The 10 Actors Who Should Return to Their Old Shows

By Angel Cohn, TWoP | Thursday, February 24, 2011, 3:17 PM

Lex Luthor is coming back... who else should?

The CW/David Gray

The Internet recently went wild with the news that Michael Rosenbaum (aka Lex Luthor) would be returning to "Smallville" for the series finale. Now, for the first time in years, we're genuinely excited about an episode of that show. So with that in mind, we got to thinking about some other actors and actresses that we wish would find their way back to their former series for at least a guest appearance, even if they've already moved on to new roles.

10. Joe Manganiello, "How I Met Your Mother"

He's currently giving a hair-raising performance as Alcide on "True Blood," but that's a summer show and we need a year-round Manganiello fix. Particularly since this former pal of Marshall's was one of the few friends outside the regular group we actually liked.

[Related: "True Blood's" Joe Manganiello talks "werewolf dating."]

9. Mandy Patinkin, "Criminal Minds"

When last we saw Patinkin's Jason Gideon, he had taken off after a tough case, leaving his badge at a cabin. It's been years since then, so he should be done with his soul-searching or whatnot by now. Let's get some resolution on what happened with the character.

8. Jennifer Morrison, "House"

We haven't seen Cameron since she returned to Princeton-Plainsboro to get her divorce papers signed by Chase, and that's a shame. Perhaps some hospital higher-up will finally see how wildly inappropriate House and Cuddy's relationship is and hire back Cameron to take over Cuddy's job.

 [Video: Watch behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews from "House" right here.]

7. Yin Chang, "Gossip Girl"

Much as we'd love to see the crazypants known as Georgina Sparks again, we most desperately miss Nelly Yuki. Could she get a job at W and make Blair's life a nightmare -- or something? Anything?

6. Stephen Tobolowsky, "Glee"

Sandy Ryerson sure was fun -- until they completely forgot about this possible child molester/avid shopper/musical theater maniac/drug dealer. So much potential, and we're still curious about exactly why he was in Rachel's "Run, Joey, Run" video.

 [Related: See all the story lines and characters "Glee" has forgotten about.]

5. Eric Millegan, "Bones"

Zack's technically still institutionalized after that whole accessory-to-murder thing. But that shouldn't stop him from popping up in more flashbacks so we can remember him as a sweet guy instead of as a serial killer's right hand man.

4. Dean Winters, "30 Rock"

Because you can never get enough of New York's last beeper salesman. He's gross, kind of a mess, and a complete manchild. We're still not sure why Liz Lemon doesn't think that qualifies as good dating material.

[Video: Watch clips and full episodes of "30 Rock" right here.]

3. Paula Abdul, "American Idol"

While it was disgusting to see her and Simon play-fight, it would be a whole new level of horrifying to watch her in a diva-off with J.Lo while trying to flirt with Steven Tyler. And by horrifying, we mean awesome. (No, she's not an "actor" like everyone else on this list, but we like to think that her persona is at least a little exaggerated.)

2. Dana Delany, "Desperate Housewives"

One of the best things to happen to this show in years, Katherine Mayfair ostensibly left Wisteria Lane to run away with her stripper girlfriend, but really, it was because she was afraid of the judgmental housewives. We hope she's learned to stand up to those harpies by now.

[Related: See our favorite crazy characters from "Desperate Housewives."]

1. Bryan Batt, "Mad Men"

We wish that Sal and his adorable little beard of a wife could find a way to return to the show so they could host many more intensely awkward dinner parties. Perhaps he could get a job at another agency and have a run-in with Don. Or maybe he could crash Don's sure-to-be horrible wedding.

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Got more characters you want to see back on their old shows? Let us know in the comments.