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

Now that May sweeps is upon us, this not only signifies the impending end of the 2011-2012 TV season but also the network’s ramped up efforts to have terrific guest stars popping up on their shows.

First, over on last Sunday night’s new episode of GCB, actors Kevin Alejandro and Grant Bowler appeared as the town butcher and the owner of a prime race horse respectively.  Kevin and Grant have both appeared in True Blood and Ugly Betty; and Kevin has had recurring roles in Southland, Weeds, Shark and the online series Gemini Division.  Meanwhile, Aussie Grant appeared in the overseas TV shows like All Saints, Canal Road and Blue Heelers. 

Then over on Wednesday night’s new episode of Revenge, there was a trifecta of guest stars, including actors Michael Reilly Burke and James Morrison as well as actress Tess Harper. Michael appeared as the SEC agent who Madeline met with regarding soon-to-be ex-husband Conrad while James appeared as the supposed prison guard who killed Emily/Amanda’s dad and Tess appeared as Nolan’s aunt.

Michael has appeared in countless TV shows like Providence, NYPD Blue, 24, Lincoln Heights, Private Practice as well as Hawaii Five-0, The Mentalist, Drop Dead Diva, Breakout Kings and NCIS: Los Angeles.

James, on the other hand, is probably best known for his role as Bill Buchanan on 24 but he has also recurred on Private Practice, Hawthorne and the short-lived series Space: Above and Beyond.

Tess, on the other hand, has a long resume of film roles including Silkwood, Her Alibi, Tender Mercies, The Jackal and No Country for Old Men as well as TV roles on Breaking Bad, Crash and Early Edition.

Thursday night was filled with great guest stars on a number of TV shows, including Person of Interest, The Secret Circle and Scandal.

Let’s start with Person of Interest, which featured actor Jeremy Davidson and actresses Dagmara Dominczyk and Judith Ivey, who played a US Marshal; his on-the-run wife and Jesscia’s mom, respectively.

Jeremy is best known for his recurring role on Army Wives; but he’s also appeared in Roswell, Pan Am, Brothers & Sisters and Law & Order.

Whereas, Dagmara got her first big break in the film The Count of Monte Cristo (she actually played Jim Caviezel’s fiance in the movie) and then appeared in the film Kinsey. She has also appeared in the TV shows Third Watch, 24, The Good Wife and Suits.

As for Ivey, she’s a movie and TV vet, but her small screen credits include a remake of the Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward classic, The Long Hot Summer, in which she co-starred in this mini-series with Don Johnson. Her series work includes doing time in the later years of Designing Women; another sitcom called The Five Mrs. Buchanans; as well as voice work on the animated series, The Critic. Most recently she guest-starred on the Season 3 finale of White Collar. She was the keeper of the Raphael that Neal visited in Staten Island.

Actor Chad Willett and actress Elise Gatien appeared in The Secret Circle as the younger versions of Adam’s grandfather and Diana’s mother (respectively) in a shared vision by Cassie and Diana.

Chad has appeared in TV shows such as Jack & Jill, The Chronicle, Charmed, NCIS, House, Bones and Human Target. He has also starred in the made-for-TV movies Carolina Moon and On Strike for Christmas.

Whereas, Elise appeared in the short-lived series Tower Prep, had a recurring role on Smallville and guest starred in an episode of Supernatural (Season 6’s “Live Free or TwiHard”) and Eureka.

Over on Scandal, actor George Newbern and actress Kate Burton appeared as a black ops guy from Huck’s past who killed Amanda Tanner; and the very conservative Vice President of the United States respectively.

George got his first big break in the 1980’s film Adventures in Babysitting and later appeared in the remake of The Father of the Bride; he also appeared in the made-for-TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. He has also appeared in TV shows like Chicago Hope, Friends, Providence and the short-lived series Reunion.

Kate is, of course, best known for her recurring role as Meredith’s mom, Ellis Grey, on Grey’s Anatomy. She has also appeared in the box office films 127 Hours, Big Trouble in Little China and Max Payne as well as guest starred in episodes of Grimm, Law & Order, Rescue Me and The Practice.

On Friday night, there was a double header of familiar faces on both Fairly Legal and Grimm. Actresses Alanna Ubach and Wendy Crewson guest starred in Fairly Legal as the head of a women’s prison hunger strike movement and the prison’s warden respectively.

Most TV viewers will know Alanna for her role in the box office film Legally Blonde, but she has also appeared in Meet the Fockers and Bad Teacher. Among her TV roles are Eli Stone, Men of a Certain Age, Hung, Chicago Hope and Providence.

Meanwhile, Wendy has appeared in TV shows like 24, Flashpoint, The Bridge and Rookie Blue as well as the box office films Air Force One, The Santa Clause, The 6th Day and The Vow.

Lastly, on Friday night’s new episode of Grimm, actress Amanda Schull and actor David Clayton Rogers appeared as that world’s Cinderella and her prince. Amanda got her start in the cult classic film Center Stage and appeared in the made-for-TV movie Sorority Wars; on TV she has appeared in One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars and Hawaii Five-0.

Meanwhile, David is probably best known for his recurring role on the new ABC Family series Jane By Design; but he has also appeared in the made-for-TV movies The Pregnancy Pact and Revenge of the Bridesmaids and roles in the TV shows Cougar Town, Numb3rs, Brothers & Sisters and CSI.

With more of May sweeps yet to come, it will be great fun to see which actors and actresses show up on my favorite shows.  What familiar faces did you see this past week?  Please share.