A cross-pollination of television actors!...

2:43pm
Watched the Season Finale of Desperate Housewives last night (don't realy know or care which series). It just occurred to me that I'm beseiged by a sense of bewilderment/fatigue/annoyance by this apparent cross-pollination of actors from the 'popular' stock of television of recent history.

Of Desperate Housewives, the aforementioned latest series (that I half lost interest for throughout it's progression/regression), off the top of my head were:

- John Barrowman (from some British series)
- Adriana La Cerva off Sopranos (and to a lesser extent Joey) having the whole Italian thing being mocked and exploited disrespectfully
- the bloke who murdered his wife in Season 1, was shagging Peggy in Mad Men, and now back in Desperate Housewives for the season cliffhanger
- Joan's ex-Doctor fiancee in Mad Men, now part of the Bree Hodge/Van Der Kamp household
- Rita from Dexter, exploited for her blonde sex bombshell looks, used as a lesbian to make Bree's ex best friend's character seem more interesting.
- And also the appearance of Roz from Frasier, a psychiatrist for Tom and Lynette Scavo

Arrrrggghh!! As much as it is a delightful novelty to incorporate characters of past and present television, I can't help thinking that it's almost as if that they're desperately trying to compenstate for lack of storyline, and the lack of interest in the series. It reminds me of the closing days of Ally McBeal when they were throwing everyone in for people to be kept interest: notably Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, and even Dame Edna to name ust a few!... Am I just being geeky, identifying random people when this is an occurance that is fairly commonplace; or am I right to identify bad quality television?

There seems to be a serious lack of originality for what were once hugely entertaining vehicles of the past. Dexter tastefully uses character actors from the world of movies and television sucessfully(notably the guest villains) - but that seems to be the exception.

I look forward to Weeds with baited breath - which seems to be following the life energy arc of Desperate Housewives (or lack of) - as well as the new series of Mad Men, which I'm hoping will keep my faith in television entertainment! In the meantime, it's all about the loving up of Big Brother 10!....