Meet The Parents

There have been a lot of famous folk playing the moms and dads of tv’s best.  Who could ever forget Martin Sheen as crazy Rose’s dad on Two and a Half Men or the fabulous Holland Taylor as Alan and Charlie’s mom ?  Let’s look back on these famous  moms and dads

 

Christine Baranski may be fighting her own battles on ‘The Good Wife”  but she also fights the good fight with her son the “Underachiever” Dr Leonard Hofstadter on “The Big Bang Theory.”

Emmy award winner Laurie Metcalf plays the religious mom with the son with the brain on “The Big Bang Theory”  As Sheldon’s simple mom, she deals with his high IQ and ego.  Little known fact, Laurie was married to Jeff Perry of “Scandal”

Carol Burnett ‘s claim to fame is  her variety show “The Carol Burnett Show” in  the 70’s. Most recently though she played mother to one of Hawaii’s finest Steve McGarrett on “Hawaii Five O”

The fab and “Fam-ous” Debbie Allen took a turn at playing  mom with the very hot Dr Jackson Avery on “Grey’s Anatomy”  She has also involved herself with the very suave and sophisticated Richard Webber as well.

Diahann Carroll is a timeless beauty . From playing Whitley’s mom on ‘A“Different World” to the difficult Momma Burke who ripped off Christina Yang’s eye brows on “Grey’s Anatomy” . She remains a lady of class and sophistication.

Hector Elizondo played the very loving and understanding Carlos Torres to his daughter Dr Calliope Torres on “Grey’s Anatomy”

Tyne Daly  is know for playing cop on “Cagney and Lacey” but on “Grey’s Anatomy”she is mom to Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd and Amelia Shepherd. She was also like a mom to the late Mark “McSteamy” Sloan.

Sally was the Vice President who tried to steal the White House on “Scandal” But here is Kate Burton as the mother battling Alzheimer’s , Dr Ellis Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy”.

Here is Jeff Perry who is the busy body of the Oval Office on “Scandal” Cyrus when he was the father of the late Lexi Grey and Meredith Grey on “Grey’s Anatomy”  Thatcher Grey

Joe Morton was dumped by socialite Whitley on “A Different World” and Khandi Alexander was on “ER” as Peter Benton’s sister and then a regular on “CSI Miami” . Together  they are the evil parents of Olivia Pope – Eli/Rowan and Maya Pope on “Scandal”

Barry Bostwick is no stranger to politics he is best know for playing Mayor Randall M. Winston Jr on “Spin City” but “Scandal” fans know his him as the no good father of President Fitzgerald Grant the 3rd, The only good thing Fitzgerald Grant did right was creating one hot son!

Tim Meadows made us laugh on “SNL” and Dan Bucatinsky made us cry on “Scandal” as James  . He was father to a baby , now he is a father to Annie on “Marry Me” as Kevin.

Susan Sullivan played Maggie in the 80’s on “Falcon Crest” and James Brolin played Dr. Kiley on “Marcus Welby MD” in the 70’s. Together they are the parents of writer Richard Castle on “Castle”

Scott Paulin has been in movies such as” Turner and Hooch “and TV shows such as” Moonlighting. “:Currently he plays Jim Beckett to recently married bad ass NYPD detective Kate Beckett on “Castle”

First known for playing gay son , Steven Carrington on “Dynasty” Jack Coleman has made quite a name for himself in recent years. He was the in the closet husband of Sally Langston on “Scandal” , the evil Senator Bracken on “Castle.” Currently he is the father of Ruzek on “Chicago PD”

  JD and Elliot from “Scrubs” both have parent issues. Here is the late great John Ritter and from “Night Court” Markie Post as the two residents mom and dad.

Courteney Cox plays the confused and lovable  Jules on “Cougar Town”   Creator Bill Lawrence likes to put his alums to work as well. Jules ‘s father is played by none other than Ken Jenkins who played the nasty Dr Bob Kelso on Lawrence’s hit series “Scrubs”

His mom is an erotic novelist who kissed his best friend and his father is a drag queen. Welcome to the world of Chandler Bing on “Friends” Played to perfection by Morgan Fairchild and Kathleen Turner

Isn’t this a lovely family portrait of the Geller family on Friends? St Elsewhere’s Christina Pickles and Elliot Gould played the parents of  Monica and Ross.

