It Was So Good To See You: Guide to Guest Stars (Week of January 1) 

Happy New Year Everybody!

For the first week of the new year, the networks rolled out some great guest stars, starting with actor Todd Stashwick on last Sunday night’s episode of Leverage.

He was part of a brother-sister team who ran a company who buys gold from unsuspecting people and basically ripping them off.  Todd has appeared in episodes of Dark Angel, Malcolm in the Middle, CSI: NY, Psych, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, Saving Grace and Burn Notice. He also had a recurring role in Heroes, American Dreams, The Riches and Men of a Certain Age.

The actress who played Stashwick’s sister in “The Gold Job” was Sasha Barrese. Besides playing the demon Casey in Supernatural’s “Sin City,” she co-starred in the blockbuster movie The Hangover as well as its sequel.

Then over on Tuesday, actor Iqbal Theba appeared as a motel manager on the latest episode of NCIS. Iqbal is best known for his role as principal on Glee, but he has also appeared in The George Carlin Show, Roseanne, Married with Children, ER, JAG, Chuck and Weeds. He also had roles in the films Indecent Proposal and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

That same night over on the new episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, actor Erik Palladino appeared as a fake friend to the widow of the victim being investigated by the team. Erik is best known for his work on ER, but he also appeared in Joan of Arcadia, Over There, Make It or Break It and the original NCIS. He also appeared in the made-for-TV movie Deadly Honeymoon and the box office film Buried.

On the latest Body of Proof , actor Brendan Hines appeared as the groom whose bride fell to her death before their wedding ceremony (and he turned out to be the culprit. Brendan is best known for his role on Lie to Me, but he also appeared in episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Middleman, Angel and Castle.

Actress Merrin Dungey appeared in the new episode of Revenge as the divorce attorney for Conrad Grayson. Merrin is best known to TV viewers for her role in Alias, but she has also appeared in Summerland, Gross Pointe, Malcolm in the Middle and Better Off Ted.  She also had roles in the box office films EDtv and Deep Impact.

Then over on the return of The Vampire Diaries, actress Torrey DeVitto appeared as the doctor that was going to treat Alaric after his hit and run. Torrey (who is married to series star Paul Wesley) is best known for her work on Pretty Little Liars, but she also appeared as Nanny Carrie in One Tree Hill and the short-lived series Beautiful People.

Lastly on the return episode of The Secret Circle, actor Grey Damon and actress Stepfanie Kramer appeared as a voodoo seller and Diana’s grandmother respectively.

Grey is best known for his work on Friday Night Lights and the short-lived series The Nine Lives of Chloe King, but he has also appeared in True Blood, Greek and Lincoln Heights.

Stepfanie, on the other hand, starred in the popular, long-running hit 80’s cop series Hunter but she has also more recently appeared in the made-for-TV movie The Cutting Edge: Going for Gold.

Now that the holidays are over and the networks are getting back into the swing of things there will assuredly be a lot of great guest stars to look forward to in the coming weeks.  Who did you see on your favorite shows this week?  Please share.