So Ugly Betty is getting a new nurse character, in the form of Lauren Velez, most known for her role as Lieutenant Maria Laguerta on Showtime's Dexter. Which seems like a weird match; maybe we're just so used to seeing Velez in her tough-girl persona that we can't actually imagine her, you know, taking care of people.

Which got us thinking: As a Hollywood movie actor, versatility is key. Or it is if you're Sean Penn or Robert Downey Junior and like to win awards. But in television, there seems to be a high demand for character actors who jump from show to show, always portraying similar people with different names. Hello, Jimmy Smits, anyone? If he is in one more show playing a hard-boiled patriarch, I'll kvetch.

Here is our salute to some of the brave men and women who were able to break the mold in typecasting on TV. Some are household names for breaking their way out of television obscurity and some still diligently provide the backbone of our nightly lineup.

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'"X-Files" star David Duchovny, who currently plays a womanizing writer on the cable television series "Californication," said on Thursday he has entered a facility for treatment of sex addiction. [...] He has been married since 1997 to actress Tea Leoni, with whom he has a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. "I have voluntarily entered a facility for the treatment of sex addiction," he said in a statement released through his lawyer, Stanton "Larry" Stein. "I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family."' [Reuters]