Jamie Lee Curtis on 'Downton Abbey'? She'll also take 'Mad Men' or 'The Big Bang Theory,' thanks

Many fans were surprised when Jamie Lee Curtis booked a recurring gig on "NCIS" as a foil-slash-love-interest for Mark Harmon's Gibbs, given the fact that it's been quite a while since she's had a serious TV role.

Curtis, however, says she's open to doing more television. Much more. In an appearance on "The Tonight Show," she told Jay Leno that she's already making plays for roles on shows like "Downton Abbey" and "Mad Men."

Curtis admits that she's "too American" for "Downton" -- which she's "totally manically obsessed" with -- but she's figured out a way to work around that particular obstacle. "I figured I can't really be on the show because I am American and too contemporary, so I am going to be on the show in a photograph on the mantel only," she tells Leno, showing the audience a mock-up photograph of herself with an old-fashioned hat and hairdo.

She's worked out a whole storyline for her "character" and -- spoiler alert! -- it ends with her getting a crew jacket -- the actors' equivalent of a varsity letter. "My storyline is that I'm going to be Elizabeth McGovern's sister who was killed at the Chicago World Fair by this famous serial killer, and they just talk about me, but I get my name in the credits, and I get a crew jacket."

Check out the video clip below for her ideas for roles on "Mad Men" (stripper twin!) and "The Big Bang Theory" (tragic lost love!).