Dave on Demand: Is there gender bias on "American Idol"?

Are American Idol fans misogynistic?

The argument goes that the last three Idols have all been boys (David Cook, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze); that this season, particularly, girls seem to be targeted for elimination; and that teenyboppers are to blame for this gender bias, because they always vote for the cute guys.

There are several problems with this theory, beginning with its ipso facto implication that DeWyze is cute.

Over the course of the show, boys have won five times and girls four - hardly a rout. And in those years when the finale has come down to male vs. female, the ladies have won more often than not.

And I suspect that ratio would be higher if we could get a recount on season five, when Taylor Hicks upset Katharine McPhee.

The current controversy started when Pia Toscano was given her walking papers last week. "Unfair to women," said Idol watchers in the media. "Pia was clearly more talented than most of the guys still in the competition."

Have any of you ever watched this show? When were the results ever determined by merit?

The debate resumed this week with the departure of Paul McDonald. Almost every Idol recap groused that McDonald is the first guy to be sent home and that only two gals (Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina) remain in the running.

This may have escaped your notice, but Casey Abrams was one of the first finalists booted by fans. He's still around only because the judges in their infinite wisdom granted him a reprieve.

No one was screaming discrimination two seasons ago when the final seven had the same gender proportion. And who complained about sexism back in Season Three when there were only two guys in the final seven?

The most spurious part of this dispute is the contention that boys have an edge in the competition because adolescent girls are voting with their hormones, drowning out the more mature and judicious audience members.

Year by year, the Idol audience has grown progressively older. Girls under the age of 18 now constitute a shrinking sliver of viewers.

The fact that Scotty McCreery, James Durbin, and Jacob Lusk are the front-runners? That's on you.

Brown-nosing. We got to say hello to the new boss on The Office this week as Will Ferrell's Deangelo Vickers turned up to replace Steve Carell's Michael Scott in the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin.

Ferrell was terrific, but the funniest part was watching the staff try to curry favor with the new guy: Jim and Pam desperately playing the baby card; Kevin with his ridiculous wig, disparaging bald people; Kelly with her silly seductress routine; Andy's increasingly painful attempts to play the clown; and Darryl sporting that cowboy cap. In true Office fashion, all these strategies backfired.

If nominated . . . This week, Survivor host Jeff Probst regretfully announced that he will not be able to take Regis Philbin's spot on LIVE! With Regis and Kelly.

"Whoever replaces Regis will have to fill some of the biggest shoes ever worn on television," said Probst. Actually, Jeff, Bozo the Clown had the largest shoes ever on TV. They were, like, a size 27.

But Probst's dance was pure PR genius. You throw your hat into the ring and then make an ostentatious display of pulling it back out.

On a related note, I will not be able to serve as one of the judges on Simon Cowell's The X Factor. But I'm flattered even to be considered.

Type cast. Couple of unusual large-as-life cameos on TV this week.

On The Good Wife, Fred Dalton Thompson played himself as a guy trading on his Law & Order notoriety to bamboozle judges and clients in the courtroom.

And Phil Rosenthal, the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond, had a cameo as himself on 30 Rock, virtually volunteering to write for TGS just to get out of the house.

Rock of ages. Hugh Hefner tweeted this week: "I watched a rough cut of the NBC pilot of 'The Playboy Club' tonight. It really rocks."

I don't know which creeps me out more: an octogenarian on Twitter or an 85-year-old guy saying something "rocks."