• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 23, 2006

TV comedy stars may not be made into toy action figures, since action poses are limited--seemingly smirks, grins, laughs, don't count. But they should.

Surviving a plane crash is something else. So Disney/ABC's Touchstone TV has struck a deal with McFarlane Toys to create a line of action figures based on characters from the hit "Lost."

Keeping with the action figures premise, each character will come with an associated prop. So Kate (Evangeline Lilly) will include a toy lead plane the character chased down in season one; Hurley (Jorge Garcia) will come with a lottery ticket. Characters will also be frozen in specific key moments, such as when Locke (Terry O'Quinn) first found the hatch.

McFarlane Toys CEO Todd McFarlane said it's rare for a TV to lend itself to action figures--which is typically left to big action-packed or sci-fi theatrical movies such as "Spider-Man" or "Batman" or  "King Kong." Given the show's sci-fi nature, however, "Lost" becomes a perfect candidate.

"The younger guys get it," McFarlane said to Daily Variety. "Hurley, his face scanned the best. There's a lot going on there. When he smiles, a lot happens to his face."

With this in mind, we wondered about comedy--a lot happens on those characters' faces, too. Characters on "Two and a Half Men," "Everybody Loves Raymond," or "Seinfeld" would have their own smirking identity: Ray Romano's smirk is different from Jerry Seinfield's smirk or that of Charlie Sheen's.

How far can this go? Perhaps we could have "American Idol"'s Simon Cowell leering - in a karaoke bar; "Desperate Housewives"'s Susan (Teri Hatcher) with frightened  expression after burning down her neighbor's house; and "Prison Break"'s Michael Scofield's (Wentworth Miller) secretive stare at his fellow inmates.

These characters could have alternative looks--a frown, a well-placed mug, a grimace, a far-away look.

Storylines are naturally important to TV series; but the initial essence of TV shows comes with its characters and their faces. Sell every inch of it to the TV public. Have those figurines sneering at you on your mantle during prime time.