The three ages of guesting. (Jeffrey Mayer; Jeffrey Mayer; John Parra/all WireImage.com)Actors have day jobs, but with an eye on a paycheck, a fun day's work, or an Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy, they moonlight in TV guest roles, too. Here are a few performers (and one non-performer) who will soon provide their Guest Services.
Actor: Frances Sternhagen
Day Job: Playing everyone's mother, from Cliff Clavin ("Cheers") to Trey MacDougal ("Sex & the City")
Guest-Starring On: "Parenthood"
Role: Mother (what else?) to Zeek (Craig T. Nelson)
Pros: She can probably do this role in her sleep.
Cons: By playing yet another stuntcast mom, she risks a beatdown from current record-holder Marion Ross.
Actor: Eric Roberts
Day Job: Celebrity brother, mess
Guest-Starring On: "Bones" spinoff "The Finder"
Role: "The revered head of a gypsy family"
Pros: Thanks to TLC's British import "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" and the continuing greatness of "Drag Me to Hell," gypsies are so hot right now. Gypsies.
Cons: I hadn't planned to watch "The Finder," but now I'm going to have to.
Actor: JoAnna Garcia
Day Job: Yankee wife; until recently, star of the sitcom "Better with You"
Guest-Starring On: "Once Upon a Time"
Role: The Little Mermaid
Pros: Like Disney's Ariel, she is an exceptionally cute redhead.
Cons: If any ministers happen to get excited around her, Garcia's husband will probably get mad.