Alan Alda Makes Surprise Cameo in Netflix’s The Four Seasons with ‘Sex Day’ Advice

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Four Seasons.

Did you spot a familiar face in The Four Seasons?

Netflix’s new miniseries based on the hit 1981 movie of the same name paid homage to the original material with a surprise appearance by none other than Alan Alda himself. 

The series follows three pairs of couples – Nick (Steve Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), and Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) – whose tight-knit friendship is uprooted when Nick decides to leave his wife. They continue to gather for seasonal vacations over the course of a year. 

Alda, 89, wrote, directed and starred in the ’80s movie as the character now played by Forte. He also produced the Netflix adaptation. 

The Emmy winner had a fun cameo in the second episode of the series as the beloved father of Anne, who is inspired by the character played by Sandy Dennis in the movie.

In the episode, Anne threw a surprise vow renewal for Nick and invited their loved ones. The wife was unaware of her partner’s plans to end their marriage. However, all of their friends, except for Danny, were aware. Her father, referred to as Don, was among the attendees. He first appeared while exiting a black van and struggling to push a woman in a wheelchair. 

Alda’s standout scene comes later in the episode, when he had a conversation with Kate and Danny after entering a room in search of “the good bathroom.” The two friends were talking about Nick’s whereabouts as he had left to pick up bagels that morning. They appeared thrilled for the distraction provided by Anne’s dad. The delightful scene unfolds with the three discussing relationships. 

Kate and Danny both greet Don, with Kate going in for a hug. “Mr. K., you came all the way from Florida for this?” Danny asked.

The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!

The three were all smiles when the father cheekily responded, “Well, your daughter only gets married a bunch of times, I guess.” Musing on his personal life, he added, “You know Anne’s mother would have really loved this. She loved outdoor parties.”

“You were together for a long time,” Danny said, to which Don said, “67 wonderful years.”

Kate proceeded to ask if he had any marriage advice. “I don’t know. You know, communication. Try not to fuss about the small stuff,” he said, before teasing how they would spice things up. “But my wife did have this one thing … She’d kill me if I told you. But every once in a while we’d wake up and she’d say, ‘Congratulations! Take off your pants, it’s a sex day.'”

Danny and Kate laughed as Don continued, “You might think of trying that with your spouse. They’d be so grateful. It’s like a dog waking up and not knowing it’s Thanksgiving. And then all of the sudden all of these people come over and start dropping turkey and stuffing all over the ground.”

Kate then told Don that she loves him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Breaking the sentimental moment, the proud dad excused himself with, “This is going to be a memorable day. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I had real coffee this morning.”

Alda was also shown toward the end of the episode, after Nick finally arrived at the ceremony. As Anne went to read her vows, she turned to him and said, “Dad, thank you.”

The episode continued to end with a bang, quite literally. Right when the attention turned to Nick to say his vows, Anne’s pottery barn exploded, possibly due to the kiln she fired up to make them a custom wedding platter in the shape of a tombstone. The next episode opened with the reveal that Nick and Anne have officially split, and Nick was now dating his dental hygienist, Ginny, played by Erika Henningsen. 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The cast also stars Julie Lester, Ashlyn Maddox, Jacob Buckenmyer, Taylor Ortega, Simone Recasner, Toby Edward Huss, Tommy Do, Chloe Troast, Jack Gore and Cole Tristan Murphy.

Alda was last seen on the small screen in the 2022 television movie Ray Donovan: The Movie, where he reprised his role of Dr. Arthur Amiot from the show of the same name. He is also known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H and Senator Arnold Vinick in The West Wing. Both roles earned him Emmy Awards.

The Four Seasons is now available to stream on Netflix.