Thursday, January 8, 2026

Casting News - Emmy Winners Jane Lynch and Eric Stonestreet to Guest Star on 'Happy's Place'; Plus 2 More Updates!

Casting News - January 8, 2026

NBC's Happy's Place & The Hunting Party; and USA's The Rainmaker.






NBC's HAPPY'S PLACE
  • Jane Lynch and Eric Stonestreet will guest star in upcoming episodes on the comedy's second season. Lynch has received 14 Emmy Award nominations - winning five for her work on FOX's Glee, NBC's Hollywood Game Night, the web series Dropping the Soap and Prime Video's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Stonestreet starred for eleven seasons in ABC's Modern Family, winning two Emmy Awards for his performance.
  • Lynch will play Valerie, Gabby's (Melissa Peterman) mother, who visits her daughter for the first time and reveals an unexpected secret. 
  • Stonestreet will play Dr. Russell Peabody III, an unconventional therapist who attempts to help Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) resolve their conflicts.
USA's THE RAINMAKER
  • Austin Nichols has joined the cast of the drama's upcoming second season. He previously starred for three seasons in The CW's One Tree Hill and two seasons in AMC's The Walking Dead. He also recurred on Showtime's Ray Donovan and The CW's Walker.
  • He will play Bruiser's (Lana Parilla) ex-husband, a minor league baseball coach and former player who finds himself in the middle of a dangerously conspiracy.
NBC's THE HUNTING PARTY
  • The drama's second season has staged a Manifest reunion with Josh Dallas set to guest star in an upcoming episode of the series starring Melissa Roxburgh. Both Dallas and Roxburgh previously starred together for all four seasons of the NBC-turned-Netflix drama.
  • Dallas will play Elliot Carr aka the Connecticut Cobbler, a master craftsman and high-end shoemaker who specialized in extraordinary custom shoes made from only the rarest and most exotic of leathers - alligator, rhino, and people, skinning his victims alive. Fresh off his escape from the Pit, Elliot is on the loose and making a whole new set of kicks, this time with a twist.