What was on TV? Mon, Jan 24, 2005

20 years ago, Johnny Carson died. Let's see what was on TV.

9:00 24 on Fox

4x06 "12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M." (record Everwood on the WB)

Available on Hulu

Every week, this show sets up some crazy cliffhanger (Jack is getting arrested! The president is going to nuke Jack!) and without fail the cliffhanger is diffused within the first 3-5 minutes of the next episode. It's very annoying. And you have to be pretty entertaining to get away with that. But God help us all, 24 delivers. The conclusion of this episode reveals the villains' plan: they staged a plane crash to steal a briefcase that would let them control nuclear power plants then kidnapped the Secretary of Defense and livestreamed his trial to create a bunch of internet traffic and cover up their attempt to hack into the power plants' firewall. It's ridiculous, and they definitely made it up as they went along, but it does tie everything together. You've gotta hand it to them.

In other news, we return to poor Logan Marshall-Green, who is now getting tortured with his father's blessing. The Shoreh Agadashloo resembles the most problematic Greek tragedy of all time and I'm obsessed. And Aisha Tyler, the sexually forward ambitious Black career woman, is revealed as the mole. Of course she is. This show is TOO MUCH, in every possible way: good, bad, and ugly.

Also, the Heritage Foundation gets name-dropped. That was quite the jumpscare.

10:00 Everwood (recorded)

3x12 "Giving Up the Girl"

Available for free and for subscribers on Prime

To take you behind the scenes...I watched this on inauguration day. And it was exactly what the doctor ordered. Ephram proves himself an excellent boyfriend and restores my faith in men. This is also the best episode yet for Jake, and I'm now officially on board with him and Nina as a couple.

But the best stuff is Delia and Amy. Delia gets her period, and at first it seems like she's handling it remarkably well. But then Dr. Brown blows it and reveals this secret to her ENTIRE HOCKEY TEAM. And then she just misses her mom, and she's a sad teenager. Meanwhile, Amy is pissed that she gave up ballet and now that door has closed to her as a career. With the endless future gaping out before her, she tries to get caught up in a week, which is very relatable. If this were a worse show, this would be the start of an eating disorder storyline. But Everwood lets her have this freak-out and then lets her accept that her future will be different. And at the end of the episode her and Delia's storylines converge and they have the sweetest girl's gab session ever. It's about puberty and body image and dreams and letting go and boys being dumb. It's not a Big Serious Talk, but it means more because of that. I cried.

Late Night

The death of Johnny Carson of course meant that The Tonight Show became a big tribute to its most famous host, filled with clips of Johnny and the comedians whose careers he launched. Jay's monologue was also a tribute to the man and what he learned from him. What Jay learned is basically "be funny no matter what and the audience is always right." And that sounds about right. Jay is what happens when you take those lessons to their logical endpoint. The man is populist to a fault.

TiVo Status

The Masterpiece Theater miniseries He Knew He Was Right and The Lost Prince, and two episodes of Carnivale. 10 hours total.