Lea Thompson

OF “SPENCER SISTERS”: (COMING IN OCTOBER) ON CW

Q: I see that Lea Thompson is returning in a new series. What was the last one she did?

A: As a series regular, that would have been “Switched at Birth,” on which she played one of the mothers whose daughters were … well, check the title of the show again. She also had recurring roles on “Scorpion” (as the Katharine McPhee character’s mom) and “The Goldbergs,” and she had a guest part last year on “Star Trek: Picard.”

It’s worth noting that Thompson also was a director on the latter two programs, and she’s been spending a lot of time in that job – which she shares with her husband, Howard Deutch (“Pretty in Pink”) – in recent times. She also has guided episodes of “Will Trent” (on which Deutch is an executive producer and occasional director), “Resident Alien” and “Young Sheldon” among other shows. Earlier, Thompson directed four “Switched at Birth” stories as well as two of the “Jane Doe” mystery movies in which she starred. Thompson’s other major series credit as a star is the 1990s sitcom “Caroline in the City,” which ran almost as long as “Switched at Birth,” ending just short of 100 episodes.

She’ll have another shot at longevity on weekly TV when she returns in “The Spencer Sisters,” a Canadian import premiering Oct. 4 on The CW. She and Stacey Farber play a mystery-writer mother and police-officer daughter (despite the “Sisters” in the title) who decide to open a private-detective agency. Thompson isn’t credited with directing any of that show yet, but that’s likely to change if it continues for additional seasons.