I don't know how Mario Van Peebles finds the time for all the work he's been doing lately. Somehow he fits it all in. And now he's circling back.

Mario Van Peebles will return to FX's Damages for six episodes, reprising his role as Agent Harrison. He was briefly seen as the FBI agent who approaches Ellen about going after Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Indications are that Ellen will work with the Feds in some way, because Patty has definitely crossed the lines of legality -- and morality -- multiple times. Agent Harrison only cares about the former.

At the same time, Van Peebles is also assigned to direct FX's motorcycle drama Sons of Anarchy. That new series, with Ron Perlman, premieres in September.

Hey, say that headline 5 times real fast.

I was watching Ebert & Roeper this weekend, and the fill-in for Ebert (he should be back in 2007) was actor and director Mario Van Peebles, who most recently won acclaim for directing the movie Baadasssss!, playing Malcolm X in Ali, and as a cast member on the show Rude Awakening a few years back. But back in the late 80s he starred in a really fun Stephen J. Cannell show titled Sonny Spoon, about a con man who helps people (and himself) out of various jams. He used his connections on the street, the help of a bar owner (real-life dad Melvin Van Peebles), and, best of all, several disguises to solve the crime. You don't see that enough on television these days, people using funky disguises. I think some of the heist shows have used them here and there, but it was a major part of Sonny Spoon. And the show was hip without being annoying, and was just really entertaining.