Celebrity crush: Lyndsy Fonseca

Today's entry features an actress who might be pulling double duty on two different TV shows, or who might just have the same old footage played over and over again on one show. Ye Olde Podcaster isn't sure. Amazon and iTunes links follow. Any affiliate payments earned from your purchase or rental will help pay the hosting fees for my podcasts, so please consider clicking.

Name: Lyndsy Fonseca (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: Easiest just to say she grew up in California, according to her Wikipedia profile. She and her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13 to get her involved in pilot season, and she's been working steadily as an actress for half her life.
Best Known For: Lyndsy may be one of the hardest-working women in show business, starring on The CW's Nikita alongside Maggie Q, appearing on How I Met Your Mother as Ted Mosbey's future daughter -- though I'm wondering if they're just using the same footage over and over -- and appearing as the title character's girlfriend in the movie comic-book adaptation Kick-Ass (and signed for its upcoming sequel).

She was also on Desperate Housewives for one full season and reappeared later, did six episodes of Big Love between 2006 and 2009, and was in the 2010 comedy Hot Tub Time Machine.
Humble Beginnings: She was busy before she turned 18, too, logging 84 episodes of The Young and the Restless from 2001 to 2005, appearing in four episodes of Boston Public, and guest-starring on Malcolm in the Middle and NYPD Blue.

Alex will mess you up.

Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Lyndsy really makes Nikita for me. Yes, Maggie Q is a bad-ass as the title spy, but it's Lyndsy as recruit Alex who is the heart and soul of the series.

And if they're NOT using the same footage over and over again on How I Met Your Mother, she deserves some praise for her non-speaking role there, managing to keep in character as the long-suffering, bemused daughter hearing her dad's endless yarn over all these seasons without asking him to "get to the point already." To play a part entirely based on body language and facial expressions, and to keep that character consistent while also doing other roles that allow a lot more latitude, is kind of a very specialized but praiseworthy skill.

TV and Web series credits: Nikita, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 6 (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 5 (Amazon | iTunes) * Desperate Housewives, season 6 (Amazon | iTunes) * Big Love, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Desperate Housewives, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Heroes, season 2: "Four Months Later..." (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Big Love, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * House, season 3: "Resignation" (Amazon | iTunes) * CSI, season 7: "Fallen Idols" (Amazon | iTunes) * Close to Home, season 2: "Hoosier Hold 'Em" (Amazon | iTunes) * Phil of the Future, season 2: "Not-So-Great Great Great Grandpa" (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Big Love, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes)

Film and TV-movie credits: Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall (Amazon | iTunes) * Fort McCoy (Amazon | iTunes) * The Ward (Amazon | iTunes) * Hot Tub Time Machine (Amazon | iTunes) * Kick-Ass (Amazon | iTunes) * The Fish Tank (Amazon | iTunes) * Austin Golden Hour (Amazon | iTunes) * Remember the Daze (Amazon | iTunes) * Dark Mind (Amazon | iTunes) * Scarlett (Amazon | iTunes) * Ordinary Heroes (Amazon | iTunes) * Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life (Amazon | iTunes) * I Do, They Don't (Amazon | iTunes)