Kate McNeil on Promised Land

In 1997, Kate McNeil was a guest star on the TV series Promised Land. In the episode 'To Everything a Season', the actress played the sister of Wendy Phillips, one of the stars of the show.

The scenario here was simple. Kate McNeil's character Laura, unable to have a baby, must reconcile herself (and convince her husband) that adopting a child is the best and only solution. Her husband was played by actor Michael Reilly Burke.

Kate McNeil on Dear John

Kate McNeil did not have a very busy 1991. In the early months of that year, the final episodes of her short-lived show WIOU aired before the show was unceremoniously cancelled. she didn't really do much else on film or TV that year except for a guest role on the NBC sitcom Dear John. In the episode "Kirk's Wife" Kate McNeil appears as...Kirk's wife. Actor Jere Burns plays Kirk, one of the central characters on the show, and Kate McNeil plays Carol, his ex-wife. Carol discovered after they were married that she was a lesbian and she left Kirk for a woman (a sore spot for the macho Kirk).

For her guest appearance on Dear John, Kate McNeil had only two scenes, one at the beginning of the episode and another at the very end. She does very well with her limited screen time, looking fabulous and handling her material with ease. Overall, this was a very humorous episode and also one with an excellent message of tolerance as Kirk comes to terms with his gay ex-wife.

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Here are some images of Kate McNeil on Dear John:

Kate McNeil on Simon & Simon

In 1988, Kate McNeil guest starred on Simon & Simon in an episode titled 'The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall'. The episode concerned an old friend of A.J. Simon's named Tommy Van Alder (played by Paul Tuerpe) who is from a wealthy family and is married to Trish Van Alder (Kate McNeil). Tommy Van Alder mysteriously dies shortly after the episode begins during a wedding vow renewal ceremony. Rick and A.J. Simon are then hired by the dead man's family to investigate the death.

1988 was a good year for Kate McNeil. She began the year with the first of two appearances she would do on Murder, She Wrote. That summer her second horror film, Monkey Shines, was released to theaters in the USA and that role has become one of her most popular. She closed out 1988 with a nice guest role on Simon & Simon.

In 'The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall', Kate McNeil doesn't have all that much screen time, but nonetheless is central to the story. She looks great throughout and this is, of course, about two years before she would cut off most of her hair in favor of a shorter hairstyle she would display during 1990-91. An yes, in case you were wondering, she does have the requisite kissing scene with Simon & Simon star Jameson Parker!

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Here are some images of Kate McNeil on Simon & Simon:

Kate McNeil on Designing Women

In 1989, Kate McNeil made a brief but memorable guest appearance on the sitcom Designing Women. In the episode called 'The Junies', Kate McNeil plays Libby Coker, a member of the Lady June sales company, of which Charlene (played by Jean Smart) has just become a member. When Libby comes over to the house and is ultra-perky and very high pressure, Charlene's friends begin to consider the Lady June organization as rather cult-like. Kate McNeil's character appears again briefly near the end of the episode, when the other women come to rescue Charlene from a Lady June meeting.

Kate McNeil had obvious comedic skills but she never really focused on straight comedy throughout her career. During 1989 to 1991, she appeared on a handful of sitcoms, such as Anything But Love and Dear John. Her small role on Designing Women showed off her funny side to great effect and also gave her yet another opportunity to show off her Southern accent and persona that she originally displayed in North and South Book II (and would later use to great effect again in an episode of Quantum Leap).

Kate McNeil chats with Jean Smart on Designing Women

Kate McNeil and Delta Burke on Designing Women

Kate McNeil on Anything But Love

In 1989, Kate McNeil appeared in the first of two episodes she would do of the sitcom Anything But Love. The show, which starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis, ran from 1989 to 1992 on the ABC network. Kate McNeil guest starred in two second season episodes playing Gail, the girlfriend of Richard Lewis' character. Earlier in 1989, Kate McNeil had done the first sitcom appearance of her career on the CBS sitcom Designing Women.

In her first episode of Anything But Love, titled 'Hearts and Bones', Kate McNeil goes out to dinner with boyfriend Richard Lewis and his co-worker Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis ends up prematurely performing the Heimlich maneuver on Kate McNeil, breaking one of her ribs in the process. Later, at the hospital, she again injures Kate McNeil's character when she accidentally slams a door in her face. Richard Lewis begins to wonder whether she is subconsciously hurting his girlfriend.

Here are some images of Kate McNeil in her first appearance on Anything But Love:

Several episodes later, Kate McNeil reprised her Gail character on Anything But Love. In the episode 'Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow', Kate McNeil's character plans a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend Richard Lewis. Richard Lewis, however, decides to end their relationship right as the party begins, leading to some awkward moments.

After appearing on Anything But Love, Kate McNeil would only ever do one other sitcom, an episode of Dear John in 1991. After that she would abandon the half hour situation comedy format altogether.


Here are some pictures of Kate McNeil in her second appearance on Anything But Love:

Kate McNeil on Diagnosis Murder

In 1996, Kate McNeil made a guest appearance on an episode of Diagnosis Murder, a murder mystery show which starred real-life father and son Dick Van Dyke and Barry Van Dyke. In the episode titled 'Murder Murder' Kate McNeil plays a dual role of twins Jennifer and Joan. Jennifer is married to a wealthy man named Bill Stratton (played by the legendary Robert Vaughn), but he is quickly murdered in the episode's introductory sequence. While Dick Van Dyke and his cohorts are investigating Bill Stratton's death, they discover that Jennifer Stratton has a twin named Joan. When Jennifer turns up dead due to an apparent suicide, Dick Van Dyke and company must race to find the truth.


Here are some pics of Kate McNeil on Diagnosis Murder:

Kate McNeil on Quantum Leap

In what was to be one of the final episodes of the show, Kate McNeil guest starred on Quantum Leap in 1993. The episode 'The Leap Between the States' was one of only two episodes of the show where the perpetual time-traveler Sam Beckett (played by Scott Bakula) leaped out of his lifetime, this time jumping into the Civil War. Here he assumes the identity of his great-grandfather and must woo his great grandmother (played by Kate McNeil), deal with the slavery issue and fend off an evil Confederate lieutenant.

Kate McNeil had developed her Southern-style acting persona for North and South Book II back in 1986. She has also utilized a Southern accent for a brief guest appearance on Designing Women in 1989. On Quantum Leap, she practically reprised her North and South role and perhaps that is why she was thought of for the part.

Kate McNeil would later appear on a 2005 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, a show which starred Scott Bakula.


Here are some images of Kate McNeil appearing on Quantum Leap: