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• Apr 26, 2010 07:13 PM ET
• by
  Natalie Abrams

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe will guest-star in Season 4 of Californication, Showtime announced Monday.

Lowe — best known for his roles on The West Wing and Brothers & Sisters — will play Eddie Nero, a self-obsessed, award-winning movie star who is in contention to play the film version of Hank (David Duchovny). Lowe is slated to appear in one episode, but could possibly recur.

Rob Lowe to exit Brothers & Sisters

Shortly after the announcement that he was leaving Brothers & Sisters, the 46-year-old actor was added to the cast of Parks and Recreation, along with Party Down star Adam Scott.

• Jan 30, 2010 12:44 PM ET
• by
  Adam Bryant

Calista Flockhart and Rob Lowe, Brothers & Sisters

Calista Flockhart isn’t scaling back her role on Brothers & Sisters, the show’s executive producer tells TVGuide.com.

Rob Lowe to exit Brothers & Sisters, “in talks” for new ABC franchise

Soon after confirmation that Rob Lowe would depart the ABC family drama at the end of this season, a report surfaced that Flockhart, Lowe’s TV wife, will reduce her workload in Season 5. But David Marshall Grant, who was recently installed as Brothers & Sisters‘ showrunner, says Flockhart will be visible as ever.

“We are all expecting Calista to come back next season as a series regular, and she is,” Grant says. “We’re all expecting to do a great year with her next year.”

A representative from ABC echoed Grant’s sentiments, confirming Flockhart’s status as a series regular.

Brothers & Sisters makes showrunner switcheroo

Flockhart’s character, Kitty, is currently recovering from a battle against lymphoma, which ended with a risky bone marrow transplant. Kitty is now considering a run for political office.

As for Lowe — who reportedly asked to be let out of his contract because he felt his character, Senator Robert McCallister, was being underutilized — Grant says the writers are still contemplating the character’s exit strategy.

“We have a bunch of ideas on the table, of course, and right now we’re just leaving it open,” Grant says. “It could be anything. Right now, we’re just examining what would be the most exciting way to take us to the end of the season.”

See photos of the Brothers & Sisters cast

Lowe is in talks to headline a new ABC franchise, according to network president Steve McPherson. Brothers & Sisters airs Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.

Are you glad to hear that Flockhart isn’t going anywhere? How do you want to see Robert leave the show?

• Jan 31, 2010 09:12 AM ET
• by
  Adam Bryant

Calista Flockhart and Matthew Rhys, Brothers & Sisters

To make her political dreams come true, Brothers & Sisters‘ Kitty will need the full support of the Walker family.

But that doesn’t mean she’ll get it.

Brothers & Sisters boss says Flockhart will be as busy as ever

In Sunday’s episode (10/9c, ABC), Kitty (Calista Flockhart) polls the entire Walker clan about her plan to campaign for the soon-to-be-vacant senate seat left behind by her husband, Robert (Rob Lowe). Three guesses how that ends up.

“They all decide that they should take a vote like they used to do for family vacations,” executive producer David Marshall Grant tells TVGuide.com. “But Nora [Sally Field] decides that if it’s going to have meaning, it should be anonymous. So, it ends up that there’s one ‘No’ vote, and Kitty’s got to figure out who the ‘No’ vote is.”

Distracting Kitty from her mission will be Kevin (Matthew Rhys), who asks his big sister to join him at his high school reunion for moral support. “Facing high school is a challenge for him,” Grant says, adding that Kitty goes along to feel Kevin out about taking a job on her campaign staff.

See photos of the Brothers & Sisters cast

But Kevin has more on his mind. The episode will also reveal whether Kevin and Scotty’s surrogate responds to in vitro fertilization. Grant won’t say what happens with the possible pregnancy, but he suggests the prospect of fatherhood may change Kevin’s career goals.

“Kevin’s spent the whole series being a corporate lawyer, and then he moved right into being Robert’s communications director,” Grant says. “So he’s going to be facing real decisions with his life, and I think he’s definitely reaching a turning point. The impending parenthood and realizing that he doesn’t necessarily want to stay in politics with Robert is going to be a big source of Kevin’s story.”

Rob Lowe to exit Brothers & Sisters, “in talks” for new ABC franchise

With or without Kevin, Kitty’s campaign may be sidetracked by none other than Robert. “He is such a big personality, and I think he will perhaps go out campaigning for Kitty,” Grant says. “We might see some Bill Clinton-like situations when he is campaigning for his wife, and I think there could be some conflict there. Robert is deeply committed to his wife’s winning, and so that may take him to doing things that are certainly well-intended but may also cause some problems.”

Which Walker do you think will be the voice of dissent?

• Jan 21, 2010 08:02 PM ET
• by
  Adam Bryant

Rob Lowe, Brothers & Sisters

The Walkers will have to prepare one less place setting at Nora’s dinner parties next year: Rob Lowe will depart Brothers & Sisters at the end of the season, TVGuide.com has confirmed. But the network would like him to host a party of his own.

Brothers & Sisters makes showrunner switcheroo

Lowe believes his character, U.S. Sen. Robert McCallister, has been underutilized in the story, according to Deadline Hollywood, which first reported the news. ABC granted Lowe’s request to be released from his contract, but network President Steve McPherson says ABC wants to keep Lowe on its air.

“We would like to keep Rob at ABC; we feel he should be anchoring his own franchise,” McPherson said in a statement. “We are in talks now.”

See photos of the Brothers & Sisters cast

McPherson brought Lowe onto the show in the middle of the first season to counteract stumbling ratings. Lowe then became a series regular, and Sen. McCallister married Kitty (Calista Flockhart).

The producers of Brothers & Sisters are keeping mum on their plans to write Lowe’s character out of the show. Last season, his character suffered a heart attack, but he recovered and has appeared healthy this year. The more likely exit strategy could be tied up in Robert and Kitty’s rocky marriage, which has been on the verge of crumbling the last two seasons.

Lowe also left The West Wing in the middle of that show’s run. He recently joked about his departure from the NBC drama while consoling Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show.

“As someone who has left a celebrated NBC franchise myself… it can be done,” Lowe said, referencing O’Brien losing his Tonight hosting gig. “Believe me, if my experience can you give you anything, it’s that in a couple of years, nobody will even remember The Tonight Show, just like they don’t remember The West Wing.”