D-DAY FOR "CLOSE TO HOME"?

Relax. It's not what you think.....

One thing (among many) we insist on here at Toobworld Central is credibility in the family tree of a character. We've got to believe that the actors cast to play each other's family members must share some of the same DNA strands.

Currently, a great example is Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller of 'Prison Break'.

At least, I'm pretty sure it's not just because of the haircut.

A classic example? Leonard Nimoy and Mark Lenard as son and father on 'Star Trek'.

One of the worst transgressors? Jimmie Walker as JJ Evans in 'Good Times'. Why didn't James and Florida ever admit to stealing him for their own? Because there's no way he was a product of their union. (I think it's more likely his parental units could be found on 'Farscape'.)

I once threw out the idea that perhaps Dr. Gregory House could be the illegitimate son of Dr. Mark Sloan of 'Diagnosis Murder'. If they ever saw it, the producers of 'House' threw the idea out too, and instead cast Lee R. Ermey. But I still think any character played by Dick Van Dyke would have been a better choice genetically. (And I also think Van Dyke could have pulled off the personality part as written.)

Recently I suggested Dabney Coleman for the father of Earl Hickey on 'My Name Is Earl'.

Beau Bridges got the gig.

I can live with that, mainly because he does look like Randy Hickey's biological father. As for Earl? Maybe Bridges' character is his father on paper only, in much the same way Earl is for Joy's two kids.

So maybe Dabney Coleman can be brought in somewhere down the line to be the actual Earl's Daddy.

I've got another suggestion for a father and son reunion. (Actually I have two, but I just want to toss out this quickie and save the other for a more detailed post.)

Christian Kane plays Jack, Annabeth Chase's husband on 'Close To Home'. Watching him embrace his wife in the latest episode, tight close-up, I flashed on the perfect choice to play his dad - Bruce McGill. (D-Day in "Animal House", Jack Dalton on 'MacGyver')

McGill has that man-of-the-people feel as an actor; a trait he might have passed down to his construction worker son - if he was chose to portray Jack's father.

The show is called 'Close To Home' so that it can explore how Annabeth's family is affected by the cases she prosecutes. So that means there will be plenty of opportunities to see various aspects of her home life. And hopefully we can get a chance to meet a lot of the people on both sides of her family - including her in-laws.

So there's my suggestion for casting Annabeth's father-in-law. Once again, I'm throwing the idea out there freely so that the Powers That Be can ignore it as usual.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby