CHARISMA CARPENTER AND STEVE GUTTENBERG JOIN THE CAST OF UPN'S "VERONICA MARS"

Charisma Carpenter ("Angel") and Steve Guttenberg ("The Poseidon Adventure") have joined the cast of UPN's VERONICA MARS, beginning with the critically acclaimed drama's second season premiere.

Carpenter will play Kendall Casablancas, a sexy trophy wife and stepmother to brothers Dick (Ryan Hansen) and Cassidy "Beaver" (Kyle Gallner) Casablancas, two of Veronica's (Kristen Bell) rival, affluent schoolmates. She will appear in at least six episodes. Meanwhile, Guttenberg will star as Woody Goodman, a charismatic major league baseball team owner and leading candidate in the local race for mayor of Neptune, Calif. To show his support for the community, his daughter will be transferring from her private school to Neptune High. He will appear in at least seven episodes.

VERONICA MARS stars Kristen Bell ("Reefer Madness") as a smart, fearless 18-year-old apprentice private investigator dedicated to solving the toughest mysteries of her wealthy seaside community, Neptune, Calif., where the rich and powerful make the rules, own the town and the high school, and desperately try to keep their dirty little secrets just that�secret.

Carpenter recently completed shooting the feature film "Voodoo Moon" opposite Eric Maibus. In television, she portrayed the character Cordelia Chase for seven years on the hit series "Angel" and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," after originally being featured in a recurring role. Later, she returned to "Angel" for one episode as a guest star for the series' landmark 100th episode.

In television, Carpenter recently guest starred on "LAX" with Heather Locklear, as well as on several episodes of "Charmed." She also co-starred on "Miss Match" with Alicia Silverstone and Ryan O'Neal. In addition, Carpenter starred in the title role of the television movie "See Jane Date," based on the book by Melissa Senate. She has also appeared in several other television shows and feature films.

Steve Guttenberg, who has starred in a dozen films that earned in excess of $100,000,000 at the American box office, is the star of the upcoming television movie "The Poseidon Adventure." The actor starred in four successful series of films: "Police Academy," "Three Men And A Baby," "Short Circuit" and "Cocoon," as well as such acclaimed dramatic hits as "Diner" and "The Boys From Brazil."

His television credits include the mini-series "The Day After" and "Miracle On Ice."

He has a number of directorial efforts, including "P.S., Your Cat Is Dead," the film version of the respected James Kirkpatrick play, which Guttenberg also starred in, wrote and produced.

VERONICA MARS is from Silver Pictures Television, in association with and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Production Inc. Production services provided by Stu Segall Productions, Inc. The show airs Wednesdays (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN.