Fun Character Actor: Patrick Thomas O'Brien

Patrick Thomas O'Brien is a consistent character actor who is somewhat less recognizable than other consistent character actors like Christian Clemenson. O'Brien often plays unnamed characters like "barker" or "lab man."

O'Brien shows up in Lois & Clark's "The Green Green Glow of Home" as the barker. I didn't even notice him, but I recognized his voice!

I adore him for his guest appearance on Monk (an episode which also stars guest star par excellence Enrico Colantoni).

In "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month," O'Brien plays the soft-spoken, non-ironic manager who doesn't notice anything beyond Walmart--uh, I mean the department store where Monk is temporarily working. There's a wonderful scene where O'Brien comes into the staff kitchen where Monk is eating and looks at the chart of employee achievement.

He sees that Monk is successfully competing with another employee (the villainess) for the Employee for the Month position. He makes this tiny little gesture of pleasure: Isn't it nice that my employees are trying so hard. It is absolutely hilarious and absolutely perfect to the archetype.

Kudos, Patrick Thomas O'Brien!