Q: How is “Single Parents” doing? I’d like to see it stay around for a while.

— Carol Miles, Providence, Rhode Island

A: So would ABC, and after the first several episodes aired, the network gave the comedy featuring Leighton Meester and Brad Garrett a full-season order … certainly a good sign. The show is fulfilling the notion that it would be very compatible with “Modern Family,” the likely hope being that “Parents” could carry the same mantle (and audience) whenever the long-running “Family’s” time is up. As for now, ABC is giving the newer series’ stars prime positioning, as demonstrated by the really good seat Taran Killam had at last month’s American Music Awards.

Q: Seeing her on “Camping” has made me think of other series Jennifer Garner has done. I know she starred in “Alias,” but weren’t there others?

— David Hayes, via email

A: After early appearances in episodes of such shows as “Law & Order” and “Spin City,” she was cast in the Fox drama “Significant Others,” which lasted only briefly in spinning the saga of several close friends. The network remembered her a few years later when it was casting “Time of Your Life,” a “Party of Five” spinoff built around Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Sarah.

Garner went in to appear several times on the then-WB Network’s “Felicity,” whose creative forces included J.J. Abrams — and when he needed someone to play spy Sydney Bristow on ABC’s “Alias,” Garner got the call. Incidentally, “Alias” reportedly is getting a reboot … and Garner has said that if she isn’t asked to make at least a guest appearance, she’ll be “angry.” Having seen what she did on the original show and in the recent revenge movie “Peppermint,” all we can say is that we aren’t the ones who would want to make her mad.

Q: I have always enjoyed “Pawn Stars.” When “The Old Man” died a few months ago, the staff put together a nice montage of his best clips. Will the show be back?

— Rose Ross, Jupiter, Florida

A: As of this writing, History hadn’t confirmed a Season 16 for the series, very possibly due to determining how or when to go forward after the passing of cast member Richard Harrison. As your query confirms, the show certainly has its fan base — and History has to know that, so it’s likely that something will be announced sooner than later about the program’s future.

Q: Is Melina Kanakaredes returning to “The Resident”?

— Nancy Flynn, Columbus, Ohio

A: In fact, she’s slated to pop up again in the Nov. 19 episode of the Fox medical drama, but it’s apparently only a guest appearance. Her character, Dr. Lane Hunter, has been behind bars for her misdeeds — and she almost took hospital chief Randolph Bell (Bruce Greenwood), who ultimately had a lot to do with her arrest, with her.

Kanakaredes explained at the start of the current television year that her “Resident” deal was for one season, and she graciously wished the cast and crew well on moving forward. As Season 2 began, her image was seen briefly as a TV newscaster reported on Dr. Hunter’s situation, also proving that Kanakaredes may be gone from the show on a regular basis but she’s not forgotten.

Q: Is it a condition for a guest host of “Saturday Night Live” also to appear on NBC’s late-night shows in the days before?

— Greg Salmon, via email

A: It might not be conditional, but it makes sense in several ways. “Saturday Night Live” mentor Lorne Michaels is an executive producer of “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” — Fallon and Meyers being “SNL” alums, of course — so Michaels is prone to want to get the most from the given celebrity on all of his programs.

Guest hosts are typically a big name, so having the individual right in New York (and, in fact, right in the NBC building in New York’s Rockefeller Center) makes it both logical and convenient for filling a guest slot on the Fallon and Meyers shows … which, naturally, helps promote the “Saturday Night Live” appearance.

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