You know the Kevin Bacon Game: Based on the theory that Kevin Bacon has worked with so many different actors over his 34-year career in show business, you can connect everyone in Hollywood to Bacon in six degrees of separation or less.
But does the game still stack up with TV stars now that Bacon is making the move to the small screen for Fox's "The Following"? It does indeed, and in way less than six degrees. I connected Bacon to the stars of the new fall and midseason TV shows from Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and The CW -- one lead actor from each new show -- all in two degrees or less.
Some fun surprises? Greg Grunberg's "Hollow Man" co-starring role with Kevin Bacon really came in handy for several connections -- four different fall and midseason TV stars claim Grunberg as their one degree separating them from Bacon. "Grey's Anatomy" star James Pickens Jr. and "Enlightened" star Luke Wilson both helped make connections a couple of times as well. And Alyssa Milano would probably not be too thrilled to see that I've resurrected some of her best early film work -- the camp classic "Poison Ivy 2" -- to make her tie to Kevin Bacon so simple.
Now some hardcore Kevin Bacon Game sticklers might object to us using "JFK" -- the movie that starred almost everyone in Hollywood -- but in our defense, we only used it once, and it wasn't for a direct one-degree connection. There are plenty of those (six, if you can believe it) without it.
Take a look at our handy infographic to see Bacon's Hollywood dominance in action.
Infographic design by Chris Spurlock