Gail: Hi, everybody. It's raining -- did you notice? I feel lucky to be in my own living room, where I'm being assisted today by Oliver. Actually, all he wants is to sit on the keyboard, because it's a little chilly in here, but any crazy answers, assume they're his. I'll get started typing to warm us both up.

wgmartin: One of last week's questions touched on an actor appearing in
multiple programs. This is beginning to really get to me -- I
see some actor that I recognize from another series appearing in
a different one, and it breaks my appreciation of what I am now
watching. I keep trying to recall the name of the character from
the other program (or multiple programs, if they've had a lot of
roles). I realize the actors need to work, and it's good for them
to get new roles in new series, but there are also these legendary
thousands of struggling actors desperate for roles, spending their
time waiting tables or cleaning pools, and I keep thinking it would
be better to give *them* a chance instead of re-using familiar faces.

I can foresee some future amalgamation of computers and TV, in which,
when a character appears on-screen, you'd just move a cursor to their
image, click on it, and get a pop-up that gives you the character's
name, the actor's name, and a link to all their previous roles, identified
by character name and brief role definition.

Do other viewers find the appearance of familiar faces in totally new
contexts distracting or having a negative effect on appreciating the
current storyline?

Will

Gail: That's a lot of questions in one. Sure, it bothers everybody not to be able to remember where you saw somebody before, but lots of us have the computer and the TV on at once, so we just check. As for why the same actors keep getting cast over and over, I ask that about Kim Raver, who was just added to "Grey's Anatomy." I can't stand her! But remember, TV isn't a public service. People making TV shows cast people they think will make the show work, not people they think need a job. Sometimes they're wrong, but they give it a shot.
BTW, why are your questions narrow? It makes my question list look much longer than it is, which is disappointing.

Andrew: Do you know if Alex Fees left KSDK? His picture is no longer under KSDK's meet the team page.

Gail: As I understand it, Alex Fees was a freelancer during his time with Channel 5. He's now doing other things, including producing for the Higher Education Channel, and is producer of the "Cardinals Crew" kids show on FSN.

Stevie B: Hi Gail,
I have a question about "Curb Your Enthusiasm" the Seinfeld reunion. Was that a one episode storyline or will that be a continuing theme throughout the season with more guest appearances? Also, any idea when the United States of Tara returns?

Gail: The "Seinfeld" folks are going to be in six episodes, Larry David says. I thought last week's episode was very funny and satisfying. "Tara" returns in early 2010, which is a difficult year to type.

Frank: Any thoughts on "The Prisoner" mini series over at the network of "Mad Men"?

Gail: Intriguing. I'm not such a purist of the original "Prisoner" that I don't think it should be remade. But I haven't seen any of the new one, which debuts Nov. 15, not even the clip from Comic-con, which you can watch at AMC.com.