Soap Love Notes: Nikita, NCIS, Supernatural 

Soap Love Notes is a new feature that spotlights current and former daytime soap stars appearing in primetime.

Nikita Rewind: “Free”

Imagine my surprise when I started watching the January 27th episode of Nikita and spotted Thad Luckinbill playing Alex’s neighbor, Nathan. I love this casting because this is a bonafide soap star reunion. You see, once upon a time, Lyndsy Fonseca was the cute yet always-in-danger teen Colleen Carlton on CBS’ The Young and the Restless. One of Colleen’s boyfriends was the older J.T. Hellstrom, played by none other than…Thad Luckinbill. Thad left Y&R late last year, after starring on the number one daytime soap for over a decade. I’ve always thought Luckinbill was someone who should be in primetime (remember his Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode from Season 7?); so I’m glad he made the decision to exit the show. The fact he quickly picked up Nikita backs his decision up big time.

Of course, Lyndsy and Thad aren’t the only former soap actors on this CW newbie series. Way before she became the fierce-as-hell Amanda, Melinda Clarke‘s big break into the biz came in 1989 when she starred on the NBC daytime drama Days of our Lives as Faith Taylor. Her real-life dad, John Clarke, was already a long time Days vet — he was the original Mickey Horton. Melinda was only on the show for a year-and-a-half. And, as we know, she eventually moved on to primetime and found fame playing Marissa’s messed-up mom, Julie Cooper, on The O.C.

NCIS Preview: “Freedom”

Joining former Loving star Michael Weatherly on NCIS  this week, is The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Aaron D. Spears. Spears is pulling double duty for this gig. His day job is as the recurring character Justin Barber on B&B. This week, Justin’s set to marry Donna Logan, the mother of his grown up son. On Tuesday night, he’ll appear in an NCIS episode called “Freedom.” Spears goes military to play Marine Major Michael Strickland. Other guest stars include Christine Cox of Lifetime’s canceled vampire drama, Blood Ties; and Thomas Calabro of Melrose Place (original & 2.0 version) fame. “Freedom” airs February 1 at 8/7C on CBS.

Supernatural Preview: “Like a Virgin” (WARNING: slight spoilerrific nature ahead)

Well, I should have been talking about this as a review, but since the CW postponed Supernatural‘s “Like a Virgin” (it was originally supposed to air January 28), this officially has become a preview. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Warner Bros., I was able to watch a sneak peek of the episode that is now airing this week. I was pleased to see Kim Johnston Ulrich from the canceled NBC soap Passions as Dr. Visyak, a professor integral to the case Sam and Dean are investigating. Ulrich only acts opposite Jensen Ackles (a former soap actor himself) and I have to say, I really enjoyed their scenes together. The professor also has a link to another character on the Supernatural canvas. That’s all I’ll say. “Like a Virgin” airs Friday, February 4, on the CW at 9/8C.

On Passions, Ulrich played one of my favorite characters, Ivy Winthrop used-to-be Crane. She was married to rich bastard Julian, but in love with good guy Sam Bennett. One of her sons on the soap was played by Justin Hartley, who currently is the Green Arrow on the CW’s Smallville. I’ll be talking about Ulrich again soon; she’s set to guest star on NCIS February 8. So happy she’s finding work post-daytime!