‘The Rookie’ and ‘American Idol’ are doing a crossover episode

What do Katy Perry, a singing audition, and meth smoothies all have in common? They’re all featured in the upcoming episode of The Rookie (Sundays, 10 p.m. ET, CTV), a.k.a. an episode of television that fans didn’t even know they needed. In the episode, “The Overnight,” officers Chen (Melissa O'Neil) and Bradford (Eric Winter) wind up responding to a call at the Los Angeles auditions of American Idol to track down a guy who is supposedly making and selling meth smoothies. Naturally, host Ryan Seacrest and judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie all make cameos.Even better? It looks as though O’Neil may actually be in a scene of art-imitating-life. In the preview fans can see her forced into the audition room, where it appears as though she may actually sing. As anyone who watched Canadian Idol back in the day knows, the actress should certainly hold her own. She was, after all, the third-season winner of that Ben Mulroney-hosted show. That was back in 2005, when she became the first female to win the competition.As E! News pointed out with their exclusive photos, O'Neil is holding what looks like a golden ticket. Could that mean her character winds up going all the way to Hollywood Week? Or was it a simple prop for a pretty awesome photo? It’s probably safe to say that Officer Chen is a bit too busy fighting crimes right now to pursue a pipe dream like becoming America’s next Idol, but wouldn’t it be fun for that particular journey to continue? For some, that would be almost as swell as Pete Davidson surprising everyone to return and play Nathan Fillion’s half-brother again.

See it to believe it ? @AmericanIdol https://t.co/VoHU9Oxo7y

— The Rookie (@therookie) April 1, 2020

Given the state of Hollywood right now during the coronavirus pandemic those actually both sound like pretty hard dreams to grant. Idol is continuing to air its pre-recorded episodes, including this week’s Top 20 reveal (promos promise “a shocking, first-ever twist for two contestants that no one saw coming”). New episodes and in-depth looks at this year’s crop of performers are expected to continue all the way through April, but after that it’s unclear how the powers-that-be will handle the live shows. Maybe Idol, Live At Home will become a thing?Meanwhile The Rookie, which is currently in its second season, was originally commissioned for 20 episodes and had finished filming before most of the industry shut down. That means the remainder of the season should air in proper order, much to the joy of content-hungry fans. In Sunday’s episode former Devious Maids star Roselyn Sánchez also guests stars as a reporter with sketchy motives who befriends Chen. She’s the latest in a string of season two guest stars that has included Davidson, Fillion’s former Castle co-stars Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas (not to mention his former Firefly costar Alan Tudyk), as well as Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban, who played a heightened version of himself in the season two premiere.The Rookie airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, and American Idol airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CTV2.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Brother and sister try out a new Snapchat filter with hysterical results[/video_embed]