Dr. Lawrence Kutner met an untimely demise this week -- but hey, has anyone ever met a timely demise? -- by committing suicide on "House." Turns out it was a well-timed death, though, as the actor who played Kutner, Kal Penn (right), has a new gig: associate director in the White House office of public liaison.
Working as a conduit between the Obama administration and the arts and Asian-American communities -- or, as he told Entertainment Weekly, "the front door to the White House" -- is quite a transition for someone best known for portraying a stoner in the "Harold & Kumar" movies. It's also quite a cut in pay, said Penn, whose grandparents marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement.
Actually, the call to public service is a familiar clarion in the acting world, heeded in the past by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fred Thompson, Fred (Gopher) Grandy and some guy named Reagan -- though not by CNN's Sanjay Gupta, who declined an offer to be Obama's surgeon general.
This got us thinking about other D.C. jobs that would be a good fit for TV actors. Or better yet, for the characters they play. Our nominees:
Simon Cowell of "American Idol" as chief justice of the Supreme Court: He would not settle for being a mere justice. He also would institute a chic new dress code: black T-shirts in lieu of black robes.
Comic Book Guy from "The Simpsons" as secretary of state: He's a tough-minded negotiator with gifts for plain-spokenness and sarcasm. Edges out Groundskeeper Willie (secretary of the interior) and Professor Frink (head of NASA) as a "Simpsons" nominee.
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) of "30 Rock" as presidential press secretary: Her supreme smarts and take-care-of-the-boss-at-all-costs devotion more than offset bouts of thin-skinned insecurity.
Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) of "the Mentalist" as SEC chairman: Psychic abilities would help him nail the financial bad guys before their malfeasance cost the taxpayers any more billions.
