West Wing ending

NBC recently announced that the current (7th) season would be the last for "The West Wing". Sad, but perhaps it is best for the show's legacy. I've heard several rumors regarding how the last few episodes will play out:

- Since John Wells has decided to air the remaining episodes that John Spencer acted in before passing away, Spencer's character (VP candidate Leo McGarry) will pass away very close to the election date. I predict that future generations of viewers, unaware of Spencer's death, will consider this to be a pretty lame plot twist.
- Rob Lowe may return to the show for the final episode(s). It's assumed that his character, former White House deputy communications director Sam Seaborn, won his own Congressional race in Orange County and thus disappeared from the show. One source suggests that Sam will take Leo's place as the Democratic VP candidate.
- There might be one more live episode?

This makes things a bit more exciting, since we can no longer assume that Santos will clinch the election simply because it would be easier to retain most of the current cast (Donna, Josh, CJ, and Will would presumably return to the White House). It's anybody's game now! March 12 is going to be a hard wait.