Ted McGinley Returns to Hallmark for Sequel to 'The Note'; Wife Gigi Rice Takes on 'Crossing Over'

Hallmark fans rejoiced when the creators behind the made for TV movie, The Note, announced that its stars Ted McGinley and Genie Francis were reuniting for a sequel. The Note followed a newspaper columnist (Genie Francis) struggling with her life and work who finds a note written by a person on crashing plane. McGinley played her co-worker and sometime love interest. According to the New York Daily News, the film was the highest-rated Hallmark film of 2007.

The sequel, The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love, picks up where the previous film left off, with McGinley and Francis' characters still in love and contemplating marriage.

McGinley's career first began as a model, before he took on roles in "Happy Days," "The Love Boat" and "Dynasty." However, he's probably best known for playing Jefferson D'Arcy, the Bundy's next door neighbor on "Married With Children." He most recently appeared in the 2008 season of "Dancing with the Stars."

Though McGinley is not as fond of his acting credentials as his fans, ("I've been looking for stuff I can do and say, 'I just want to respect the work that I did.'"), he is far from uncertain when it comes to his wife.

He met Gigi Rice at the Burt Reynold's Theater in Florida and in his words, "I just could not take my eyes off her." But he wouldn't speak to her, even though they were in the same play. Finally, Rice wrote him a card asking him if he'd like to have champagne with her and "that was it." McGinley and Rice have been married for 17 years and have two sons, 15 and 11.

Gigi Rice is a veteran actress in her own right, having worked on many projects with a great deal of talented individuals. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre. Afterwards, she served as an apprentice at Burt Reynold's Jupiter Theatre in Florida. She appeared in two plays while she was there, Mame and I'm Not Rappaport, which was directed by Burt Reynolds.

She first began her career as a regular on the show "Harry and the Hendersons" and later on "Delta." Her career began to truly take off when she starred as Carly Watkins on The Jon Laroquette Show in 1993.

Rice has also appeared in feature films such as A Night at the Roxbury, The Man (with Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy), The Calling, Deadfall, Mr. Write and most recently, Crossing Over, starring Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta and Sean Penn.

Despite her film credentials, she is a more familiar face to television viewers. Over the past several years she has appeared on "Frasier," "Nip/Tuck," "Two and A Half Men," "C.S.I.," "Will and Grace," "George Lopez," "Cold Case" and most recently, "Army Wives."

She and McGinley live in Los Angeles.

.Luaine Lee, Take Note: Ted McGinley is Back, Associated Press

Richard Huff, McGinley Hits a New High 'Note' For Hallmark, New York Daily News

Gigi Rice Official Website Biography