What was on TV? Sun, Jan 23, 2005

20 years ago, the New England Patriots trounced the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship game. Everyone outside New England was annoyed. Let's see what else was on TV!

7:00 King of the Hill on Fox

9x04 "Yard, She Blows"

Available on Hulu

This feels like King of the Hill's version of an Everybody Loves Raymond episode. Hank is good at gardening and Peggy is not. Peggy compensates by buying a gnome but Hank hates it. Kid Bobby gets involved and it's all a web of lies and favors and love. So it was very Raymond, but a little more surreal and also a little more sentimental. A good episode.

7:30 Malcolm in the Middle on Fox

6x08 "Lois Battles Jamie"

Available on Hulu

This episode does a classic "great athlete/artist needs to get their mojo back" storyline, except it's about Lois finding her inner hardass mom. This show has such reverence for the work of parenting, and this storyline shows that. And also it's hilarious. There are '80s flashbacks to Lois and Hal as new parents, with Hal as the disciplinarian and Lois as the pushover, helpless before her baby's smile. It all ends with Lois burning a teddy bear, and it's filmed like a horror movie, but burning the teddy bear is also an act of love? Great stuff. And it all dovetails beautifully with a storyline about Reese finding a diving board and doing the last dangerous and stupid thing he'll ever do before he grows up and becomes responsible (or at least less irresponsible). Who knew that a failed attempt to jump off a diving board while wearing firecrackers could be so beautiful?

8:00 American Dreams on NBC

3x12 "For Richer, For Poorer" (record Arrested Development on Fox)

Watch on YouTube

I am losing my patience with the men on this show (the white ones, anyway). JJ gambles money he doesn't have. You're getting married, you hate your job, and you have a new baby! What the hell! His Dad covers for him and accepts a bribe. Milo Ventimiglia is the definition of a wishy-washy liberal whose high-minded ideals will not survive the '70s, plus he is a terrible boyfriend and son.

Seriously, I hate all the white men. I usually have sympathy for poor JJ, and now the show is even testing that. Is this a feature? Is this a bug? I don't think the show even knows, and that's kind of fascinating, I guess?

9:00 Desperate Housewives on ABC

1x13 "Your Fault" (record Carnivale on HBO)

Available on Hulu

It's baaaack. And I'm not talking about a monster. I'm talking about the terrible Gabrielle and the gardener storyline. It feels like the show realized how rancid this storyline was. The words "statutory rape" are used, and nothing romantic happens. And the show is trying to explore the consequences of leading this poor impressionable teenager on, as the kid fancies himself in love with the woman and decides to propose. This is fine, or better than what they were doing before. But I would have preferred if they deep-sixed this storyline altogether. But Jesse Metcalfe (who plays John) was a series regular, so he was going to be on the payroll no matter what. So they're going to try and use him. I'm dreading it.

10:00 Arrested Development (recorded)

2x08 "Queen for a Day"

A superb episode. The Bluths' collective shortsightedness and selfishness leaves the entire company in the hands of Lucille II. It's byzantine and hilarious. Also, the George Michael and Maeby storyline is revived and I, as a sicko, and thrilled.

This episode is also a great exploration of how the family treats Buster. The party line is that he's stunted. But this episode shows us that he's ready to grow up. He successfully charms Starla and rejects Lucille II! But the family wants him to run back to Lucille II so they can get back the stock witout having to sell their impusle purchases (a sportscar, a yacht, a gay nightclub, and a country club membership) to buy it back. This despite the fact that he was the only one with the forethought to not immediately sell his Bluth company stock and make an impulse purchase, leaving the company vulnerable to a takeover. Buster is the ultimate reflection of the Bluth family, and perhaps the show's most tragic character. He might be my favorite.

What Else Was On

CBS premiered Numb3rs after the AFC championship game. This show was often a punchline for people who wanted to make fun of the ubiquitous quirky, nerdy detective genre. And it was about people who solved crimes with math, so...fair. But David Krumholtz is the nerd and Judd Hirsch is his dad and also Navi Rawat is there! I'm sold! And it was a CBS Friday night staple for six seasons, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to check it out.

TiVo Status

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