Double Dipping

Last I heard, there were a whole lot of actors who are out of work, especially those of a certain (for Hollywood) advanced age. I guess that's why it puzzles me that I see actors double-dipping, that is playing two different roles on two different television shows.

Patricia Wettig - The first time I remember seeing Patricia was playing the role of long-suffering Nancy Weston on thirtysomething.  After that show was prematurely cancelled, she kept busy, mostly with TV roles mixing in with the occasional film role, including a long stint on Alias which featured a number of episodes directed by her husband, Ken Olin, with whom she starred on thirtysomething. These days she plays the conniving President Caroline Reynolds on Prison Break as well as the equally scheming Holly Harper on Brothers & Sisters with her former Alias castmate Ron Rifkin.  I like Patricia and all but why not give one of those two roles to the equally talented (and fellow thirtysomething alum) Mel Harris?

Next up is Rena Sofer, who some of you may remember as Eve on Melrose Place. She too has had a fairly prolific career in television but has never been more in-demand than she is now as she is on not one but two of the hottest shows on TV: Heroes and 24. She plays the disabled wife of Nathan Petrelli on Heroes, albeit in a limited role.  On 24, she's (spoiler alert) the widow of Jack Bauer's brother, also the mother of Jack's 'nephew' Joshua who we all know will turn out to be Jack's son at a key plot point this season. Since Kim's gone (and was pretty useless when she was around) Joshua will be the go-to kidnappee when the terrorists need some leverage. Mark my words.

Kate Burton is hardly a household name but one of the shows she's on--Grey's Anatomy reaches 20-30 million or so households each week.  Her other show--Rescue Me--isn't nearly as popular but both shows do share a Music Supervisor, which is the type of arcane trivia a TV nerd like me would know. Then again, I may be the only person around who even notices this phenomenon wherein actors are simultaneously appearing on two different shows. In Kate Burton's case though, her double-dipping may have come to an end (another spoiler alert) as one of her characters died recently. Though in the alternate TV universe, characters sometimes come back for flashbacks or--even worse--as ghosts which I wouldn't put past the creators of Grey's Anatomy.

When I originally made this (mental) list of double-dippers, I had at least one male example but I've forgtten who it was.  I'm not counting examples like current SNL cast members guesting on 30 Rock or one-off guest starring roles but rather actors who have full-fledged roles on two current shows. I know, I watch too much television. But please contribute if you know other current (or former) examples.

Comments

[David]

Well...there's Diane Farr, who was playing a firefighter on FX's "Rescue Me" at the same time she was playing an F.B.I. agent on CBS's "NUMB3RS". And I understand she's a writer as well...a real Renaissance woman. I haven't seen any of the third season of "Rescue Me." Can somebody tell me if Diane Farr's character has been killed off on that show?

[Jeff]

Can't help you much on this one as we get programs a little bit out-of-sync in Singapore. Some things we get virtually real-time (American Idol) but other things take ages.

I did see a triple-dip watching 'Ed', 'Boston Legal' and 'Lost' one night - and Julie Bowen was featured on all three.

(As an aside she's b. 1970 and went to Brown so Jas must know her)

[ken]

David - I liked Diane Farr on Rescue Me. Her character wasn't killed off but she left the firehouse under bad circumstances.

Jeff- I asked Jas at one point but he didn't know Julie Bowen. He did know Lisa Loeb (she asked him out) and Duncan Shiek (American singer who gets play on XRT and writer of the hit musical Spring Awakening, on Broadway right now) at Brown.

[Christopher Calandro]

Did you run this blog entry by the folks at TV Guide? People? US Magazine?

I would have. Mighta been some extra cake in it for you.

Look at you unleashing the entertainment writer within.

[ken]

The male I was thinking of came to me tonight: Dean Winters, he used to be on Rescue Me but his character died and he was also on 30 Rock, but his girlfriend broke up with him. So he's not technically on either show but was on both for awhile.

[MacGregor]

There's a guy that springs to mind who is named Alan Dale. He plays the same character type on both Ugly Betty and Lost -on the former, Bradford Meade (a fashion publishing magnate) and Charles Widmore (a construction / secret industry magnate) on the latter.

Well, they are both on ABC. He also played a VP on earlier seasons of 24.

[Greg Bolsinga]

I loved Rena on Melrose Place. Especially when she was CRAZY IN A CHEERLEADER UNIFORM!

[Brian]

I think the ultimate Double Dipper has to be John Munch, played by Richard Belzer. Munch is a detective who began on the late great Homicide. Currently, Munch is on L&O SVU, I believe. Munch has made appearances on a number of shows including X-Files, L&O, Arrested Development, and, I believe, Sesame Street. For an under the radar character, Munch gets around.