TVSquad

There have been a lot of entertainment deaths recently, but none have struck me as much as this one. Gidget, the chihuahua best known as the lead canine in those Taco Bell commercials (Yo quiero Taco Bell!) has passed away at the dog age of 15 (which is around 105 in human years).

Gidget apparently suffered from a "stroke" (according to her trainer Sue Chipperton), but there are a few who know the entire truth. The dog raves and dog orgies that Gidget ran, the dog brothel she ran right outside of Las Vegas, the heavy duty dog drug use followed by the usual 4 A.M. Taco Bell run to satisfy the munchies... This was one sick puppy.

Okay, the last paragraph was a bit of a fib. Still, of all the celebrities to pass away recently, Gidget, I shall miss you the most. I shall think of you every time I drop the chalupa.

I had forgotten how very funny The Dana Carvey Show was until several months ago when I decided to watch a bunch of episodes online. It may sound cliched to say, but I think this was an underrated show, ahead of its time, and would probably survive for a few more seasons today on Comedy Central or FX or FOX. I can picture that.

We won't get a revival, of course, but we now have a great DVD set (in stores today) to keep forever. All of the episodes are here (including one that didn't even make it to ABC), and a couple of good extras.

Here's the thing...I thought this was an okay commercial, with the smoky-eyed mariachi player enticing these two office workers to enjoy their Taco Bell Fiesta Platter at a table rather than during a meeting. I even liked the whip crack sound effect when the female office worker was put under the mariachi player's spell. Then they showed a picture of the Fiesta Platter...Urk.

One of the most unappetizing platters I have ever seen on a commercial. Nothing better than seeing all that food crowded on a tiny plastic tray. If they had presented it better maybe it would have worked for me. Instead, the whole commercial was ruined. Perhaps they need to rehire the Taco Bell dog again to bring the customer's back.

Well, he's been offered a chance to work a one-hour shift, anyway. Taco Bell Corporation sent a letter to Kevin Federline asking him to work for one hour at an unspecified Taco Bell location so he could see "what a great place Taco Bell is to work." The offer came after Federline made a Super Bowl ad for Nationwide Insurance that shows him having lost everything and working at a fast food restaurant. The commercial angered the National Restaurant Association, which said the commercial was an insult to fast food workers.

I have to agree with Federline's insistence that the point of the commercial is to poke fun at himself and not fast food workers, and I have to disagree that Taco Bell is a great place to work. I've worked in fast food, and every minute spent behind that counter is like having your soul slowly extracted from your body until you're nothing more than a human husk without the ability to feel anything, physically or emotionally. At least, that was my experience. I respect anyone who works in that field, because it's a demanding and mostly thankless job.