You know that feeling where you see someone and you're convinced you know them from somewhere?  You just can't put your finger on it, but maybe you went to college with them or they were a friend of a friend or maybe you've even seen them on TV?

I had no such feeling when I watched Survivor: Let's Get Racial last Thursday (more on that later).  As far as I was concerned they were completely fresh faces — all of them.

So, imagine my surprise when I find out that one of the castaways, Jonathan Penner, has been in TV shows and movies that I've seen.  According to his IMDB page, he's been on episodes of Arrested Development and Seinfeld, was a series regular on the mid-90s Tea Leoni show The Naked Truth and movies such as Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror (and who hasn't seen that?).

Also, he starred alongside the rising star Cameron Diaz in a black comedy called The Last Supper.  I remember liking it as a 15-year-old.  It was about a bunch of liberals who invite conservatives over for dinner and then murder them.

Here's a picture of him on the video cover of The Last Supper and a picture of him now.  It's obvious that he has changed a lot due to a lot less hair and a few more pieces of birthday cake.

I wasn't really planning on watching The Class. The premise — 3rd-grade classmates become Friends — is silly, and I have no patience for traditional sitcoms with a laugh track (or at least I try to have no patience, but I keep watching goddam How I Met Your Mother anyway. Speaking of which, there was a premiere last night. So when's Lily coming back? And are they ever going to add any new characters? I'm kind of getting sick of the ones we have. Except Barney.)

Anyway, The Class is pretty bad. The woman married to the closeted gay guy is the absolute worst; she reminded me of someone doing a "Humorous Interpretation" (or HI, for those in the know — it's not acting, it's "interpretation") at a high school speech competition. She's followed closely by the guy living with his mother and the chick from Joey as my least favorite parts of a sometimes painfully bad half hour.

The best is Jesse Tyler Ferguson, seen at left in The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee.

His character's name in the Spelling Bee was Leaf Coneybear. He wore a cape. He was my favorite.

And he was my favorite on The Class, too, and one of my top three favorite famous redheaded guys*.

I also liked the girl who was the goth chick in Mean Girls. But I think that's just because she reminded me of Mean Girls.

Which is how I learned an important lesson: Just because you appreciate an actor's previous work (broadway shows, Mean Girls), and believe that they have the makings of a great performer, does not mean you have to support every little thing they do.

So, goodbye, The Class. Maybe if I'm home alone and bored and drunk sometime I'll watch you again.

*1) Eric Stoltz, 2) Paul Bettany, 3) Jesse Tyler Ferguson.