“The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” had a terrific episode tonight about voiceover artists. His first guest was Muppeteer Kevin Clash, the voice behind Elmo. Elmo himself made an appearance. I’ve seen Clash and Elmo appear together in interview settings before, and it’s always a little awkward to me, because the interviewer always seems to want to break the fourth wall with Elmo, who is so innocent he isn’t supposed to realize he’s on a TV show.

The next segment featured two of the stars of “King of the Hill,”
Pamela Adlon, who plays Bobby, and the wonderful Stephen Root, who plays Bill. (You may also know Stephen Root as Jimmy James from “NewsRadio” or Chris Kraft in “From The Earth To The Moon” or the blind radio station owner in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”)

I have to say, it’s as disconcerting to hear Bobby Hill’s voice coming out of Pamela Adlon as it is to hear Bart Simpson’s voice coming out of Nancy Cartwright. (She wasn’t on the Deutsch show, but I’ve seen her on other things, notably the “Simpsons” cast episode of “Inside The Actors Studio.”)

Next was Billy West, who has played Ren and Stimpy; Fry, Zoidberg, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan and the disembodied head of Richard Nixon on “Futurama”; and the red M&M, among many, many others.

Unlike the previous guests, West seemed to enjoy the chance to do his voices on camera; he did Ren when he was first introduced, without any prompting from Deutsch. West started out doing just Stimpy (the voice was based on Larry from the Three Stooges), with animator John Kricfalusi as the original voice of Ren. Then when John K. quit the show following a dispute with the powers that be, West began doing both voices.

West was also the voice of Bugs Bunny in “Space Jam” and certain TV commercials, although he doesn’t seem to have any permanent lock on the job.

Deutsch’s final guest was movie trailer voiceover artist Don LaFontaine, who can also be seen on-screen in a recent Geico commercial. (“In a world where both of our cars were totally under water ….”) LaFontaine is so busy that he used to have a limo ferry him from studio to studio; now he has a home studio with an ISDN hookup. Lately, if you’ve been anywhere near the Fox network, you’ve heard his voice announcing the promos for the season premiere of “24.”