 " Debasement Tapes " was written by John Enbom and directed by supervising producer Dan Etheridge , marking Enbom 's seventeenth and final writing credit for the show and Etheridge 's first and only directing credit for the series . The episode guest stars actor Paul Rudd as former rock star Desmond Fellows . During casting of the character of Vinnie Van Lowe , Rudd was considered to play the part ; however , the role was given instead to Ken Marino , who appears in the episode . Marino and Rudd are friends in real life . Rudd was a friend of Enbom and Etheridge , and he had been signed on to appear in the episode by the airing of " Spit & Eggs " . They had lobbied Rudd to come on the show for several years . Thomas described the reason for Rudd not appearing earlier being that the crew were unable to find a good moment for the character 's entry that worked with Rudd 's schedule . 
