What was on TV? Fri, Dec 10, 2004

20 years ago today, Kanye West was backpedaling after he told everyone that a female country artist didn't deserve an award. The artist was Gretchen Wilson, but I guess that history really does rhyme. Let's see what was on TV.

8:30 Degrassi: The Next Generation on the N

4x08 "Time Stands Still Part 2"

Available on Tubi and other FAST services

This episode tackles the very serious topic of school shootings. It's all very tense and tragic. But I watched this in the year 2024, and I could think about was how this was the episode where Drake's character got shot, which meant he ended up in a wheelchair, and when his rap friends started making fun of him, he threatened to sue the producers if they didn't miraculously cure him. They did cure him, and Drake rising from the wheelchair became a defining image of his time on Degrassi. So it didn't really work. Also, they weren't making fun of him for being in a wheelchair, I'm pretty sure they were making fun of him for being on Degrassi. Anyway, now he's trying to sue his way out of the embarrassment of losing a rap battle.

9:00 America's Next Top Model (recorded)

3x12 "The Girl Who Didn't Hug Goodbye"

Available on Hulu

We didn't get a proper go-see episode this year (they just go to one location. Boring!). But that is somewhat rectified here, as we see girls get lost and struggle with time management while preparing to meet a Japanese designer. I still prefer the go-sees with multiple stops, but this was fun too. You learn a lot about someone by watching them navigate an unfamiliar city, which is why this challenge always rules. That, and it feeds my wanderlust. I want to go to Tokyo now!

Later Without a Trace (recorded)

3x10 "Malone v. Malone"

Available on PlutoTV

Among the endless parade of CBS crime procedurals, Without a Trace was regarded as "the good one" back in 2004. So this show can tell us a lot about what "good tv" meant in 2004, in a way that a prestige HBO drama can't.

Judging by Without a Trace, back in 2004 "good tv" meant:

1. Serialization. Without a Trace is a missing persons show, but no one is missing in this episode. The episode instead centers on the Anthony LaPaglia's custody hearing, which takes place during the office Christmas party. We have callbacks to several past storylines: an affair, a dramatic child-killer case, LaPaglia's history of mental illness and his trauma surrounding his mother's suicide, and so on. According to tv critics, this automatically made it deeper and better than other procedurals.
2. Difficult men. You heard all that stuff about the dead mom and the mental illness and whatnot? Our protagonist is a great man who's great at his job, but he's also damaged, oh no! He may be on CBS, but he's still something of an anti-hero.
3. Everything is sad. Suicide, driving into telephone poles, bitter custody hearings, divorce, infidelity, guilt, ruining your kid's birthday party, we cover it all!

Of course, these trends eventually took over all of television, and became cliches. And that process was already starting as early as 2004.

This episode was written and directed by showrunner Hank Steinberg. He later created Interpol, The Last Ship, and For Life.

TiVo Status

The three-hour Masterpiece Theater miniseries The Lost Prince and The Office Christmas Special from across the pond (2 hours). 5 hours with 23 hours of space left.