Rob Lowe has decided to leave another hit television series. The actor, who plays California Senator (and husband to Kitty Walker, portrayed by Calista Flockhart) Robert McCallister in ABC’s drama ‘Brothers & Sisters,’ felt he was being underused on the show and asked the network to release him from his contract early, according to EW.com.

Lowe will leave ‘Brothers & Sisters’ at the end of this season, which is the fourth for the series and will conclude next month. ABC decided to amicably let the former ’80s “brat packer” go, as it wants him to return to other shows in the future. He is reportedly in talks about creating a new series with him in the lead. According to Deadline Hollywood, the president of the ABC Entertainment Group, Stephen Mcpherson, verified Lowe’s exit and the network’s desire to keep him, saying “We would like to keep Rob at ABC; we feel he should be anchoring his own franchise. We are in talks now.”

After a sex scandal and numerous minor film roles in the early ’90s, Lowe made a comeback with his role in the Austin Powers films and the NBC hit drama ‘The West Wing.’ He left the show in 2003 to headline two other TV series, that year’s ‘Dr. Vegas’ and 2004’s ‘The Lyon’s Den,’ both of which were cancelled after one season. He joined such stars as Sally Field (who won an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy in 2007 for her role as the family’s matriarch, Nora Holden Walker), Rachel Griffiths, and Balthazar Getty in ‘Brothers & Sisters’ a third of the way through the series’ first season, which premiered in September 2006.

Written by: Karen Benardello