Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List Reality Check: 'Kathy Goes to Washington'

Kathy Griffin's trip to Washington on last night's My Life on the D-List, where she accepted an award from the Human Rights Campaign and kicked off an anti-"Don't Ask Don't Tell" rally at the National Mall, was an event concocted through bossy strong-arming disguised as D-List busking. It was real and fake at the wrong times, and with the wrong punchlines.

REAL: Kathy is alarmed when Lt. Dan Choi asks her to join him in protest at the White House.

During the DADT rally, gay activist Lt. Dan Choi asked Kathy before her speech if he could join her onstage. Kathy complied until Choi addressed the crowd and announced his intention to run to the White House and chain himself to the gate until DADT was repealed. When he turned to Kathy and asked, "Kathy, will you join me?", her twitchy grin betrayed epic discomfort.

Now, Kathy had a point when she said it'd have been ridiculous if she joined Choi and his comrade at the gate, since they're actual military officers and she's an Emmy-obsessed reality star. But was that more ridiculous than visiting House representative Barney Frank and trying to woo him with jokes about American Idol and Liza Minnelli? A troublesome moment, to say the least, particularly for a comedian known for her awareness of other celebrities' insane lapses in judgment. Come back to us, old Kathy!

FAKE: Kathy receives a surprise phone call from the Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese.

At the top of the episode, Kathy spoke on the phone (well, her assistant Tiffany held up to Kathy's mouth) with the HRC's Joe Solmonese, who wanted her to come to Washington to accept an "ally" award. I wish she'd just started the episode by explaining in confessional that she was going to Washington -- this exchange was filled with enough contrived gawks and stilted niceties to fill an average baby shower. I will say that Solmonese's suggestion to invite Cher along was a moment of icky reality, so I'm sorry to lump it in with the episode's peak "fake" moment.

It doesn't look like Kathy will attempt the awkward grandeur of this episode again, so color me relieved -- any more self-important shenanigans and I'd have to declare an official identity crisis on Kathy's behalf. To preempt my own personal cataclysm, I'm hoping Kathy remembers that she has fans because she can see through Hollywood's machinations, not because she can blithely cook them up on her own. She can regain this appeal by interrogating a dumbstruck Andy Cohen for an entire episode. Thanks for listening, Kath.