Merrin Dungey Movies
A popular television actress who has also found success on the silver screen, Merrin Dungey has been entertaining audiences since strapping on her ballet shoes at the age of four. Always quick on her feet, the talented dancer moved from ballet to ice skating before discovering her talent as an actress while hosting a local teen talk show at 18. Commercial work was quick to follow, and shortly thereafter, Dungey enrolled as a theater major at U.C.L.A. During her sophomore year at college, Dungey became the youngest person ever to win the U.C.L.A. School of Theater's top acting prize at the Annual Acting Awards Ceremony. Following her graduation, the up-and-coming actress developed a one-woman show entitled Black Like Who? for the HBO Comedy Workspace. It didn't take long for Dungey's reputation as a talent to watch spread through Hollywood, and on the heels of Black Like Who?, she signed with the William Morris Agency. Television roles were quick to follow, and after guest appearances on Martin and Living Single, Dungey landed a recurring role on the television series Party Girl (an adaptation of the 1995 Parker Posey indie). After making her film debut with a small role in the 1998 disaster flick Deep Impact, Dungey returned to the small screen in supporting capacity with The King of Queens in 1998. With roles in EDtv (1999) and The Sky Is Falling (2000), Dungey seemed to be balancing films and television nicely, and following a memorable turn on Malcolm in the Middle, she was cast on the small-screen spy drama-thriller series Alias in 2001. In addition to continuing roles on television on such popular shows as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dungey still appearred in such features as Scream at the Sound of the Beep (2002). In 2004, Dungey took on a role in the made-for-television drama Summerland. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi- 2007
In the first episode of a two-part story, Addison (Kate Walsh) heads to LA for a reunion old medical-school friends, blissfully unprepared for what it is in store for her. Meredith's stepmom Susan (Mare Winningham) is brought in with a truly bad case of hiccups, just as Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) thinks she has come to terms with their relationship. "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser) has been identified as "Ava", and Alex (Justin Chambers) is happy with her by any name. And Cristina (Sandra Oh) prepares for her wedding with the dubious input of her own mother (Tsai Chin) and Burke's mom (Diahann Carroll). This episode serves to introduce the future costars of the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice: Tim Daly (Pete), Amy Brennerman (Violet), Taye Diggs (Sam), Chris Lowell (Dell) and Paul Adelstein (Cooper) (the character of Naomi, here played by Merrin Dungey, would be taken over by Audra McDonald in Private Practice). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2007
This spinoff from the popular ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy was a vehicle for Kate Walsh, repeating her role from the earlier series as brilliant neonatal surgeon Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd, the ex-wife of Seattle Grace Hospital's Dr. Derek Shepherd. Having relocated to Los Angeles, Addison immediately found employment at the high-end Oceanside Wellness Center, a freewheeling "alternative" hospital established by several of her former medical-school classmates. The large ensemble cast included Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder, alternative-medicine specialist and equivalent to Grey's Anatomy's "McDreamy" (aka Derek Shepherd); Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett, internist and best-selling "self help" author; Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, fertility-and-hormone specialist and Sam's former wife; Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman, pediatrician and resident ladies' man; Amy Brennerman as Freedman's best friend, psychiatrist Dr. Violet Turner; and Chris Lowell as Dr. William "Del" Cooper, the hospital's laid-back receptionist and aspiring midwife. Also on hand were KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King, chief of staff at nearby St. Ambrose Hospital and staunch opponent of the unorthodox methods practiced at Oceanside; and Shavon Kirksey as Naomi's daughter Maya. Its format and "dramatis personae" previously established in a two-part episode of Grey's Anatomy in the spring of 2007, Private Practice premiered over ABC on September 26 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2007
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Addison (Kate Walsh) undergoes a profound personal crisis as she mulls over the possibility of moving to LA's Oceanside Wellness Center (thereby setting the stage for the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice). Back in Seattle, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) learns that her stepmother Susan (Mare Winningham) is suffering from something far more serious than a bad case of hiccups. Alex (Justin Chambers) shows up for emotional support as Derek (Patrick Dempsey) performs emergency surgery on Ava (Elizabeth Reaser). And Burke (Isaiah Washington) and George (T.R. Knight) get quite an earful when they turn to Bailey (Chandra Wilson) for marital advice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Cunningly presaged by the cliffhanger at the end of season one, the first episode of Alias' second season confirmed what heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) -- college student by day, counterespionage agent the rest of the time -- had feared most: that "The Man," the evil leader of a vast criminal cartel, was no man at all, but instead Sydney's supposedly dead mother, former KGB agent Irina Derevko (played by new series regular Lena Olin). Though Irina would eventually claim to have reformed and insisted that she was looking out for Sydney's best interests, her actions -- which included innumerable double-crosses, sellouts, and betrayals -- would seem to indicate otherwise. Even so, nothing that was ever "indicated" on Alias was ever quite what it appeared on the surface. Meanwhile, both of the spy organizations for which Sydney worked, the CIA and the more sinister SD-6, were dedicated to destroying the cartel formerly run by Irina and now in the hands of her mercurial lieutenant, Sark (played by another new series regular, David Anders). The two rival agencies also continued their search for the missing Rambaldi fragments, which when assembled would become a terrifying weapon of mass destruction, as well as "The Bible," the operations manual used by Irina's old criminal empire.
