Alan Alda Rejoins Four Seasons Cast in Episode 6 Cameo
Alan Alda rejoined the four seasons cast in season 2 for a brief cameo in episode 6, “Little Thanksgiving,” and the sequence folds the original film’s star back into Netflix’s re-imagining. He appears as Anne’s father, Don, in a Zoom call watching a talent show during the group’s last Thanksgiving before Nick died.
Alda was introduced in season 1 as Don, so the episode does more than offer a quick appearance. It gives the series a direct line to the 1981 film while keeping the moment small enough to land as a sighting, not a reset.
Little Thanksgiving Zoom Call
The episode is set in a COVID year after the characters had spent the previous weeks quarantined to stave off illness. That setup pushes the show into a tighter, more isolated space, then opens it again with a talent show broadcast to family and friends.
Alda is seen in a few quick shots laughing along with the rest of the group as Anne performs with her daughter, Lila, and Kate and Jack’s daughter, Beth. Cher Thompson described the way he is folded in as “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it,” which fits the construction of the scene: the cameo is short, but it still places him inside the social circle the series is building.
Don, Netflix, and 1981
Netflix’s The Four Seasons is a re-imagining of the 1981 film, and Alda’s presence gives the series a direct connection to the project’s own history. He is also a producer on the show, so the cameo works as both a cast return and a nod to the title’s origin point.
That link is sharper because Alda has no consistent role in the series and his screen work has slowed because of illness and age after his 2015 Parkinson’s diagnosis. The show uses him sparingly, which makes each appearance feel deliberate rather than routine.
Anne’s Father, Don
For viewers tracking the four seasons cast, the practical takeaway is simple: Alda is not being threaded through every episode, but the series has left the door open for brief returns. In episode 6, the Zoom call is the proof of that approach.
He is playing Don, Anne’s father, not a new character or a one-off unrelated guest. That keeps the cameo tied to the family structure already on screen and gives the series a cleaner bridge between its new version and the film that started it all.
