The long answer.
Bear in mind that in the first season there were only eight starring cast members in The West Wing. Everyone else was a Co-star, Guest Star, or Special Guest Star. There were also a few Special Appearances. The cast grew to twelve over seven seasons, with some departures and replacements. Some Guest and Special Guest Stars became starring cast.
This means that many familiar faces (Donna Moss, Abbey Bartlet, Zoey Bartlet, Admiral Fitzwallace, Mrs. Landingham, Agent Ron Butterfield, etc.) were initially portrayed by actors who did not have regular employment on The West Wing. Many took roles elsewhere, some of which led to regular employment, precluding further appearances on The West Wing. Although his character's name appears in several episodes, Edward James Olmos was only able to appear twice. A return appearance by John Larroquette as Lionel Tribbey would have been welcomed by many.
Published reports indicate that Aaron Sorkin did not generally try to explain the coming and going of characters. Hence, several characters, including Mandy, went to Mandyville. One can see that he often would have no way of knowing when a recurring actor might become unavailable. On the other hand, when he was advised that one of the actors was up for consideration for a role elsewhere, he wrote the death of her character, so it might have been considered preferable to keep him in the dark.
Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) appeared in 14 of the 22 first season episodes as a Guest Star, including Episode 9, The Short List, where he gives C.J. the goldfish named Gail, which remained a regular feature in the series to the end. (Spoiler Alert.) In season two, he appears as a Special Guest Star in four episodes, then as Tomatosauce 6808 indicated, after episode 7 (11/15/2000) he disappears. In 2000, Busfield became a Producer and Director of the TV show Ed, which aired until 2004. He appeared in 6 episodes of The West Wing in 2002-2003, then disappeared again until season seven, when he returned for four episodes. From 2004 to 2007, Busfield Directed and appeared in episodes of the show Without a Trace.
Also as noted, the actors that played two characters took roles in titles in the CSI franchise. Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter) appears in eight episodes in season two, three episodes in season three, and one episode in season seven.
Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) appears in two episodes in season one, and one episode in each of seasons two, three and six.
Finally, Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) does not appear after episode 17 of the fourth season until two appearances at the end of season seven.
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Elmorado
8 years ago
Okay that explains alot (without going into spoilers so doubly thanks for that).
Too bad about the way it went for the non-starring cast memebers. Would've definately wanted to see more of them.
And thanks again for further explaining when and where I might see them again, including Sam.
I think I'm all set now. Thanks. =)
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Glozone
8 years ago
The good thing is that even though there's huge gaps, actually very few characters completely different disappear and are never mentioned again. More commonly they just vanish for years at a time and then come back.
Mandy's one of the few I can think of who truly disappear. Ainsley eventually returns in Season 7, as does Sam. Danny's probably the non main cast member character who gets the firmest most wrapped up character conclusion, he's a major part of Season 7 and a major part of the penultimate episode, which is like C.J.'s denouement.
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CLX_db
8 years ago
Well yes, the number of characters that you expect to see again, but don't, is fairly small:
Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly);
Lionel Tribbey (John Larroquette). Off making the pilot for The Corsairs, which was not picked up. Sorkin may have expected to see him again too. The first encounter with Oliver Babish seems to have been written with Larroquette in mind. Oliver wouldn't really smash the voice recorder on his desk with the big hammer. Tribbey would;
Judge Roberto Mendoza (Edward James Olmos). His part in the PBS series American Family conflicted with his ability to continue on The West Wing, though he has related that he was asked;
Cathy - Sam's Assistant whose last name was never revealed (Suzy Nakamura). Appears to have taken a competing role in the short-lived series Daddio;
Gina Toscano (Jorja Fox). As noted, went to play a main role in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation;
Rev. Al Caldwell (F. William Parker);
Laurie/Brittany Rollins (Lisa Edelstein);
Daisy - Mandy's Assistant who appeared in episode 2 of Season 1 (Merrin Dungey). We hope Mandy found her a job after she quit her job to join Mandy's new consulting firm in DC;
Doug Wegland (Evan Handler). Didn't really have an air of longevity;
Connie Tate (Connie Britton). Not much to do after Doug left.
