'West Wing' actor bitter

Toby Ziegler is exiting "The West Wing" with his head held high.

The man who plays him, Richard Schiff, is leaving with no small degree of bitterness and recriminations.

To hear Schiff tell it, he and Toby are the victims of corporate politics.

Speaking to TV critics before the current TV season began, the actor charged that the outspoken, liberal Toby was falling prey to unnamed executives at Time Warner. "You feel this corporate shadow constantly suppressing and regulating and watching over, especially for the character Toby, who is somewhat conscience-driven and dynamic in his opinions. You just feel the suppression."

Yet when asked to provide any examples — even one — of that suppression, Schiff demurred. "It's more subtle than that. Please be careful how you express this because it's not a direct control. But it's their show. They own it and they have influence on it. They have influence on the budget, and they have influence over who's in the show and they have influence over, I'm assuming, what stories they want to tell and how we tell them."

At the same time, however, Schiff insisted that executive producer John Wells had gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting Toby. "John Wells is actually protecting me, and quite valiantly, and really wants me to be a part of this show. And so we've come to an agreement to do a few shows this year."

Those "few shows" are about to come to an end. After six-plus seasons of playing White House communications director Toby Zeigler, the character has admitted that he was the source of a leak of national security secrets to the press — and he's about to be fired by President Bartlet (Martin Sheen).

There's some speculation as to whether Toby actually did it or if he's taking the fall to protect other White House staffers and the presidential campaign of Democrats Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Leo McGarry (John Spencer). But however it turns out, Toby is looking pretty noble.

Schiff, on the other hand, surprised critics with his bitterness. And refusal to back up his charges. "Toby is going to be — through a mutual consent, really — phased out of the show this year. I mean, I've had enough. And also, I think they're more than happy to have me have had enough.