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The West Wing NBC

Scoop: In Entertainment Weekly’s February cover story, director Aaron Sorkin discussed his plans for this year’s “The West Wing.” The most dramatic change is in the cast, since Moira Kelly is leaving.

“Moira is a terrific actress,” Sorkin said. “But we just weren’t the right thing for her. She expressed that she felt the same way, and as a result, story lines haven’t been invested in that character, because we knew that at the end of the year, we’d be shaking hands and parting company.”

Sorkin also confirmed that Marlee Matlin’s character will take over much of Kelly’s character’s purpose and a younger female will be added to the team (Jorja Fox, formerly Dr. Maggie Doyle of “ER”). As for the season premiere, Sorkin didn’t say, but made a point to mention: “Last week I decided I want to [do] a two-part episode, which would be a flashback showing how everyone came to be part of the campaign. It’s a style of storytelling that really appeals to me. I think we’re gonna do that a lot next year — have [those] two parallel things going.”