Katy Perry to guest star on “Raising Hope”

When FOX announced its new Tuesday night half-hour comedy block, which begins March 6, some Raising Hope fans expressed concern about the show’s new time slot, 8pm ET/PT. Perhaps hoping to draw people in — and to kick off its new night of comedy with a “Firework” of sorts — the network has announced that pop superstar Katy Perry will be guest-starring on Raising Hope in the March 6 episode, “Single White Female Role Model.” Perry will play Rikki, a prison attendant who claims to be a friend from Sabrina’s (Shannon Woodward) past.

In the new episode, Sabrina is arrested after participating in an Occupy Natesvile protest and is sentenced to two weeks in prison. Rikki (Perry), the prison attendant, will stop at nothing to make Sabrina’s stay in the slammer as dreadful as possible, until she remembers their childhood friendship.

“Shannon Woodward told me that her friend Katy was interested in doing an episode, and I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s do your friend Katy a favor,'” says executive producer Greg Garcia, tongue firmly in cheek. “Then she came in and did a terrific job. She was hilarious. And now people are telling me that Katy is also a singer. I sincerely hope that her appearance on the show helps her get her singing career off the ground. It’s a tough business.”

According to Katy Perry, having some fun herself with her comments, “Shannon Woodward is my best friend. A couple weeks ago, I was home, just toasting up a frozen chicken fillet, when she called me up and asked if I wanted to do something ‘fun’ for a change and try out a guest role on her TV show. I thought, ‘Sure, I have nothing else to do, and I like chillin’ with my best friend.’ Greg was nice, but I hope he’s not secretly sabotaging my potential future career by typecasting me in the role of just a looker, so that I would never be able to play anything more challenging.”