Exclusive: Veronica Mars' Dad + CBS = Numbers!

• Nov 5, 2007 07:31 PM ET
• by Michael Ausiello

You know what you guys need? Some good news to distract you from all this depressing strike coverage. And dammit, good news you shall get

Veronica Mars' much-missed Enrico Colantoni is returning to the tube with a major guest stint on CBS' Numbers, sources confirm to me exclusively. The role shouldn't be much of a stretch for the actor formerly known as Det. Mars: He's playing a surveillance specialist who takes a hostage when he suspects that someone has been spying on him.

The episode - slated to air in mid-December - is currently in production and, therefore, wouldn't be a victim of the strike.

Speaking of the S-word, I just returned from Strike Central at New York's Rockefeller Central and you're never going to believe who I spotted on the picket line: Team frakkin' Palladino! Good thing I had the foresight to bring a TVGuide.com video crew with me. To see highlights from my interview with AS-P - as well as fellow picketers Tina Fey and Seth Meyers - check back here in a few hours.