A FEW GOOD MEN

As BWW reported yesterday, Emmy and Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin, the creator and mastermind behind the beloved NBC drama "The West Wing," is returning to the network with a live presentation of A FEW GOOD MEN, set to air in early 2017.

The live NBC broadcast will be based on the stage version, with Sorkin writing the teleplay adaptation and serving as executive producer along with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The production will mark NBC's first live drama since the network began reinvigorating live programming in 2013 with the production of "The Sound of Music Live," starring Carrie Underwood. That was followed by musicals "Peter Pan Live" and last year's "The Wiz Live."

Set in 1986 and taking place in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "A Few Good Men" centers on military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee, who is asked to defend three Marines on trial for murder.

Sorkin's play was first produced on Broadway by David Brown in 1989 at New York City's Music Box Theatre. Directed by Don Scardino, the cast starred Tom Hulce as LTJG Kaffee, Megan Gallagher as LCDR JoAnne Galloway and Stephen Lang as Col Jessep. The production earned Megan Gallagher a 1990 Theatre World Award and a Best Actor nomination for Tom Hulce at the 44th Tony Awards.

Of course most people are more familiar with 1992's big screen adaptation of the play which featured an adapted screenplay by Sorkin. Directed by Rob Reiner and produced by Brown, the movie starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore with Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Wolfgang Bodison, James Marshall, J. T. Walsh, and Kiefer Sutherland in supporting roles. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay.

Below, watch one of the most iconic scenes from the film, featuring Nickelson's now infamous line "You can't handle the truth!"

It has been reported that Sorkin first got the idea for his play after a phone conversation with his sister Deborah, who had graduated from Boston University Law School and was serving a three-year stint with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. She was going to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to defend a group of Marines who had come close to killing a fellow Marine in a hazing ordered by a superior officer. According to reports, Sorkin wrote much of his story on cocktail napkins while bartending at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.

It has also been suggested that several former Navy JAG lawyers served as the models for the character of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, USN, JAG Corps. However, in a statement released by his spokeswoman, Sorkin insisted, "The character of Dan Kaffee in 'A Few Good Men' is entirely fictional and was not inspired by any particular individual." [source]

Who would be your dream casting for NBC's upcoming live broadcast? Let us know in the comments section below!