Following the panned Hank Azaria vehicle "Imagine That" – where both he and Azaria were described as "talent going to waste" – Malina played Will Bailey on "The West Wing" from 2002 to 2006. His character initially was perceived by the public as an attempt to replace departing series star Rob Lowe, although Malina said in numerous interviews that the two actors and characters were too dissimilar to be viewed as anything but a change. During his tenure on "The West Wing", Malina was known to the rest of the cast as a tireless prankster. It is said he coated telephones with Vaseline and reset producer Alex Graves's iPod menus to Mandarin Chinese.