Gallagher, who spent four seasons on Fox's "The O.C.," has also popped up frequently on Showtime's "Californication."
"I couldn't be more thrilled" with all the work, said Gallagher, who turned 55 last week. "It just happened. I think if you just keep showing up long enough, good things happen and my friends seem to have had things for me to do this past year."
With USA having just ordered a second season of "Covert Affairs," which stars Piper Perabo as a CIA newbie whose boss (Kari Matchett) is married to Gallagher's even bigger boss, the work's likely to continue.
But does Gallagher, who before he played father/mensch Sandy Cohen on "The O.C." was probably best known for such films as "American Beauty" and "While You Were Sleeping," enjoy TV?
"I love working with people I respect and admire and being part of stories that people embrace, and TV is an amazing place for that to happen," he said. "It's like anything - the experience is not so much whether it's TV or movies or it's theater, it's the people involved. In terms of 'Covert Affairs,' Doug Liman directed the pilot of 'The O.C.' and Dave [Bartis] and he were producers on the first season and I just have always wanted to work with them since, because I love them," he said of two of "Affairs'" executive producers.
"I respect the way they tell stories. They like to tell stories that happen on this planet. And sometimes find a place in the world that we're living in, in an entertaining fashion," he said.
His "Rescue Me" character was also pretty entertaining. "That's my other pal, Denis [Leary, who stars in and co-created 'Rescue Me'], who's one of my best buddies," he said. "It would only be Denis who could write that part, know that I'd be right for that part."
