“It’s just a fun alternate universe with all these people you’re accustomed to seeing in a certain environment,” Shield creator and Lie to Me executive producer Shawn Ryan tells TVGuide.com of the stunt episode (Monday at 9/8c on Fox). “It was different, but I think everyone was just really happy to see one another again. I think it meant more on a personal level even than a professional level. We had a very tight-knit group on that show, so to be able to reunite … was very nice.”

Ryan says he immediately began looking for ways to bring Shield actors to his new show when Season 2 began, but then got greedy. “I started thinking, ‘Why am I looking to just get one or two of them if I could maybe get more?’” he says.

A member of his writing staff then crafted a story that could support the extra faces. At the center of the episode are Benito Martinez and Catherine Dent as Charlie and Faye Sheridan, a married couple whose son was murdered 17 years earlier. When the couple joins Lightman (Tim Roth) and Zoe (Jennifer Beals) to witness the execution of murderer (David Marciano), Lightman suddenly suspects they’re watching the wrong man die.

When the Sheridans are targeted again, Lightman turns to the executed man’s younger brother (David Rees Snell) and ex-girlfriend (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) for answers. All roads lead to a mysterious photographer (Kenny Johnson), who becomes the key suspect. (All three are also Shield alums.)

“It was fun to find a new chemistry,” Martinez says of the experience. “We found a whole, new completely different vocabulary and relationship that was organic to these characters. What was instant was our trust for each other. With Catherine, we knew each other in and out, and that trust was there.”

Martinez, who also guest-starred on Ryan’s CBS drama The Unit says he welcomes any opportunity to collaborate with his former boss. “He’s one of the good guys,” he says. “If Shawn asked me to pull cable on a show, I’d probably do it. He’s that kind of guy. … He has talent, and he cares about aking the journey together, as crazy as it might be. His talent takes you places that are outside the norm, and as an actor, it’s fantastic, it’s risky.”

Ryan promises that Lie to Me fans won’t see the regular characters get short shrift to make room for the guest stars. “We also find out the past of how Zoey and Lightman fell in love and how their daughter Emily came into the world,” he says. “There’s a lot of juicy stuff.”

Ryan, who has stepped down as showrunner for Lie to Me’s third season to focus on his new Fox series, Ride-Along, says the episode eschews in-jokes or any winks at his previous creation. He does, however, hope that Shield fans who tune into Lie to Me for the first time stick around.

“We take the show pretty seriously, and we wanted the show to stand on its own for those people who aren’t Shield fans,” says Ryan, adding that he hopes Lie to Me will continue and thrive. “I have emeritus status — I’m not completely out of the picture, although I am certainly not responsible for the good work that they’ll do this year.”

Special thanks, as always, to TV Guide for allowing us to reprint the article in its entirety.

Jennifer Beals and Former Cast Members of “The Shield” Guest-Star

Lightman and his ex-wife, Zoe (guest star Beals), witness the execution of a murderer they prosecuted 17 years ago and face the possibility that they sent the wrong man to his death in the all-new “Pied Piper” episode of LIE TO ME airing Monday, Aug. 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (LTM-212) (TV-14 L, V)

Cast: Tim Roth as Cal Lightman; Kelli Williams as Gillian Foster; Monica Raymund as Ria Torres; Brendan Hines as Eli Loker; Mekhi Phifer as Agent Ben Reynolds; Hayley McFarland as Emily Lightman

Guest Cast: Jennifer Beals as Zoe Landau; David Rees Snell as Kevin Wilkie; David Marciano as Jason Wilkie; Catherine Dent as Faye Sheridan; Benito Martinez as Charlie Sheridan; Erick Avari as Dr. Kozell; Cathy Cahlin Ryan as Beth; Kenneth Johnson as Malcolm Hessler; Teddy Lane Jr. as Head Guard; Brian Catalano as Viewing Room Guard; Judy Echavez as Reporter; and Georgina Cordova as Kid Caller

In the “Pied Piper” episode, DR. CAL LIGHTMAN (Tim Roth) is a witness at the execution of JASON WILKIE (Marciano), a prisoner he helped convict in the murder of a child 17 years ago. When the victim’s aunt and uncle, FAYE SHERIDAN (Dent) and CHARLIE SHERIDAN (Martinez), are targeted again, Lightman must face the possibility he sent an innocent man to his death. Determined to uncover the truth, Lightman turns to MICHAEL WILKIE (Snell), Jason’s younger brother, and BETH LANSFORD (Ryan), Jason’s ex-girlfriend, for more information on what may have happened to 8-year-old Rex Sheridan. The pair lead Lightman to MALCOLM HESSLER (Johnson), a photographer who becomes the key suspect in the case.

The six “Shield” actors are:
Benito Martinez and Catherine Dent – The uncle and aunt of the murdered boy
Kenny Johnson – A photographer who becomes a suspect
David Marciano – The wrongfully executed man
Cathy Cahlin Ryan (wife of Shawn Ryan) – The ex-girlfriend of the executed man
David Rees Snell – The brother of the executed man

Additional information from EW – Ausiello Files