What was on TV? Mon, April 25, 2005

20 years ago, a man found a TV actress, proposed to her after seven weeks, and jumped on a couch instead of going to therapy. Let's see what was on TV.

9:00 Everwood on the WB

3x18 "Fallout" (record Girlfriends on UPN, 24 on Fox, and The Staircase on Sundance)

Most of this episode is about Ephram making bad decisions. But my favorite part of the episode was Delia. Delia has been sadly neglected this season, and this hour addresses that. The show has been all about Ephram, which means that Delia's dad has been all about Ephram, and she's pissed!

The show's characterization of Delia remains so, so solid. She always felt like a real kid, but I was worried that things would take a turn for the worse once she entered middle school, and she couldn't be cute and little and fun anymore. But no! She gets to be crabby and rebellious and a bit of a mean girl. Her telling off Dr. Brown for not paying attention to her was so satisfying. She was right, but she was also annoying; it was a chaotic and painful tantrum. And Vivien Cardone is so good in that scene, it reminded me of my own blowups in middle school. She captures the way kids simultaneously exaggerate their own pain while also being terrified of their real pain, of these powerful and unfamiliar emotions they can't control. And it all ends in the perfect 2005 way: with her bonding with her Dad by gossiping about her friends and explaining how AIM works.

10:00 24 (recorded)

4x19 "Day 4: 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM"

The 2000s are infamous for their misleading promos. Some dramatic TV spot would promise that "everything would change" or that "someone would die" and viewers would be rewarded with small potatoes.

Well, this week they got me. In ad packages I watched on YouTube, promo after promo promised the return of Dennis Haysbert as President Palmer. I have no relationship with Palmer the character (this is the first season of 24 I've ever watched). But I love Dennis Haysbert. I grew up with those Allstate ads, and Far From Heaven and Love and Basketball are two of my all-time favorite movies. So I was excited to see him.

And we get like, one phone call. His total screen time is probably three minutes, if that. I got burned!

Later Girlfriends (recorded)

5x18 "Kids Say the Darnedest Things"

This episode of Girlfriends is basically the "men will do x instead of going to therapy" meme. This show was so ahead of its time.

Reggie is sad about his breakup with Joan (and also his car troubles). He's sulking all over the coffee shop and making it everyone else's problem. Toni has an idea: what if he went to therapy? Meanwhile, Maya's son is being a real pill to her and all her friends, and then he runs away! They find him it's revealed he's mad about his father Darnell getting remarried. Maya tries to convince Darnell to let him try therapy, but he is not having it.

The boys do not go to therapy but Reggie does talk to Joan about his feelings, and Darnell agrees to have more regular family meetings. So baby steps.

Still, the (hilarious) tag, depicting the first "family meeting," makes it painfully clear that all these boys need therapy.

What Else Was On

On the Showtime show Penn and Teller: Bullshit! the magicians debunked myths about circumcision.

Late Night

Anna Nalick performed "Breathe" on Leno, one year before Grey's Anatomy would immortalize that song.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting Nalick to be very good live. But this performance rips.

TiVo Status

The TV movies Sucker Free City and Everything You Want, and two episodes each of Mystery! and The Staircase. 8 hours.

Music, 20 years ago

This was the week that Amerie's "1 Thing" reached the top 10, climbing up from the literal bottom of the Hot 100 (it debuted at 100 in February) purely on the strength of its own awesomeness. The whole album is good too, check it out!