For the non-political - Six Degrees of Joss Whedon/Science Fiction?

[silveradept]

Is there actually a name for the phenomenon of "actors working in similar shows will more often than not cameo/guest star or be part of later shows?" The idea that Nathan Filion has a higher probability of showing in a show/game where Alan Tudyk is acting, or that Ben Browder will follow Claudia Black from Farscape to Stargate Atlantis? Or the fact that I can spot Eve Myles in her one appearance on The Adventures of Merlin because I'm more familiar with her later work on Torchwood, which she got, much like Naoko Mori, from a one-off on Doctor Who? Or that Anthony Head has played king, librarian, and shape-changing villainous principal? Or that you can spot Michael Dorn and especially Armin Shimerman without the makeup on if you just listen to the voices? And speaking of, the bit where Seth Green can get Sarah Michelle Gellar and a couple other people from Buffy to do Robot Chicken?

Yeah, there's got to be a name for that.

Comments

[thalass.livejournal.com]

"Networking", possibly. Using the film industry usage for the word.

[silveradept]

Hrm, maybe. "Networking" for me, just means gathering contacts to use later to continue getting work or to hear about projects that one might otherwise not hear about. If that also includes the implication that having worked with someone, you're likely to work with them again, then I suppose it counts.

[thalass.livejournal.com]

That's how i think of it. Though there may be a proper name for it. I know those old comedy companies from the late 80s stuck together through multiple movies (we had the same thing over here).

I do enjoy playing Spot the Firefly Cast, though. I quite enjoyed that movie about Pie that Nathan Fillion was in, despite it being a chick flick. And Jewel Staite in Stargate, etc. Especially if it's something from before Firefly that i've never seen before. Like Adam Baldwin in Independence Day. hehe

[silveradept]

Okay. Although, for me, it was Brent Spiner in Independence Day, where we saw him with some different makeup on other than the android.