Idolator

The legend. (And what a memory rush it brings back for the whole show.) I only hope this was actually advertised as a very special episode beforehand. Like when Gary Coleman and Nancy Reagan defeated all the drug lords.

This band's cover version of the stunning Taylor Hicks original is pretty good. If they could just bland it up a little, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

Every time I hear "Takin' it to the Streets," I think of Rerun dancing in the front row.

I don't get the "empty stomach" line. No, seriously, I don't get it. Why did the Doobie's laugh?

If you think this is ridiculous, anybody remember a 90s indie movie called "The Rhythm Thief"? I think Kevin Corrigan was in it. It's about a dude who lives on the edge, making his living recording and selling bootlegs of Lower East Side punk bands on the streets of New York. The he has to flee because the bands are all after him. They want to kick his ass for getting people to listen to their music. I'm not making any of this up.

Al Dunbar fucked himself but setting up a novice like Rerun with horrible bootleg equipment. A big, honkin' tape recorder?? What a hack. Best band appearance in a sitcom though. Rivaled only by Stevie Wonder's infamous "jammin' on the one" recording session with Theo Huxtable (sorry, youtube took it down). For those who remember it, you know why it was piercingly hilarious.

now we know the origin of Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's turn toward conservative politics. Damn you, Rerun. Damn you.

and as a lifelong M. McD fan, isn't it hightime he got an SNL skit where someone plays him hosting a talk show, where he talks normally in his singing voice, then gets? like the jimmy fallon/barry gibb skit. c'mon, we can do this.

@Jude:

i dunno...william forsythe (from "raising arizona" fame) did a nice turn as a punk-rocker on CHiPS around the turn of the 80s, which then prompted Ponch to perform a unitard-ed version of "Celebration" that Saved the Music.

@qyntellspitbull: The "don't go on an empty stomach" line is a thinly veiled slam on the food (and perceived sub-par quality thereof) the band would find offered at Shirley Hemphill's diner. The derisive comment was systematic of a long standing rivalry between two as Dee and Shirley were forever locked in the eternal cosmic battle for the title of "Sassiest Comeback Queen". For more info please sign up for my Learning Annex course: The Hidden Socio-Political Subtext Of "What's Happening?" and "What's Happening Now?".

@Jude: And let's not forget: the Beach Boys ft. Jesse Tanner in Hawaii.

@Jude: I don't know what to sa-aay!

Or the very special Married with Children where Anthrax played the Bundys' house, or when Dave Mustaine was on Duck Dodgers and played with Daffy Duck in a band called Megaduck (this happened, look it up!)

And who can forget when the Flaming Lips rocked the Peach Pit on 90210?

Come on guys.

Tootie's Jermaine Jackson fan club on The Facts Of Life.

Tootie went crazy! Jermaine had to calm her down. It was next level shit.

I wish Yacht Rock lasted longer, so they could spoof this. *Sighs*

How about when Stevie Wonder performed "I Just Called To Say I Love You" on The Cosby Show? Rudy was rocking out!

@Janine, et al: "i just [posted] to sa-aay...I lurrv yoooooouu...":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YxY3JCNauw

Claire Huxtable: Notorious, tonedeaf ballbreaker.

@MTS: You totally stole my idea. If there's ever a Yacht Rock episode 11, it has to be about this.

As for musician appearances, I'm partial to John Waite on Paper Dolls and Phil Collins on Miami Vice, myself.

you are all forgetting the ineffable majesty of Ray Parker Jr.'s appearance on Gimme a Break. at one point an emergency of some sort has taken place and they need to telephone someone. Ray: "Who you gonna call?" Entire household: "GHOSTBUSTERS!"

Does anyone else see the irony of copying a copyrighted show, putting it up on youtube and using it to teach a lesson about copyrights? I think it is pretty funny.

Didn't DeBarge make multiple '80s TV appearances? I seem to remember a Facts Of Life cameo.

People, people, do not forget about Stacey "Cinnamon" Q.

She dated George Clooney and everything!

Boy George on the A-Team- ahhh, that was a great one.

I'm really disappointed that no one here remembers when the guy from Sexual Chocolate played a cop on That's My Mama.

@Eric Harvey: We'll just have to make do with Conan's Michael McDonald's Summer Camp for now.

@DJorn: Thank you SO much! I've been trying to remember the name of that film for ages. I saw it on Showcase (a Canuck movie channel) years ago.

Eric Harvey:

even better than that CHiPs episode was the one where Donnie Most (Ralph Malph on Happy Days) played Moloch, the Gene Simmons-ish 'evil' rock singer who is being threatened by some curse... or could it be a crazed fan? I dunno, the image of him in KISS-inspired makeup is making it difficult to remember.