# What's Peter MacNicol doing for a living these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238 "2007-03-23T19:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/1 "2007-03-23T19:59:07Z")
I haven’t been following Numb3rs much these days, but I see it every now and then. There is a noticible absence of Larry lately. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he disappeared right around the time that Tom Lennox started working for Wayne Palmer. Coincidence? When Tom finally gets blown up by elected terrorists next week (sorry, should have spoilered that!) will Larry come back? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/2 "2007-03-23T19:59:53Z")
I used to watch that show. How is it holding up? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/3 "2007-03-23T20:05:54Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/4 "2007-03-23T20:19:40Z")
[QUOTE=UncleRojelio] I used to watch that show. How is it holding up? [/QUOTE] I think it’s still pretty good, but I think they’re running out of ideas. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/5 "2007-03-23T20:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] I think it’s still pretty good, but I think they’re running out of ideas. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I had high hopes for that show but wondered just how they were planning on sustaining it. I’m sure Peter MacNicol will land on his feet. He has a pretty good dismount. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/6 "2007-03-23T20:42:23Z")
I _thought_ he had left to be on another show, and yes, **24**. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/7 "2007-03-23T20:50:41Z")
Ahh, the Biscuit. How I miss him. I’ve tried to watch Numbers but it annoys. Why couldn’t they spin him off of Ally McBeal? He was the only reason I watched it. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/8 "2007-03-23T20:53:43Z")
Larry is currently in space doing a stint on the ISS, so I expect he will be back in the show once his work on 24 ends. Unless they decide to do a Col. Blake on us all… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/9 "2007-03-23T20:55:18Z")
He’s playing a politico nebbish (as opposed to an egghead nebbish, a lawyer nebbish, and a medical administrative nebbish). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/10 "2007-03-23T21:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] Unless they decide to do a Col. Blake on us all… [/QUOTE] They better not. He’s the only reason I watch that show. My daughters watch it for Charlie’s hair. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/11 "2007-03-24T02:27:24Z")
The show’s enjoyable, but they mostly gave up on the math after the first season. Now the math is a flavoring for an ordinary cop show. It’s on Friday nights, which is a weak viewing night, but it gets decent ratings (called numbers in the trade, ironically) and it will probably stick around at least another year, probably with MacNicol back. Kathy Najimy as his substitute is her worst role ever. It’s worth watching if just for being one of the extremely rare shows that make academics human. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/12 "2007-03-24T02:32:35Z")
He’s doing both shows. As he only has about five minutes of work per episode of _Numb3rs_, working on 24 can’t be too taxing for his schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/13 "2007-03-24T03:03:01Z")
He’s not doing both shows. He hasn’t been on a single episode since he left unless it’s happened so recently it’s still part of the backlog on my DVR. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/14 "2007-03-24T03:39:23Z")
They may not be broadcast simultaneously, but he [is returning to _Numb3rs_](http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/07/10/macnicol-joins-24-but-stays-on-numb3rs/) and will be in the April 27th episode. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/15 "2007-03-24T04:42:09Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] It’s worth watching if just for being one of the extremely rare shows that make academics human. [/QUOTE] Larry more than Charlie. And it shows that even our geekiest brethren can find a model (Diane Farr) can find a hot but scary looking model (IRL, it paid for her degree) as the love of his life, or at least this season. Look, even as a fantasy, we geeks have to grab for what we can. We generally don’t make for good TV. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-peter-macnicol-doing-for-a-living-these-days/397238/16 "2007-03-24T20:01:59Z")
Seeing Diane Farr always weirds me out a little because I remember her flinty voice from Lovelines and she looks so old now. And it’s like Crossing Jordan: should the analysts helping out really end up chasing the baddies down the street?