Music on TV This Week: Katy Perry

By Drake Lelane

August 23, 2010 / 12:55 AM

For someone who was by all accounts supposed to be a one-hit wonder, Katy Perry's career has developed some serious legs -- ones that nearly rival her own oft-exposed appendages. So how did this onetime gospel singer go from wanting to be Amy Grant to becoming the next Madonna? (There can be more than one, right Lady Gaga?)

Perry (née Hudson) provides little or no clues on her sophomore release, Teenage Dream, but self-discovery is not really what her pop confections are about -- neither is subversion. Even though she and her counterpart Lady Gaga both may dance a line of innuendo, Gaga shoots fire from her brasserie while Perry has cupcakes and lollipops affixed to hers -- one is a warning, the other a sweet invitation. Who knows what she'll have on her love pillows when she appears on Letterman late Tuesday night, but it's sure to be more risqué than her wardrobe choices for her double-shot Friday morning (The Early Show, The Today Show).

Elsewhere, Canadian comedy troupe Kids in the Hall have reunited for a funny mini-series airing Fridays on IFC, called Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town. Eight 30-minute episodes about what happens to a small town when the Grim Reaper arrives via bus? Sign me up.

Playlist: Picks for the week

Monday, August 23

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Big Boi

CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Willie Nelson (REPEAT)

FUEL: The Daily Habit: Mumford & Sons

NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Big Boi (REPEAT)

NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Daniel Merriweather (REPEAT)

PBS: Tavis Smiley: Rufus Wainwright

TBS: Lopez Tonight: Los Lobos

Tuesday, August 24

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Katy Perry

CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Wilco (REPEAT)