Sarah Michelle Gellar may have been an American Idol fan back in 2002, but on the Sept. 24 premiere of CBS’ The Crazy Ones, Gellar loses some affection for season 1 champ Kelly Clarkson. Appearing as ad-agency exec Sydney Roberts, Gellar is forced to go along with her agency partner/father Simon’s decision to hire Clarkson as the new pitchwoman for an upcoming campaign.
Agreeing to step into the recording booth to tape a new jingle to help save Sydney and Simon’s account with McDonald’s, Clarkson tells Simon (Robin Williams) that she’s only consenting to the project to rebrand her image as a fresher, sexier pop star. To that end, she’s only willing to sing about the “sexy” side of McDonald’s.
As a preview from Tuesday’s premiere shows, Sydney melts down when she listens in on Clarkson’s recording session. “What are they doing in there? This is a sex song! What happened to ‘You deserve a break today'” she asks her father as Clarkson rubs up against her duet partner, Sydney’s coworker Zach. (Sample lyrics: “It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion.”)
“Isn’t it fantastic?! She didn’t want to do [the original jingle]. It’s all about rebranding,” Simon offers optimistically. “This is all I could get. We’re going to pivot her into the right song.” Fumes Sydney in the preview clip: “Oh, my God! I’m about to watch America’s sweetheart orgasm in front of my father!”
Kidding aside, Mork & Mindy TV legend Williams says scenes like Clarkson’s studio session will be par for the course on The Crazy Ones. Muses the comic: “I love getting an idea, pursuing it and pushing the envelope.”
The Crazy Ones premieres Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. (EST) on CBS.
