What was on TV? Tues, April 8, 2005

20 years ago, Paramount was really, really trying to make the motion picture Sahara happen. Let's see what was on TV.

8:00 American Dreams (recorded)

3x17 "It's My Life"

I'm sad this show is over. But like a lot of finales, it feels small and safe. The show's more adventurous ideas about protest, race, mass media, and complicity are all pushed to the side. Instead, Meg chases after a boy, and the focus stays firmly on her and her family. The episode order got cut, and the whole ending feels rushed and unsatisfying. I'll remember this show fondly, but not this episode. I wish we had gotten a better ending.

9:00 Veronica Mars on UPN

1x18 "Weapons of Class Destruction" (record The Office on NBC)

After 17 episodes, Veronica Mars has fleshed out its ensemble and its world. Veronica's cases of the week provide a unique opportunity to introduce characters, filling in another corner of Neptune with each guest star. The writers take full advantage of that in the episode. We check in with Deputy Leo the cute but too old boyfriend. With Wallace's mom Alicia, who it turns out is Keith's new girlfriend. With Duncan's girlfriend Meg, that one girl who is as kind as she is popular who seems to exist in every high school. With tech wizard Mac and poor spineless principal Clemmons. And there are new additions too: reformed bully Norris and his onetime victim Pete. And Joey Lauren Adams as the pep squad leader-turned journalism teacher who exhibits more integrity and courage than most modern-day newspaper editiors. And we don't leave our series regulars behind either! This is one of Wallace's best episodes, for example.

Rob Thomas and his crew have built a whole world, and it's the perfect time to blow it up, as things go sideways with the men in Veronica's life. First, Duncan learns about her investigation and totally freaks out, then skips town (notably after Veronica made a big speech about living off the grid...). And then of course there's the kiss.

What's great about the Veronica and Logan kiss is that it kind of comes out of nowhere. They didn't spend the episode sharing longing looks or anything. But the show slowly built to this moment, so when it arrives it's shocking and then it makes perfect sense, just like all the best twists. And of course this throws Veronica's entire social and personal life into chaos. And it throws a whole wrench into the show's overarching narrative, as Veronica has now shared a steamy kiss with a man who may well be involved in Lilly's murder (even if he was supposedly out of the country), not to mention her own rape. It's exactly the kind of curveball you want in the homestretch of your season.

I haven't even talked about the kiss itself, which is perfect. Her little peck, his shock, her embarrassment, his escalation. Or about the case of the week, which rules. At the height of the Bush era, Veronica Mars introduces an undercover, supposedly terrorist-fighting government agent and reveals him to be a craven and self-important tool who plants evidence on an innocent teen to save his reputation. Now that's what you call being on the right side of history.

10:00 The Office (recorded)

1x04 "The Alliance"

Sure, the stuff with Jim and Dwight and the alliance is fun, and the image of Dwight emerging from that box will always be hilarious. But as far as I'm concerned, the most important part of this episode is the introduction of the Party Planning Committee. The relationship between Phyllis and Angela clicks right away, and it would become one of the show's best storylines, a constant source of petty drama and hilariously stupid hijinks. The Party Planning Committee feels specific to the American Office, obsessed as it was with the petty minutiae and moments of joy that lurk at the edges of office life. And the Party Planning Committee is a great story engine for the show's female characters, and the American Office would foster a much deeper bench of female characters than its British counterpart.

Later The Shield (recorded)

4x05 "Tar Baby"

Yeah, this is a season written by fans of The Wire. I'd imagine they wrote and shot this thing while season three was airing. You can see it in the community meeting scene that opens this episode. A cop trying to gain the community's trust, drug kingpin disrupting those efforts. It's definitely The Wire lite, but since when is that a bad thing! We treat The Wire like a miracle, but it's just a TV show. You can steal its good ideas just like with any piece of art! The community meeting immediately makes Farmington feel like a real place, and so Rawling and Mitchell's battle for Farmington matters in a way it didn't before. Maybe every TV show should throw in a community meeting or city council scene. It worked for The Wire. Hell, it worked for Gilmore Girls, a very different kind of show. Maybe it could work for you!

What Else Was On

• The first episode of Deadliest Catch premiered on the Discovery Channel.
• Here is an ad for the American Idol DVD (only available in Cingular stores!) featuring William Hung.

Late Night

I'm not allowed to watch 30 Rock for another year or so, but this Conan bit will tide me over.

TiVo Status

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

Music, 20 years ago

Is it cool to like Duran Duran's 2000s stuff? I don't know. Anyway, I enjoyed their performance on Conan.