What was on TV? Thurs, April 14, 2005

20 years ago, Britney Spears was pregnant with her first child. Let's see what was on TV.

8:00 Survivor on CBS

10x09 "I Will Not Give Up" (record The OC on Fox)

Yeah, those scenes with Stephanie alone on the beach live up to the hype. We don't see Stephanie in a talking head, though we hear her voiceover throughout. This maintains the illusion that she's alone on the beach; if we saw her talking directly to the camera we would be reminded that she wasn't alone, someone was filming her. But the absence of reality TV conventions makes it feel more cinematic, more primal, and more powerful. The production crew gives us a bunch of gorgeous crane shots, it all feels very epic. And then she gets tree mail announcing that she's merging with Koror (e.g. canoeing to a new beach). And the real emotion! The tears, the pride, the relief! She's so happy to have real company and a decent camp and food, and happy that she made it this far despite the odds. And we're happy for her.

9:00 The OC (recorded)

2x19 "The Rager"

You know, they are flying awfully close to the sun with Trey. He's good, he's bad, he's buying drugs, he's helping out an unhoused friend, he drugged that girl, he's taking responsibility and saving Marissa. It's enough to make you dizzy. But Logan Marshall-Green is so good in the part that it works. He makes you see the good and bad version of Trey at every moment. And the show also has history on its side. We've seen Ryan come to The OC and make good, and that history hangs over every scene with Trey. I love the trashy version of the Ryan and Marissa meet-cute we get between Trey and the tramp stamp girl at the party. It's hilarious, which is why the moment when we see her face down in the pool is such a gut-punch.

10:00 Project Greenlight on Bravo

3x05 "Lights, Camera, Inaction"

Now that we're in production, things are a lot more tense. There are deadlines, and failures at this stage will likely affect the finished film.

Jon Gulager is out of his depth. He's used to working by himself, he's a poor communicator. He finds himself with power for the first time and he is utterly umprepared, he is a poor leader and manager. He's indescisive and wishy-washy. The producers didn't want to cast his wife, but she is in the movie and now everyone relies on her to communicate with her husband and gas him up.

The show tries to paint these issues as unique to Gulager. But I've read a lot of books about film and television production, and these issues are very familiar, and I suspect they're common among showrunners and directors. And Greenlight shows you in great detail how exhausting it is to work for someone like this, whether you're an actor or the guy creating the monster-penis that might get the film an NC-17 rating.

Late Night

Conan does stage combat!

TiVo Status

TV movies Sucker Free City and Their Eyes Were Watching God, the miniseries Fingersmith, and one episode each of American Dreams, and House. 11 hours total.

Music, 20 years ago

The OC sometimes snuck really weird stuff onto the show along with all the Death Cab and Spoon. This strange and experimental track foreshadows what would become the show's most famous needle drop at the end of the season.