Better Late than Never

For the last month or so, I've been watching Smallville, which I never got into before. Since there's almost nothing on TV these days, I thought it was a good time to try to catch up with a show that's been on for several years. I just started season 5. It's a pretty decent show, though it has some silly formulaic things and some inconsistencies that I could do without. I've watched several shows now this way, either after the entire run (Alias), or caught up in the middle (Battlestar Galactica, 24, The Wire, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck). Aside from the obvious benefits of no commercials, and not having to wait between episodes, particularly season finales with cliffhangers, there is another cool thing I've noticed about watching shows this way. You get to see a bunch of actors in smaller roles that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise. I watched several of the shows mentioned above around the same time, and noticed several people who had small parts in more than one show I was watching at the same time (like Callie Thorne from Rescue Me, The Wire, and Prison Break or Michelle Forbes from Battlestar Galactica, 24, Prison Break, Boston Legal, and Alias), that I would never have noticed if I watched it normally. Also, you see a lot of people who go on to larger roles later, that you don't remember from the smaller parts. I notice this a lot when I watch Seinfeld reruns as well.

Anyway, on Smallville so far, I've seen many people who have gone on to do other more noticeable parts, or at least parts I'm more familiar with. I never watched The OC, but there was a guy from that on one episode. The lawn boy who sleeps with Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives was in a couple of episodes. From Battlestar Galatica, I've seen Chief Tyrol, Dualla, and Helo. DL from Heroes was in the episode I watched last night. Boone (AKA God's frickin' gift to humanity) from Lost was in a few episodes, and Kate had the tiniest (I had to rewind it to be sure it was her) little non-speaking part in one scene. Also, in the other direction, actors in the show who were previously in more noticeable roles, I've seen two of the three kids from Home Improvement, Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder (though it's obvious why they'd cast them in this show), and of course, Bo Duke as Jonathan Kent.