“That Girl” Marlo Thomas introduced herself to a new generation when she did “Friends” she was the new independent mom of Rachel .. then Jen donated her time to Marlo’s favorite cause … St Jude’s Children’s Hospital

The two fireman of 51, Treat Williams plays Kelly Severide’s father on “Chicago Fire”

Richard Roudtree aka John Shaft plays retired Detective Boden, father of Chief Wallace Boden on “Chicago Fire”

Here is the very handsome Lawson family on USA”s “Royal Pains” Henry Winkler made a name for himself on “Happy Days”  and Edward Asner was Mary’s boss on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

 

Mary McDonnell played Carter’s mom on “ER” . Today   she is Rusty’s mom Sharon Raydor on “Major Crimes”

Swoosie Kurtz played Alex on “Sisters. Today  she s mom to Molly on “Mike and Molly”

President “Martin ” Sheen guested on his son’s show “Two and a Half Men” as the hilariously unstable Rose’s father who was crazier than her. He was obsessed with their mother.

Holland Taylor plays mom to Alan  and the late Charlie  on “Two and a Half Men”

In real life Debbie Reynolds is mother to Princess Leia but on TV she was mom to Grace on “Will and Grace”

Finally we end up with that bon vivant and legend- wait for it  dary  Neil Patrick Harris . Here he is as Barney on “HIMYM” with another television legend John Lithgow playing his father. John was Dick on “Third Rock From the Sun”

Guess Where You Saw Them 2014

Hi there, It is Fall 2014 and that means our annual ritual of looking at tv’s newest and remembering where we saw them last. There are a lot of actors who are in new series . Some of them have made such a name for themselves before that the networks are hoping you want to see them again. We also have a few actors that are returning to tv in new roles on returning shows. Come with us down memory lane as we remember ….

Katherine Heighl will always be remembered as one of the original interns on “Grey’s Anatomy” Izzy stole our hearts with her love of Denny and her cancer . She returns this year in “State of Affairs” She is the head of the CIA to POTUS Alfre Woodard on NBC.

Kate Walsh enchanted us as the ex wife of Derek Shepherd on “Grey’s Anatomy” then she went to LA to find herself in “Private Practice ” Now she shows her fun side as the judge you don’t want to meet on NBC’s “Bad Judge”

Sean Hayes and Debra Messing have returned to television this fall . Sean Hayes is now on “The Millers” He was also in his own  series last year that sadly was cancelled “Sean Saves the World” But here is Sean on Broadway in the musical “Promises Promises” singing a duet with that musical POTUS Tony Goldwyn

Here is Debra as a detective for the NYPD . Her boss is her ex husband and her sons are demon children. Mom  and cop mix for hilarious results in “The Mysteries of Laura

Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula teamed up to right the wrongs of the past on the sci fi classic Quantum Leap. Bakula also was one of the Enterprise capt on “Star Trek Voyager” Now he stars on NCIS New Orleans

Laurie Metcalf has done the rounds since “Roseanne” where she was her sis Jackie. She has performed live at Steppenwolf in “Detroit” , played the killer in Scream 2, and is delightful as Sheldon’s mom on BBT. Now she is mom to a fun  family on CBS “The McCarthys”

FRIENDS was one of the classic shows of all time. Two of its stars have returned. Matthew Perry is Oscar Madison in “The Odd Couple ” on CBS and Lisa Kudrow returns to television in HBO’s “The Comeback” Lisa was awesome last year on “Scandal” as Josie Marcus , failed Presidential candidate. This is a comeback for “The Comeback” because it was originally canceled.

Here is Lisa as Diva Valerie Cherish ,accompanied by her Publicist Billy played by the Emmy award winning Dan Bucatinsky. As well as “The Comeback” Dan also appears on the NBC show “Marry Me”

But the role that Dan is best known for is the husband -journalist and father , James Novak on “Scandal” Last season he was tragically killed by that bad guy Jake Ballard. Here he is with husband Jeff Perry and their daughter , Ella

Thomas Lennon plays Felix to Perry’s  Oscar, Here he is on “Friends” as Joey’s hand twin . Pictured with Matt LeBlanc Perry and Lennon also worked together in the movie “17 Again” Lennon also worked together with Sean Hayes as his boss in “Sean Saves the World”  last year.

One of the biggest hits of last summer was “TNT “The Last Ship” Both stars are no strangers to television.

