It Was So Good To See You: Guide to Guest Stars (Week of January 29) 

It is always interesting to see the guest stars that pop up on your favorite shows, especially during February sweeps.  Even more so when it’s the first week of February sweeps, which means there will be even greater guest stars yet to come throughout the month.

Let’s get started with actor Richard Schiff showing up on last Sunday’s episode of Once Upon a Time, as the father of Snow White. Richard is, of course, best known for his role on The West Wing, but he got his first break on TV in the short-lived series Relativity and a short recurring role on Roswell. More recently he appeared in the short-lived shows Past Life, The Cape and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.  He was also in the box office films Se7en, I Am Sam, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and a little movie called Speed (he was the subway train driver).

Monday night’s episode of Alcatraz featured actor Eric Johnson as one of “the 63’s” – the reappearing prisoners of Alcatraz who disappeared in 1963 – who just happens to be a bank robber and murderer. Eric is best known for his role in the early years of the long-running Smallville series, but he appeared in the short-lived Syfy series Flash Gordon and can now be seen on Rookie Blue. He also appeared in the made-for-TV movies Deck the Halls, Call Me Mrs. Miracle, Meteor Storm and Honeymoon with Mom. He also had a small role in the box office film Legends of the Fall.

Then over on Tuesday night, True Blood hunk Joe Manganiello appeared as the new neighbor of the Burke’s who turned out to be a thief, robbing a ritzy hotel safe along with his wife and ex-con buddy. Before landing on the HBO vampire serial, Joe got his first big break playing Flash Thompson in the box office film Spider-Man alongside Tobey Maguire then he turned to the small screen with guest appearances in CSI, Close to Home and Las Vegas. He later appeared in episodes of ER, How I Met Your Mother and One Tree Hill.

Lola Glaudini played Manganiello’s wife in this same edition of White Collar. Glaudini recently played Mark Harmon’s adversary in his first USA Network movie, Certain Prey. The film was based on a John Sandford novel. Before Certain Prey, Glaudini was best known for her roles on Criminal Minds and The Sopranos.

That same night over on Ringer, actress Madchen Amick appeared as an old friend of Siobhan’s. Madchen is best known for her role in the cult series Twin Peaks, but she also appeared in the remake of Fantasy Island as well as episodes of Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, ER, Gossip Girl, Californication and Damages. She also starred in the recent made-for-TV movie Unanswered Prayers and the box office film Priest.

Over on Royal Pains, on Wednesday night, actress JoAnna Garcia showed up as the doctor of a medical trial for which Jack (Tom Cavanaugh) was participating in order to treat his Lupus. Joanna hails from the long-running comedy Reba as well as the critically-acclaimed, though short-lived, series Privileged. But, she actually got her start on Are You Afraid of the Dark? then moved on to guest roles in Second Noah, Party of Five and Freaks and Geeks. More recently she has appeared in Gossip Girl and the short-lived comedy Better With You. She also appeared in the made-for-TV movies A Very Merry Daughter of the Bridge and Revenge of the Bridesmaids.

Thursday night’s episode of The Secret Circle featured actress Lauren Stamile as a psychic who was friends with the ill-fated parents of the central characters. She was back in town to, in the end, lead the witch hunters closer to Cassie (Brit Robertson). Lauren is known to TV viewers for her role as Nurse Rose in Grey’s Anatomy but she has also appeared in episodes of Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, The West Wing, Cold Case, Crossing Jordan and Boston Legal. More recently she has appeared in episodes of Community and Burn Notice. She also appeared in the made-for-TV movies Midnight Bayou and Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie’s Angels.

That same night over on The Firm, actors Victor Garber and Martin Donovan appeared as a judge and the Senior Vice President of a giant insurance company respectively.

Victor, of course, has a long resume of film, TV and stage roles including the TV shows Alias, Eli Stone and the short-lived series Justice. He also provided his voice to the failed remake of Charlie’s Angels. Among his film roles are Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle and Legally Blonde.

Meanwhile, Martin, who also has a long resume of film and TV roles is a regular on the cable series Boss and appeared in Unnatural History, Ghost Whisperer, Dead Zone and Weeds. He has also appeared in the box office films Insomnia, Saved! and The Sentinel.

Lastly, over on Friday night, actress Valerie Cruz appeared on Grimm as what appeared to be a careful clinic doctor who turned out to be a creepy fairytale creature who harvests organs from runaway teens. Valerie has appeared in the short-lived Syfy series The Dresden Files and had recurring roles on True Blood, Dexter and Nip/Tuck as well as the short-lived series Hidden Palms. More recently she appeared on the short-lived medical drama Off the Map and a recurring role on Alphas. She also appeared in the box office film Cellular.

Friday night’s episode of Supernatural also featured actress Sara Canning and actor Harry Groener who appeared, respectively, as a member of the Amazons who beds Dean, gives birth to his child who then attempts to kill daddy all within three days; and a professor that the Winchester brothers “use” as a stand-in for Bobby because they desperately needed an expert.

Sara, of course, is best known to TV viewers as ill-fated Aunt Jenna on The Vampire Diaries, but she has also appeared in episodes of Smallville and Kyle XY as well as the made-for-TV movies Taken In Broad Daylight, Come Dance at My Wedding and The Hunt for the I-5 Killer.

Meanwhile, Harry is best known for being the evil Mayor of Sunnydale who transformed into the mammoth snake on Buffy the Vampire Slayer; but Harry has a long resume of film roles including About Schmidt, Road to Perdition, Patch Adams, Amistad and TV roles on Dear John, Mad About You, The West Wing and Las Vegas (among countless others).

With another three weeks of February sweeps ahead of us, it’s going to be a very interesting month for guest stars.  What actors and actresses did you see as guest stars on your favorite shows this past week?  Please share.