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Viewers who tuned into the premiere episode of ABC's espionage series Alias did so already knowing the basic premise: Heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) lived a double life, as a "typical" college undergraduate and as an uncover agent for a government organization which she assumed to be the CIA. Sydney never told either her fiancé, Danny Hecht (Edward Atterton), or her roommate, Francie Calfo (Merrin Dungey), about her covert off-campus activities, not out of any great fear of blowing her cover, but merely because she assumed no one would believe her. Then came the fateful day that Sydney let slip her secret to Danny -- who turned up murdered not long afterward. It was then that Sydney began to suspect that her CIA bosses were not all they seemed to be -- and indeed, the truth came out that she wasn't working for the CIA at all, but for a rival agency, SD-6, one of several such organizations gathered together in a rather sinister group known as the Alliance of Twelve. The cruel ruthlessness with which SD-6 went about its business was personified by Sydney's boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), an enigmatic character who was obviously very fond of Syd and the other agents, but who would not hesitate to sell anyone out who got in his way. Sloane was particularly nasty when dealing with those who would dare prevent him to carry out his obsessive, lifelong search for the fragments of the Rambaldi device, a doomsday weapon concocted some 500 years before by a Renaissance artist who happened to possess a Nostradamus-like gift of prophecy. Other perplexing facets of Sloane's personality were revealed in his curious relationship with Sydney's father, veteran SD-6 operative Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), as well as in an ongoing subplot involving Sloane's terminally ill wife, Emily (Amy Irving) -- who happened to be very close to Syd.
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James, Leah Remini) are still living in their modest but comfy digs in Queens, NY -- and still sharing space with Carrie's tactless, obstreperous father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller) -- as The King of Queens enters its fourth season. The previous season's two-part cliffhanger, involving Carrie's pregnancy, is resolved in a melancholy fashion when she miscarries, though the couple still intends to conceive again sometimewhere down the line. Also down in the dumps is Arthur, whose last friend from his old nursing home has moved away. His reaction to this turn of events is not to moan and kvetch (his accustomed behavior), but to spend his entire day sleeping -- only to wake up full of energy in the evening, just when Doug and Carrie would rather take it easy. This compels Doug to hire someone to listen to, and put up with, Arthur; the person chosen is Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), a character introduced in the previous season as a ditsy baby-store salesperson named Marilyn. Otherwise employed as a dog walker for Doug's pal Spence (Patton Oswalt), Holly agrees to walk with Arthur three times per week and feign interest in his long-winded war stories (though eventually she comes to genuinely enjoy the old guy's company). In another development, the rapidly unraveling marriage of Doug's buddy Deacon (Victor Williams) and his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey), totally collapses, and Kelly moves out with her two children. Highlights from season four include Doug's efforts to break the 951-consecutive-perfect-delivery record at his job; Carrie going on a retreat with her fellow law-firm employees; Arthur's struts and frets as he prepares to undergo heart surgery; Doug and Carrie recalling the events leading up to their wedding, including a "Sign from God" -- and later on, the couple staging an elaborate reenactment of their first date; Carrie driving Doug to distraction as she prepares for a big-time legal case; the unexpected discovery of a generous check from Doug's cousin, and the ensuing consequences; and Doug's dreams of quitting his job and running his own sandwich shop. The season ends with the series' 100th episode, in which Arthur reluctantly agrees to see a psychotherapist about his hilariously uncontrollable anger. The 2001-2002 season saw The King of Queens posting its best ratings so far, finally cracking the Top 20 of network programs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin James, Leah Remini, (more)
- 2000
Ross (David Schwimmer) had hoped to spend the weekend in romantic seclusion with his college-age girlfriend, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). Unfortunately for Ross, the couple's cabin hideaway is "invaded" by Elizabeth's father, Paul (Bruce Willis, in the second of three guest appearances). No, Paul has not arrived in the capacity of an outraged parent: he was simply hoping for a little lovemaking himself with his current date, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). Meanwhile, back in the Big Apple, Monica (Courteney Cox) has big plans for Chandler (Matthew Perry) -- so big that she isn't about to let him know what they are. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Alexandra Holden, (more)
