What was on TV? Tues, April 5, 2005

20 years ago, radical wine makers staged a terrorist attack in France (yes, really). Let's see what was on TV.

8:00 American Idol on Fox

4x27 "Top 9 - Classic Broadway"

This was the first ever Broadway night on Idol. Nadia Turner was best in show, performing "As Long as he Needs Me" in a slinky white evening gown. A very smart song choice. This song can be treacly, but she turned it into a power ballad and channeled her inner diva.

But this choice just made me think of the bananas British reality show I'd Do Anything, in which girls competed to star as Nancy in an Oliver revival and sang "As Long as He Needs Me" after they got eliminated. I watched this on YouTube back in 2012 because it one of the contestants ended up playing Eponine in the Tom Hooper Les Miz. It was insane. John Barrowman was a judge, and Andrew Lloyd Weber sat on an actual throne. Everyone called him "the lord." And the runner-up was Jessie Buckley, who's going to win an Oscar in a few months. She just emerged from drama school in the late 2010s as a classy new talent. No one remembers her trashy reality past. Someone needs to remind people this Oscar season. You can watch the whole show here.

9:00 Veronica Mars on UPN

1x17 "Kanes and Abel's" (record The Office on NBC & The Starlet on the WB)

Excellent episode. It balances a case of the week, some big developments in the Kane case, a fun Vinnie van Lowe runner, and some developments in the Veronica and Logan relationship, and the show's trademark commentary on class, and makes it look easy. The Veronica and Logan and class commentary stuff is of course my favorite.

I love when stories let us know the exact contents of a character's bank account. Think about Spider-Man 2. We see Peter's landlord take his last $20 from Aunt May right out of his hands. So when Peter uses a payphone twice in a row to call MJ, we understand that he's not over her, clear as day.

This episode does something similar with Veronica. We know that Veronica is completely broke since she paid for her mom's rehab. We see her take on the school valedictorian against her better judgment since she needs to pay $70 a day to keep her latest lead in the Lilly Kane case safe in a hotel room. And then we see Logan offer her a big fat check for investigating his mom's death. And Veronica rips it right up. You know what they say: money talks.

10:00 The Office (recorded)

1x03 "Health Care"

David Brent never had to disappoint his employees with crappy health plans. His employees were covered by the NHS. So the premise of this episode is uniquely American, just like last week's "Diversity Day." But the approach is much closer to the British Office. I mean, everyone leaves work with Dwight's terrible health plan! No vision, no dental! Plus they were forced to disclose all their embarrassing conditions to their co-workers. This probably didn't sting as much in 2005. Jim and Pam and our series regulars were spared humiliation. But I've spent years with characters like Kevin and Meredith, and what befalls them in this episode leaves a bad aftertaste.

A funny episode, and a fascinating glimpse at a leaner and meaner version of the show.

After The Shield on FX

4x04 "Doghouse"

Oh joy. Another rapist.

The Shield sure loves its rape sub-plots. They always irritate me. The Shield treats rape like an earthquake. There are just rapists out there, and they rape people because they're evil rapists, and we need cops because they're the only ones who can stop them. So that's why all the corruption is maybe worth it, you know?

There's no interest in the victims or in the culture that creates these crimes. Definitely no sense that the same macho posturing that Vic and his cronies love is what drives men to sexual assault. This particular spin on the evil Framington rapist is especially irritating. You see, he's so evil because he calls the girls' boyfriends and makes them listen. So the men and their wounded pride are the real victims here.

It's irritating, because The Shield can be so smart in other areas. This episode is so insightful about the dysfunctional relationship between the strike team, which persists even as they're separated. It explores the silliness and futility of the war on drugs. But like so much presitge television in this era, the show utterly fails to understand rape culture.

Late Night

I was charmed by this bit in which Conan recalls how he flew Jet Blue and then realized that everyone on the plane was watching the show he taped mere hours before on the live TV feed.

TiVo Status

A Frontline documentary and the TV movies Sucker Free City, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Ladies Night, the miniseries Fingersmith, and one episode each of American Dreams, Desperate Housewives, and The Starlet. 15 hours total.

TV Journalism, 20 Years Ago

A pretty interesting New York Times article from 2005 bemoaned the influence of American Idol on Broadway.

Then there is that greatest of all obstacles to intimacy between audience and performers: the microphone, which ''American Idol'' contestants use as if it were a body part. Though miking has been ubiquitous for at least four decades, it still feels oddly primitive at most shows. It's often hard to tell where on the stage a voice is coming from. And while uncertain voices can sometimes be smoothed and bolstered by mechanical amplification, good voices are often roughened or neutered by the same process.