Kate Gosselin
When Elisabeth Hasselbeck said Kate Gosselin should "get the camera off the kids" and "get a job," she didn't mean her job.
But desperate times call for desperate hosts, and The View says Gosselin will serve as a fill-in host for Hasselbeck ...
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The Cleaner, Benjamin Bratt
Are special guest stars always a shark jump? The Cleaner's Benjamin Bratt says no way — especially when they include Whoopi Goldberg, Mia Kirschner, Gary Cole, and Joe Don Baker, some of the actors appearing on his A&E drama this season.
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Christopher Meloni and Hilary Duff
A new trend is making us jumpy — shark jumpy, that is: Young, hot musicians going for acting cred by guest-starring on gritty procedurals.
First Taylor Swift guested on CSI. Then Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz appeared on CSI: NY. Now, Hilary Duff is joining NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Tuesday, 10 pm/ET). Duff has aimed for acting cred before, playing an oversexed popstar in the movie War, Inc., but no one saw it. Now on SVU, she's playing an irresponsible young mother who becomes a suspect in her daughter's disappearance. Really? It was hard enough for us to buy her as the heroine in A Cinderella Story, and that part was made for her.
We understand that guest stars are important to series, and that the bigger the name, the better the ratings. With procedurals, the more salacious the crime, the bigger the buzz for the show and guest star. But does seeing such recognizable stars — and ones not known for dramatic acting — take you out of the story? Weigh in after the jump
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Chevy Chase
Whether it's Julia Roberts on Friends or Robin Williams on Law & Order: SVU, ratings spike and Emmy nominations roll in for stunt casting. Lately, Chuck has had a parade of guest stars, including Nicole Richie and the recently announced Chevy Chase and Scott Bakula. Do high-profile guest stars take you out of the story, or do you love familiar faces?
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