song

(S06E20) This episode opens with Santa's Little Helper destroying the house. Everyone naturally assumes it's Bart, but as Bart points out, none of the destruction has his usual social commentary. They finally figure out it's the dog, but they can't figure out why it's behaving so crazy, so they take it to a pet store where the clerk performs a canine/human mind meld, a power only he and three other clerks possess. Really, he's just using this as a way to get the family to buy a lot of unnecessary doo-dads for Santa's Little Helper. On the drive home, the dog escapes out the car window and heads for the racetrack where Bart and Homer first found him. It's there that he finds love.

Santa's Little Helper's girlfriend moves into the house, and there's a funny montage in which the two animals go out for a romantic day in Springfield. The butcher shop gives them a steak, and for some reason the video store happens to have steak, too, as does an old woman who carries the meat in her purse. There's the obligatory Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene, but the two dogs actually fight over the spaghetti, just like real dogs. One of my favorite things about the pets on The Simpsons is how much they behave like real animals.

Reader Shannon sent us an e-mail asking:

Please help! I couldn't find anywhere to ask this. Does anyone know the theme song to the short running show Mr. Vegas with Rob Lowe?

Why yes, Shannon, we do. First of all, it was Dr. Vegas, not Mr. Vegas, but no worries, we knew what you meant. The song you're wondering about is a rollicking and infectious ditty by Stereo MCs called "Connected" off the album of the same name. I can't blame you for wondering about it, that song is going to be stuck in my head like taffy for the rest of the day. Here's the music video for the song, courtesy of YouTube. The theme was actually hand-picked by star Rob Lowe, who figured the catchy song would entice people to stay tuned in for the show. His plan worked, and people did stay tuned ... for about five episodes.

Tom Lehrer was a satirical songwriter whose songs were a staple on the Dr. Demento program and a heavy influence on Weird Al Yankovic. You might not know the name, but you may have heard some of his tunes, such as "The Masochism Tango," "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," and "The Elements." Lehrer also wrote a few tunes for The Electric Company, and you can watch one of them, a little ditty dedicated to the suffix "ly" after the jump. Lehrer himself sings the song, and if you ever find yourself encountering a tiger or winning an eating contest, this song can be very helpful. Enjoy it joyfully:

[via Mark Evanier]

"I thought he was a flower, but I found out he's a weed."

Damn girl, that's deep. Wait, no it isn't. That's a line from Nicole Richie's new single, "Dandelion" yet another attempt by someone who isn't famous for any reason to break into the music biz. Hell, Paris and K-Fed did it, so why shouldn't Nicole get her chance to sing through her nose to pre-recorded audio tracks? Actually, the production values on the song are pretty good, and like most pop songs there's enough filtering and vocal modulation to make it sound decent, or at the very least it blends nicely into the ignorable white noise that is mainstream pop music.

If you haven't seen the video for The New Pornographers' song "Use It," then you're probably in the majority. I'm not sure why bands even make videos anymore, since they're rarely seen by a mass audience, and those that do see them probably catch them at like 3 a.m. on MTV2. At any rate, I'm linking to the video because it features none other than Arrested Development's own David Cross, playing what appears to be a very pivotal role. Also featured in the video is some Candian guy I've never heard of named Nardwuar the Human Serviette. The album came out in August and I don't think the video is much newer than that, but I figure your chances of catching it on television are slim. That's why I'm here, to look out for you.