What was on TV? Mon, Jan 3, 2005

20 years ago, everyone thought that Marty was finally going to get that Oscar for The Aviator. Let's see what was on TV.

9:00 Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS

9x09 "A Date for Peter" (record Girlfriends on UPN)

Available on Peacock and Paramount+

This is the first episode of the final season that truly doesn't stand alone. Robert's in-laws want to find a date for their geeky shut-in son (Chris Elliott). So Ray and Debra host a cocktail party full of eligible ladies, including Raymond's nemesis (Amy Aquino) and Robert's old crush (Alex Meneses). And I have never seen any of these people before. So this episode was lost on me. But maybe in a decade when I come back to it having seen more of the show, I'll bust a gut laughing.

This episode was written by Mike Royce. This was his first tv writing job, he went on to create Men of a Certain Age, Enlisted, and to co-develop the One Day at a Time reboot.

This episode was directed by Brian K. Roberts. His directing credits encompass everything from Phil of the Future to Little Mosque on the Prairie and several Hallmark-y Christmas movies.

9:30 Girlfriends on UPN (recorded)

5x12 "P.D.A. - D.O.A."

Available on Netflix and PlutoTV

Once again, this is the kind of episode that makes me want to watch the stuff I've missed. Joan runs into an ex-boyfriend (Malik Yoba) and they have great comedic and romantic chemistry. I want to watch them flirt, date, and break up. Meanwhile, Lynn runs into the woman who might have been her mother-in-law (Cindy Williams), and I am even more into their relationship! Also, the end of the episode implies that Lynn is bisexual? Was this ever alluded to elsewhere? Anyway, it's canon to me!

This episode was written by Mark Alton Brown and Dee LaDuke. Brown has written for Designing Women, Central Park, and The Upshaws. LaDuke also wrote on Designing Women, and most recently on the Podcast series Kym.

This episode was directed by Sheldon Epps. Epps has directed plenty of television, including 66 episodes of Girlfriends. However, he is best known for his work in American theater and for serving as artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse for 20 years.

Late Night

Life comes at you fast. One day you're in Vancouver playing Kelly Osbourne's dad in a soon-to-be-cancelled teen dramedy, then suddenly you have your very own talk show.

Craig Ferguson really stumbled into this gig. So how did he do in his first day on the job?

Pretty well! He's a little dirty (revealing that he went on a date with guest Nicole Sullivan first base or "upstairs outsides." There are a lot of silly bits with cheap puppets and the like. It's loose and fun. There are a lot of truly funny bits, but my favorite part was when he said "let's do one of these monologue things" and then the monologue lasted about a minute.

Craig Ferguson was yet another white guy in Late Night. He even had the same name as the last guy. But he brought a welcome kind of diversity to Late Night: diversity of influence. Craig Ferguson was the only late night host on the dial who didn't grow up worshipping Carson and/or Letterman. So he wasn't so wedded to the old late night format, and was poised to shake things up a bit. Thank god.

What Else Was On

• The Fox reality special Who's Your Daddy, in which eight men competed to convince an adopted woman that they were her biological father. If she chose them, they'd win $100,000 But if she chose her real father (for he was participating in this circus!), she would win the money. Much controversy from adoptive parents followed.
• NBC's Las Vegas continues to have the most delightfully stupid episode titles. Tis week's is one for the history books: "When You've Got to Go, You've Got to Go"
• Speaking of NBC, after a disastrous Fall season, they finally launched a solid hit in Medium (Patricia Arquette is a psychic!).

TiVo Status

Just the three-hour Masterpiece Theater miniseries The Lost Prince. One day I'll watch it.