There are also characters who play significant parts, then disappear for no apparent reason, to return for only one or two episodes, mostly as the series ended:
Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), Mallory O'Brien (Allison Smith), Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), Oliver Babish (Oliver Platt).
Occasional colorful characters, like Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees), Bob Engler, U.S. Space Command (Sam Lloyd), Assistant Secretary of State Albie Duncan (Hal Holbrook), and Al Kiefer (John de Lancie) don't really need continuity. They come and go without arousing comment.
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segsig
8 years ago
This list made me think the number of opposite cases is amazing! I'm not going to attempt a complete list, so if others want to jump in - PLEASE.
But, off the top of my head these people were available consistently for the show:
Nicole Robinson - Margaret
Melissa Fitzgerald - Carol
Kim Webster - Ginger
Devika Parikh -Bonnie
William Duffy and Peter James Smith - Ed and Larry
Kris Murphy and Timothy Davis Reed - reporters
and seemingly whenever they were OFTEN needed:
Elizabeth Moss - Zoey (and the other daughters to a lesser degree)
Gary Cole and Tim Mattheson- VPs
Michael O'Neil - Ron
Anna Deveare Smith - Nancy (but perhaps she wasn't available towards the end)
Clark Gregg - Mike (early seasons)
That is impressive to retain that many actors without contracts. Although the VPs probably shouldn't be on this list as they probably had some type of special guest status.
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Glozone
8 years ago
Anna Deveare Smith - Nancy (but perhaps she wasn't available towards the end)
I think in her case it was an issue of them not needing her as much with Kate added to the main cast as her deputy. Generally speaking, the Situation Room scenes were usually just three main characters (Jed, Leo, and either Fitz or Nancy) and a bunch of randoms. I believe 20 Hours in America and the Zoey kidnapping arc are the only episodes that Fitz and Nancy both appear in at the same time, otherwise it's one or the other. So, now that they had Kate, they probably figured she was enough.
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segsig
8 years ago
Hard to say with Anna Deveare Smith even the years she was available, she probably had to tell them no often. Besides acting, she is a playwright and college professor. They probably wanted her in the sit room more often than she appeared.
Fitz! John Amos was another one who appeared often, until he was written out. I don't think he had guest star status either.
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CLX_db
8 years ago
It is impressive, and is evidence that many cast members knew then that they were part of a unique ensemble and production, and prioritized their availability accordingly.
All of the actors in your first list were co-stars. Meaning that they were paid a day rate for each episode they were in, usually for one day of work. Most of them were in 50 to 60 episodes total over seven seasons, meaning that if they made scale, they made about $15,000 per year from The West Wing. Carol Fitzpatrick (Melissa Fitzgerald) and Margaret Hooper (NiCole Robinson) appeared in about 100 episodes each.
Guest Stars generally fared much better at the time, being paid substantially more, but being required to be available for all shooting days for an episode, generally a week. Guest Stars can also be paid a day rate, and are more likely to be paid in this manner today, making it more difficult for an actor to make a reasonable income.
NiCole Robinson attained Guest Star billing in the second season. Donnatella Moss (Janel Moloney) was played by a Guest Star from the beginning (Janel Moloney became part of the Starring Cast in the second season). Also played by Guest Stars were: FBI Agent Mike Casper (Clark Gregg), Nancy McNally (Anna Deavere Smith), Ron Butterfield (Michael O'Neil) and Zoey Bartlet (Elizabeth Moss) until season 7, when she made Special Appearances.
The actors playing Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) and Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos) were able to command Special Guest Star status, usually resulting in payment substantially above scale.
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gavin_70
8 years ago
A return appearance by John Larroquette as Lionel Tribbey would have been welcomed by many.
Watching the first episode where Oliver Babish is introduced its very obvious that the scene was written with John Larroquette in mind
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