Sorkin won critical praise and the attention of Hollywood with his first Broadway play "A Few Good Men", a courtroom melodrama with a military setting. He garnered notice for having sold the screen rights to David Brown before the stage play was produced. The neophyte won a 1991 Golden Globe nomination for his screen adaptation, which was directed by Rob Reiner and attracted high powered actors like Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Sorkin went on to co-write the story and screenplay for the suspenser "Malice" (1993). In 1995, he reteamed with Reiner on the well-received romantic comedy "The American President".

Sorkin segued to the small screen as creator and writer of "Sports Night" (ABC, 1998-2000), a comedy-drama about the behind the scenes goings on at a cable sports channel. With a strong ensemble and well-crafted dialogue, the show became a critics' darling but struggled in the ratings. Although the network's commitment was sometimes in doubt, the show managed to return for a second season. In 1999, Sorkin drew on his film experience on "The American President" to create the NBC ensemble drama "The West Wing". Once again, critics lavished praise on the quality of the writing and the acting (led by Martin Sheen as the US President). Despite a highly publicized drug arrest in an airport in 2001, Sorkin continued to write acclaimed episodes of "The West Wing" and was again nominated for an Emmy in 2002.