What was on TV? Thurs, Feb 24, 2005

20 years ago, Liam and Noel Gallagher somehow managed to record another album together. Let's see what was on TV!

8:00 The OC on Fox

2x14 "The Rainy Day Women" (record Survivor on CBS)

I have been underwhelmed by season two of The OC. I understand that the writers wanted to slow things down after the craziness of season 1. But this is just boring. Seth is over Summer, then he isn't. Lindsay hates Caleb, then she loves him. Ryan and Lindsay are fine, then they're not. The Marissa and Alex storyline is pretty good as far as lesbians sweeps stunts go, but it's also not great. And if we're going to introduce a romantic obstacle for Sandy and Kirsten, she has GOT to be more interesting than this ex-girlfriend lady, the most boring political fugitive in television history.

But then you get an episode like this, and none of that matters. The gods smiled on this episode. It was even raining in SoCal when it premiered, so it all felt like fate. The opening scene with Seth and Ryan in the rain, the ending with Seth and Summer in the rain, the silly and sad recurring Boyz II Men needle drop. This episode just gets the tone right, and it covers a multitude of sins. This episode even made me like Zach, a terribly boring character who's been dragging the whole season down. But they hold on his face after Summer leaves, sad and resigned and a little angry, and it's the most interesting he's ever been. They found the magic in this episode, and I hope they find it again before the season's over.

9:00 Survivor: Palau (recorded)

10x02 "Love is in the Air, Rats are Everywhere"

In this episode, two men have a very serious discussion about how someone named Ashlee poses a "psychological and sociological threat" to the tribe. Meanwhile, we get a leering close-up of the shirtless guy's abs. All truly great mainstream art should be as smart or as dumb as you need or want it to be. And Survivor certainly qualifies.

10:00 ER on NBC

11x16 "Here and There

When Sharif Atkins' pilot got picked up last season, his character left ER and joined the army. But the cop drama Hawaii flopped hard, Atkins booked himself a guest stint over at his old stomping grounds.

I was skeptical. I have never seen Sharif Atkins as Dr. Gallant, so I have no loyalty toward the character. And I'm not sure if I need the Iraq War in my ER. Plus, the episode opens with really annoying voiceovers of his correspondence with ex-girlfriend Neela.

But ER always wins me back when it becomes a workplace drama. This episode smartly parallels Gallant and Neela stories as they both try to save a kid. In both cases, we see how hard they have to fight to give an innocent child proper treatment. It's a biting critique of systems in Iraq and America that fail to protect their most vulnerable people. The end of the episode loses me, as it intercuts Neela's hookup with a random rocker dude with a soldier dying on Gallant's table. I don't like the idea, I don't like the execution. But the episode did its job, I'm excited to see Neela and Gallant reunite when he brings the girl to county.

Late Night

There was some Spider-Man: No Way Home foreshadowing on Late Night's Oscar segment!

What Else Was On

• With Tom Brokaw retired and Dan Rather pushed out, Peter Jennings was the last of the old-school network anchors. ABC wanted to take advantage of this situation and highlight his serious reporting credentials. So tonight they aired two hour Peter Jennings special. The topic? UFOs: Seeing is Believing. Clearly, their good intentions got lost somewhere along the way. What makes this situation even weirder is that Jennings was likely already dying of lung cancer by this point.
• CSI aired an episode focusing on "chubby chasers." If you're researching fatphobia in the 2000s, I'm sure this episode would provide a love of material.
• Fox aired a US Weekly-inspired special that promised to show stars without makeup. Not very intriguing. But in Entertainment Weekly they promised action stars floundering on the beach. Now I'm interested!
• Special Sweeps Guest Stars: Dylan Baker on Without a Trace and Christina Ricci on Joey.

TiVo Status

The Masterpiece Theater miniseries The Lost Prince, two Frontline documentaries, the TV movies Sucker Free City, Lackawanna Blues, School of Life, and Ladies Night, three episodes of Miracle's Boys, and one episode each of King of the Hill and Without a Trace. 19 hours total.

Music, 20 years ago

Team OC commissioned this cover specifically for this episode, and with the blessing of Liam and Noel Gallagher. This isn't just a track made popular by The OC, it only exists because of The OC. So thanks for that, The OC.