West Wing victory lap

Rob Lowe has decided to play ball, after all. He'll join a line of "West Wing" alumni in making return appearances between now and the show's finale May 14.

ALL-STAR ALUMNI OF NBC'S 'THE WEST WING' WILL REPRISE THEIR ROLES IN ONE OR MORE OF THE FINAL FIVE EPISODES AS SERIES NEARS  FINALE ON MAY 14

Rob Lowe, Mary-Louise Parker, Anna Deavere Smith, Emily Proctor, Marlee Matlin, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish to Reprise Memorable Roles from "The West Wing"

BURBANK - March 1, 2006 - The final episodes of NBC's "The West Wing" (Sundays, 8-9 p.m. ET) will see many familiar faces return to see the Emmy Award-winning series off.  Rob Lowe, Mary-Louise Parker, Anna Deavere Smith, Emily Proctor, Marlee Matlin, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish will return to the drama to reprise their memorable characters in one or more of the final episodes - but all will not specifically appear in the finale on May 14.

Lowe will come back to serve as a senior political official.  The season-long presidential race between Senator Adam Vinick (Alan Alda) and Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) will be decided before Lowe's return.

Likewise, Deavere Smith will portray presidential adviser Nancy McNally; the Golden Globe-winning Parker ("Weeds") will play women's right advocate Amy Gardner; Proctor returns as Republican attorney Ainsley Hayes; Oscar winner Matlin reprises polling expert Joey Lucas; Cole is Vice President John Hoynes; Busfield comes back as intense reporter Danny Concannon; and Gish will portray Elizabeth Bartlet Westin, the married daughter of President Bartlet (Martin Sheen).

From the drama's inception in 1999 until 2003, Lowe portrayed Seaborn, a Deputy Communications Director who left to run for Congress in California.  For his performance as Seaborn, he earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2001.

Now in its seventh season, the sophisticated, one-hour drama series stars Emmy winner Sheen ("Apocalypse Now"), the late Emmy-winning John Spencer ("L.A. Law"), Emmy winner Bradley Whitford ("My Fellow Americans"), Emmy winner Richard Schiff ("Deep Impact"), Emmy winner Allison Janney ("American Beauty"), Emmy winner Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law"), Emmy winner Alan Alda ("M*A*S*H"), Emmy nominee Dule Hill ("Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk!"), Emmy nominee Janel Moloney ("Sports Night"), Emmy winner Stockard Channing ("Six Degrees of Separation"), Joshua Malina ("Sports Night"), Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth ("Wicked") and Mary McCormack ("Private Parts").

"The West Wing" holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season (its first).  Other awards include a Peabody Award for Excellence in Television, five Golden Globe nominations and one Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, and three Television Critics Association Awards.

"The West Wing" is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Production Inc.  Wells serves as the executive producer along with Christopher Misiano, Alex Graves, Lawrence O'Donnell and Peter Noah. Aaron Sorkin is the creator.

Comments

[CapitalCat]

Either you edited this release or NBC didn't do its research.

Gary Cole played Vice President Bob Russell. Tim Matheson played VP John Hoynes.

I'm used to mix-ups from the real-life West Wing; I didn't know the television version copied it.

[Marshall Letcher]

I look forward to the appearance of the "ALL-STAR ALUMNI" in the final episodes of West Wing, which once was one of my favourite TV programs.

However, the presence of all of these "stars" will also remind me of the tragic loss of John Spencer. For me, he was one of the highlights of each episode (in the early years)and one of the best actors on the silver screen.

Marshall Letcher

[Jean]

Hoping Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) is Santos's (Jimmy Smits) new running mate. Karma.

[Isabella McFarlin]

How about Zoe and Charlie!!???

[Dollie Mott]

Hooray...someone else thought of the idea that Sam could be the new running mate for Santos. Why not? While we all enjoy pretending that a young Hispanic man can become the next president, he could easily have a young white guy as his running mate.

Miss you Spencer.

What would happen if the President - Elect dies before inaguration. The VP Candidate has already died (John Spencer) and the Consitutional successor - the Speaker of the House was defeated on the April 9, 2006 episode. Further, The D's have now taken over the House and have not selected a Speaker for their new majority party. Would they in fact be electing the next President of the United States?

[Yousip]

I'd like to have E - mail address of my beatifull actor Emily Proctor, I like her acting, and her personality, and it will nise from you if I can have her E - mail address.