Paul Anka, Kellie Pickler and a Dead Hamster

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | April 12, 2006

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On paper, this was just another Tuesday, but the night's TV was a little strange

Running your own TV series, or co-running it with your wife, must be pretty cool.

This is what I was thinking Tuesday night -- a singularly oddball night of TV, it seemed -- after watching the pre-credits segment of "Gilmore Girls," in which Lorelai (Lauren Graham) describes a dream to her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel).

The bit featured a cameo by crooner Paul Anka, who kept switching places with Lorelai's dog, Paul Anka. It had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the episode and pretty much seemed like an excuse to get the real Paul Anka in a scene with the canine one. But it was kinda fun -- I particularly liked the black-and-white, Old Hollywood shot of dog Paul Anka singing in a smoky nightclub.

The episode was written and directed by Daniel Palladino, husband and co-showrunner of "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. When you're in charge, you can do things like that.

Other observations from a strange evening on the couch:

  • I was willing to forgive her for not knowing what calamari is, and more or less okay with her mispronunciation of "salmon." But "American Idol" contestant Kellie Pickler lost me for good a couple weeks back when she asked "What's a ballsy?" in response to one of Simon Cowell's critiques. (Oh, and I haven't cared much for her singing the past few weeks either.)

    Last night I was shaking my head anew: Does she really not understand the meaning of the phrase "on paper"? If this girl wants a music career, she better hire herself one hell of a savvy manager.


  • One of the small things I enjoy about "Scrubs" is that it's a show that acknowledges the current pop-culture landscape. Witness last night's Kelso (Ken Jenkins) crack to Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) that Cox is "so edgy and cantankerous. You're like House without the limp."

    And did anyone notice that George and Angie, the rejected names for Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla's (Judy Reyes) baby, are the names of the parents on ABC's "George Lopez"? I doubt one has much of anything to do with the other, but there you go.

    The Janitor's (Neil Flynn) reason for wanting the dead hamster, aside from just being creepy-funny, was also a nice callback to a long-ago episode. Newer fans might not get the reference to his squirrels, but those who have been with the show from the start -- the audience Bill Lawrence and Co. profess to be writing to this season -- probably had an extra chuckle at the line.
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