About the camera thing, I know! At some point, Kyon referred to himself as the cameraman, but previously, he had also said something like, "and what's up with this pan-up?" You think maybe they alternate? I really could just pop in my CD right now and rewatch the bit with the credits, but I'm too lazy :P and I recall only seeing Kyon's name once beside "Other Menial Tasks." Only Haruhi could ever consider cameraman "menial."

I love that their roles mimicked their actual life situations...

And Haruhi was the insane director and Kyon the cynical yet amused narrator! It's perfect! I didn't catch the parallel about Itsuki's powers, though; that's a good point. O_O

Hmmm... it just occurred to me: why do you think Haruhi doesn't question the talking dog? It's been a while since I've seen the series, so I don't remember if she even knows, but she can't miss it...