6 Random TV Casting Stories Ordered By Degrees To Kevin Bacon

Sometimes, you get a lot of television casting stories in one day, and while they’re worth reporting, no one casting story deserves its own post. So, I’ve collected six of them — including appearances by Ian McShane, Neve Campbell, and Matt Bomer — and because I couldn’t think of a better way to present them, I’ve also included their Bacon numbers. Please feel free to include your own Bacon Numbers in the comments, even if it’s only via a celebrity you know or have met in real life.

– “Grey’s Anatomy” has cast Neve Campbell as Derek’s (Patrick Dempsey) sister, in a recurring role, according TV Line. This is important because Neve Campbell is hot. Or used to be. Campbell has a Bacon Number of One, having starred with Kevin Bacon in Wild Things.

– “Deadwood’s” Ian McShane joins the cast of Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Asylum.” He’ll play a man that “tussles” with the nun character played by Jessica Lange, according to TV Guide. The word “c*ck” is likely to be abused. Ian McShane has a Bacon Number of 2, having starred with Aidan Quinn in Nine Lives, who starred in Cavedweller with Kevin Bacon.

– Speaking of Ryan Murphy, he tweeted that White Collar’s Matt Bomer will guest on his NBC show, New Normal as Bryan’s ex-boyfriend. Bomer has a Bacon Number of Two, having starred in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning with R. Lee Ermey, who was in Murder in the First with Bacon. Wait? Bomer was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake?

– Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, Molly Shannon, joins NBC’s “Hannibal” Her role is unspecified, though her character may recur. She will almost certainly be annoying. Shannon has a Bacon Number of Two, having been in What Goes Up with Gabrielle Rose, who was in Where the Truth Lies with Kevin Bacon.

– Eric Dane, whose character was recently killed off in Grey’s Anatomy, has joined Michael Bay’s TNT thriller, Last Ship, according to EW.

The project is based on a 1989 novel by William Brinkley and follows the crew of a naval destroyer who might be the only survivors left on the planet after a nuclear war. Dane will star as Captain Tom Chandler, described as “a career Navy man and a loving father and husband who’s never home as much as he’d like to be. Chandler is authoritative, decisive, fair, courageous and a born leader, respected and loved by men and women in his command.”

Dane also has a Bacon Number of 2, having starred in Valentine’s Day with Queen Latifah, who starred in Beauty Shop with Kevin Bacon.

– Finally, “Animal Practice” has nabbed Adam Goldberg. Goldberg will play himself as the star of a fictional legal drama, Laws of the Jungle, to which the animal handler Angela (Betsy Sodaro) and Rizzo the monkey are addicted, according to TVLine. No word on whether the show will be cancelled before the episode airs. Goldberg also has a Bacon number of two, having starred in Deja Vu with Ritchie Montgomery, who will be in Jayne Mansfield’s Car with Kevin Bacon.