I know it's not that big a deal, or uncommon or anything, but lately, I notice a lot of familiar faces from other tv shows on new ones. Or even some not so new except to me.
Last time I talked about Mad Men. Some familiar faces show up there, but the most recent for me was when I realized the Drapers' son is played by the same kid who plays Henry on Once Upon A Time.
Some more appear on Arrow. I'm not really that invested in this show. I was immediately turned off by the less than charismatic actor portraying Oliver Queen. Quite bummed when I found out it wasn't a spin off of Smallville and wouldn't be played by the oh so hot Justin Hartley. He's the only Green Arrow as far as I'm concerned. I realize this version is probably more true to the original comic book character, but it's kinda boring. I'm watching for the other familiar faces.
Notably, John Barrowman. The sexiest gay guy I can think of! Yeah, he's very openly gay, but I love him. So handsome and what a personality! I first learned he would be on Arrow from Attach of the Show (he was a co-host sometimes). He plays a (probably) bad guy, and does it very well. This week's episode had him shot almost dead, and saved by Arrow who doesn't yet know who he is. I bet all the Whovians out there (if they watch...bet they do) were waiting for him to gasp and spring back to life. I know I immediately thought that.
Wait, what am I talking about? If you aren't a Whovian, you might not know. Barrowman also played Capt. Jack Harkness on Doctor Who and Torchwood, and he couldn't die. He always came back to life, no matter how thoroughly he was killed (one time, he was burned to ashes). At the end of this Arrow episode, another familiar face from the Whoverse appeared as someone's mother...Alex Kingston, who played River Song on Doctor Who.
I'm a recent Whovian. Not to the point where I'm constantly thinking about it, or collect stuff or anything. I'm not really a fanatic of anything like that, other than collecting DVD and book series. But I watch the episodes over and over again. BBC runs it every weekday morning, and cycles through from the beginning. Well, not THE BEGINNING. The beginning as most current Whovians know it...starting with the Ninth Doctor. I tried to watch it a while back, but it was kind of frantic to me. The Doctor is a very animated personality, and sometimes it's hard to follow what he says. Also, Christopher Eccleston wasn't my favorite of the 3 recent regenerations. Then I tried again, and the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) had arrived, and now I'm hooked. Once I was hooked, I began DVRing episodes again and again, and some I've saved on the DVR because they were pivotal. I found, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, that you have to watch again to catch what you missed the first time. It's that thing where the Doctor talks so fast in that thick accent, and the little innuendos that refer to other important things. Oh yeah and the "timey-whimey" thing. I'm no scientist and it's hard to follow some of the concepts of time travel.
I don't know if it's a false memory or what, but I vaguely remember the classic Doctor Who. It wasn't originally aired in the US, but I believe it was at some point later on, maybe in syndication, and I must have seen it. BBC has been airing retrospective specials on the classic version starting with the First Doctor to pacify we Whovians as we impatiently wait for the new season to begin sometime this spring. They also include a classic episode in each special. Very interesting, although pretty painful to watch. These were produced in the 60's, and the technology and budget wasn't there for quality sci-fi film. But they show the beginnings of many of the standard elements to which the current version stays true. I love continuity in things like this.
After I became obsessed to the point of considering adding the entire series, (including the classic) to the Library, I went a-googling, and found this amazing site. Tardis Data Core. Wow. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Doctor Who and then some. I was surprised to learn there were print versions as well. Books and graphic novels that filled in some minor details that were only hinted at in the tv show. You can easily spend hours reading on this site as you dig into it deeper and deeper. I don't need to buy the (badly done) classic series to fill me in on the history and mythos of the Whoverse. It's all right there.
Oh and Justin Hartley, he's recently been a main character on Emily Owens, MD. This is a fluff show about hospital interns. Sort of Grey's Anatomy Lite. Another face on Arrow is Paul Blackthorne. I crushed on him when he starred in the sadly short Dresden Files (got it). I have the entire series of books (to date, currently reading one) by Jim Butcher, and that's the face I put to Harry Dresden.
A non-tv thing about familiar faces. Do you believe everyone has a doppelganger? I do now. When I first moved down south, I saw faces I knew up north. I did a lot of double-takes as I was out and about in my new environment, and still do occasionally. Kinda eerie.
Good morning.