Adam Baldwin was Jayne on the sci fi cult classic “Firefly” Here he is pictured with the star of “Castle” Nathan Fillion as Capt Malcolm Reynolds . Baldwin also did a guest appearance on “Castle” as Det Slaughter.

Here is Eric Dane when he was Dr Mark Sloane aka McSteamy . He is pictured with Kevin McKidd and Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey on “Grey”s Anatomy”

One of the new hottest shows on television is Blackish. It is about a modern black family living in LA. Many of the stars have been seen in other roles ….

Tracee Ellis Ross who plays the mother , Rainbow  was one of the stars of the UPN “Girlfriends”

Yara Shahidi who plays Zoey has a special role that she played. She was the young Olivia Pope on the “Scandal” episode “YOLO”

Anthony Anderson as Andre was on a short lived show from last year called “Guys With Kids” He has also appeared in such movies as “Barber Shop, Scary Movie, and “Scream 4”

Lawrence Fishburne appears as POPS the lovable grandpa. He has also been on CSI and appeared in many movies including his role as Ike in “What’s Love Got to Do With It”

Finishing off Shonda Thursday or TGIT is “How To Get Away With Murder” . There are three familiar faces in this cast. Here is Viola Davis as Analise Keating with her husband Sam played by Tom Verica. Tom is no stranger to Shondaland as a director and one of the co producers of “Scandal”

Here is Viola Davis from “Law and Order SVU”

Here is Tom as Danny on “Will and Grace”

Lisa Weil as Bonnie will played a huge part in the first season of “Scandal”

Here she is with Olivia and Quinn and Gideon Wallace. Lisa will be remembered as Amanda Tanner, Billy Chambers spy and Presidential plaything. She was a major part in Season One until her murder.

We wrap it all up with the new ABC crime drama “Forever” It stars Ioan Gruffuld, Alana De La Garza, and Judd Hirsch.

Ioan previously appeared on an episode of “Castle” He tried to come between the crime fighting duo and failed.

Lorraine Touissaint or Lt Joanna Reece is better known to tv audiences as “Vee” in the smash hit “Orange is the New Black”

James Novak ..With Love We Say Goodbye

Note: This is a repost of an article last Spring when Dan’s character on Scandal was killed by that no good Jake. Dan has been quite busy with NBC’s Marry Me and also which premieres next Tuesday and also he will be returning with his dear friend , Lisa Kudrow as The Comeback returns to HBO on Nov 9.

Instead of my usual musings about Olitz and the Gladiators, I thought it was more fitting and proper to write my own tribute to the warm, funny James Novak played so brilliantly by Dan Bucatinsky. With this Emmy award winning role now in the history books, there is no doubt that it won’t be long before we see Dan again. James was White House Press Secretary to President Grant, Spouse to Grant Chief of Staff Cyrus Beane, and Father to Ella Novak Beane. He will be missed….

On the Grant campaign trail is where James first met Cyrus. Cyrus was not that comfortable with coming out , but James was the first person to make him feel that he didn’t have to be ashamed to be gay

Life would not be easy for Washington’s hippest gay couple. Living a life in the shadow of the scandal ridden Grant Administration,  the two would constantly be at odds about something.

Trust would also be an issue as James dug deeper to find out the truth about Defiance. This was to show Cyrus that he could be trusted and he wasn’t wearing a wire. Both men bared their souls that night.

Even though he couldn’t be brought to the Inauguration , Cyrus made up for it by inviting  James to the first Grant State Dinner. They may have drawn stares , but Cyrus showed he was definitely in love.

James just wanted to have it all. He finally realized his dream when Cyrus and him adopted a little ebony princess by the name of Ella. She was their angel and her godparents were none other than Olivia and Cyrus’s  best friend , Fitz.

Cyrus couldn’t take all the lies and deceit anymore, so he had a heart attack in the middle of Washington. James begged him to not die and never left his side.

But it all ended one night as James sought to find out the truth about the death of Daniel Langston. He met with David Rosen about the case and then Jake Ballard shot him. He lingered with James until the bitter end.

Cyrus had gone in front of the press to announce the death of his beloved. In the middle of the press conference , he broke down and was comforted by his true brother, Fitz. Bravo to Steppenwolf’s Jeff Perry for an award winning performance last night.

You will forever be in our hearts and minds,  James.