More blue-collar comedy is served up during season three of The King of Queens, with very little divergence from the basic premise, in which delivery driver Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) and his law-clerk wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), manage to stay happy and reasonably content, even though Doug is driven crazy by Carrie's loudmouthed father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), who lives with the couple, and Carrie is not overly fond of Doug's capricious buddies Deacon (Victor Williams), Spence (Patton Oswalt), and Richie (Larry Romano). New developments this season include the arrival of Doug's younger sister Stephanie (Ricki Lake), a schoolteacher on the rebound from a punctured romance, who drops into the Heffernans to air her grievances, and the establishment of another recurring character, Carrie's law-firm boss, Mr. Pruzan (Alex Skuby). Halfway through the season, the marriage between Doug's friend Deacon and his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey), begins to fall apart (he's been stepping out, but Doug can't bring himself to call it "cheating"). Highlights during season three include Doug's efforts to spice up his love life by adopting the foreign accent and Continental charm of his new co-worker; Carrie's not-so-subtle attempt to get Doug to lose weight, leading to a nit-picky free for all; the Heffernan's efforts to economize when Doug's company goes on a long strike; a Thanksgiving flashback to the first time Doug met Carrie's parents (Florence Henderson of Brady Bunch fame is seen as Carrie's mom); Super Bowl shenanigans involving a high-def TV; and, in the classic episode "Inner Tube," Doug imagines himself and Carrie as the stars of such pop-culture classics as The Honeymooners and Wheel of Fortune. In the season's two-part finale, Carrie finds out that she is pregnant, compelling Doug to take a second job (Nicole Sullivan, cast in this two-parter as a saleswoman in a baby store, would later become a series regular in the same role). Its ratings ever-improving, The King of Queens shot up from 37th to 25th place amongst 157 network shows during the 2000-2001 season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin James, Leah Remini, (more)
Season two of The King of Queens finds blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James, Leah Remini) still sharing their small but comfy Queens, NY, home with Carrie's cantankerous and overbearing father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller). Relatively new to the proceedings is Doug's stumblebum cousin Danny (played by series star Kevin James' real-life brother Gary Valentine), who halfway through the season gets married -- forcing Doug, who can't stand the guy, to serve as Danny's best man. Another character who rapidly ascends to the "recurring" category is Kelly Palmer (Merrin Dungey), the wife of Frank's buddy Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams). Highlights of the second season include another of several crossover episodes with Everybody Loves Raymond as Ray and Debra Barone (Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton) pay a visit to the Heffernan spread. Also, a spiteful Carrie takes up smoking when Doug buys a motorcycle against her wishes; Doug manages to get a staple stuck in his groin; the Heffernans have second thoughts after agreeing to serve as godparents for the Palmers' baby; Doug becomes convinced he's a devil with women when a waitress gives him the once-over; Carrie may have to be bumped from Doug's bowling team, but it's Doug who should have been bumped; a high-school reunion leads to a row over a famous "blocked" kick; Arthur moves from the basement to the room across from Doug and Carrie's, giving him even more opportunity to drive Doug crazy; Doug agrees to participate in a charity foot race, even though the strain may do him in; and Carrie forces Doug to "boycott" his favorite Italian restaurant. The final episode finds Doug and Carrie preparing for a cross-country vacation, even though Carrie had wanted to go to Europe (and she exacts a cruel revenge when she doesn't get her wish!). Though not the top-rated sitcom on the CBS docket, The King of Queens did reasonably well, ranking 35th out of 153 network programs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin James, Leah Remini, (more)
- 1997
The "FYI" staffers find themselves trapped on the office balcony, and it looks like they'll be there all weekend; the only person who can release them is Murphy's most recently fired secretary (played by no less than Julie Brown), who has no intention of doing so. While the other staffers bemoan their fate, Kay (Lily Tomlin) is unusually calm and benign, feeling that their entrapment has occurred to serve "a greater purpose." As much as Murphy (Candice Bergan) and the others may scoff, at the end of the episode Kay is proven right! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
Everyone in the ER is on call after a devastating accident involving a police car and a school bus. Carol (Julianna Margulies) may lose her job thanks to the accusations of a drugged-up patient whom she found sprawled in the bathroom in a pool of blood. In trying to stem another patient's bleeding, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) may have exposed him to AIDs. Greene's (Anthony Edwards) bedside manner deteriorates as his domestic problems increase. And Al (Michael Beach) is fired after revealing that he is HIV-positive. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
Sheridan receives distressing news from archaeologist Dr. Kirkish (Nancy Stafford): The Earth had formed an alliance with the Shadows. Rushing to Ganymede, Sheridan hopes to destroy a downed Shadow vessel before its technology can be used for evil purposes. Meanwhile, the civilian population of the Earth is under the thumb of the Nightwatch. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Messages from Earth" debuted the week of February 19, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
