The new first couple on The Diplomat will be staying around for a while.
The Netflix series has upped Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford to series regular status for its fourth season. The two Emmy winners are billed as guest stars in season three of The Diplomat, which is set to premiere Oct. 16.
Season four is set to begin production in the fall, which can keep the show on track for a return sometime in 2026.
Janney joined The Diplomat in the show’s second season, playing Vice President Grace Penn — who (spoiler alert) will be ascending to the presidency following the death of President William Rayburn (Michael McKean) in the final moments of the season. Whitford plays Grace’s husband, Todd Penn, with whom Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) forms an “unnerving bond,” per the show’s logline for the coming season.
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Whitford’s casting is a West Wing reunion for not just him and Janney, but also for series creator Debora Cahn, who was a writer and producer on the NBC drama.
“Working with Allison and Brad, watching them together again, and the off the charts foursome that is them with Keri and Rufus [Sewell] … it’s an insane bag of candy,” Cahn said in a statement. “Our expectations were high, and it blew right past them.”
Here’s the full description for season three of The Diplomat: “Kate lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want. She just accused Vice President Grace Penn of hatching a terrorist plot and admitted she’s after the VP’s job. But now the president is dead, Kate’s husband Hal (Sewell) may have inadvertently killed him, and Grace Penn is leader of the free world. None of this slows Hal’s campaign to land Kate the vice presidency. Kate steps into a role she never wanted, with a freedom she never expected, an increasingly complicated friendship with U.K. Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and an unnerving bond with First Gentleman Todd Penn.”
Cahn executive produces the series with Janice Wiliams, Russell, Alex Graves, Peter Noah and Eli Attie.
