Richard Schiff has more 'West Wing' reunion ideas

By Judy Kurtz - 09/25/12 02:45 PM ET

Fresh off the mini-reunion of “The West Wing” that became a viral-video hit, Richard Schiff has other ideas to bring together the cast of the popular NBC show.

Earlier this month, and weeks before the surprise video for Michigan state Supreme Court candidate Bridget Mary McCormack featuring “West Wing” alumni was posted on YouTube, ITK asked Schiff at the Democratic National Convention about a potential reunion for the show, which ended its run in 2006.

“Like, a revival of ‘The West Wing’? Kind of like ‘Sex and the City 2?’ ” the actor asked.

Schiff, who played fictitious White House communications director Toby Ziegler on the show, quipped, “We’ll do a ‘West Wing 2.’ We’ll skip ‘1.’ ”

He then got the ball rolling on a series of potential spinoffs set in the future: “We’ll do ‘West Wing 2: The Retirement Homes.’ ‘West Wing 2: Is Social Security Still Viable?’ ”

Perhaps learning a thing or two about leaks from his “West Wing” role, Schiff, 57, kept coy about the then-upcoming YouTube clip — which has racked up more than 600,000 views since being released last week — calling it a “reunion of sorts” for a public service announcement.

But Schiff, who’s currently starring in the Web series “Chasing the Hill,” was more forthcoming about the reaction he’s gotten over the years from lawmakers who doubled as “West Wing” fans.

He remembers years ago running into Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in a Los Angeles lobby. He says Leahy grabbed his hand as he recalled a “West Wing” episode about a homeless Korean War veteran. Says Schiff, “He started to tear up because of how moved he was by it. And I was very moved by him, and by how sweet he was, and how tender and thoughtful he was.”

The Emmy Award winner continued, “That was the first moment when I realized that, wow, there was going to be a crossfading of these two worlds, which I never really anticipated.”