What was on TV? Wed, Dec 1, 2004
Project Runway premieres, we meet Ethan on Lost, and Tom Brokaw steps aside. Plus The West Wing and Nick and Jessica's Christmas special.
20 years ago today, Usher was king of the charts, and also America, kind of. Let's see what was on TV.
8:00 Lost on ABC
1x10 "Raised by Another" (record America's Next Top Model on UPN)
Available on Netflix and Hulu
We're not alone! He isn't on the manifest!
It's still one of my favorite cliffhangers on Lost, and Lost has no shortage of great cliffhangers. Anyone who reads mysteries will tell you that the best place to hide a twist is in a comedic sub-plot, and this episode does that brilliantly with Hurley's census. Those final moments when everything comes together: Sayid's return, Hurley's census, and the truth behind Claire's nightmares? It stops my heart every time.
I think this episode also does a pretty good job handling Claire's arc and her pregnancy. Claire is one of the show's less successful characters, but her flashbacks are good. Her deadbeat boyfriend Thomas is wonderfully hateable, and the stuff with the psychic is really creepy. The stuff on the island is good too. We see that Claire sometimes does stupid things, not because she's crazy but because she's in a crazy scary and stressful situation. But the show also makes it clear that Jack is wrong to think she's crazy and to treat her as if she is. It threads the needle nicely, and it all pays off in the final moments. And I'm not always on board with the Claire and Charlie ship, but Charlie wins major points here, believing and listening to Claire the whole episode.
This episode was written by Lynne E. Litt. She's written for Law and Order, In Plain Sight, and Grey's Anatomy.
This episode was directed by Marika Grabiak. She's directed a ton of TV, Angel, Gilmore Girls, and Alias, as well as a ton of Christmas movies.
9:00 The West Wing on NBC
6x07 "A Change is Gonna Come"
Available on Max
This isn't a great episode of television. But it does have one great moment. Ex-Vice President Hoynes' tell-all book is published. Josh flips to the index, to the L's, and looks for his name, and finds that not only is he mentioned, he gets several subheadings. The West Wing feels pretty disconnected from our current political reality. But I don't think this moment will get old.
This episode was written by John Sacret Young and Josh Singer. Josh Singer is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Spotlight, The Post, and Maestro. Before that, he wrote for the Sorkinless seasons of The West Wing, Law and Order: SVU, and Frige. Young created the classic war drama China Beach.
This episode was directed by Vincent Misiano. He's directed episodes of The 4400, Agents of SHIELD, and Medium.
10:00 Project Runway on Bravo
1x01 "Innovation"
Available on Tubi and other FAST services.
The Apprentice was supposed to be the show that changed everything. And it did change the world. I just didn't change television. To be fair, it did incredible damage to the two-decade old money printing machine that was the Must-See-TV lineup. But it didn't change the reality genre all that much. If you're looking for the most influential reality show that premiered in 2004, you have to look to Project Runway.
Project Runway premiered on cable, without fanfare. I read a lot of old newspaper and magazine articles on library databases. No one was talking about Project Runway. But it's compelling, right away. In the very first episode, we get one of the show's most iconic designs in Austin Scarlett's corn husk dress. The only strange part is that they spend most of the episode pretending it isn't amazing, all so it will be shocking when he wins. Such tricks are unnecessary.
For we can already see that Project Runway will be a show that prioritizes real skill. They choose to eliminate Daniel, a big personality who was already ticking off the other designers. But his designs were bad, and so he went home. This year I've watched America's Next Top Model keep the aggressively mediocre Ann in the competition week after week, at least in part because she creates drama. So Project Runway's approach is refreshing. And it's not like eliminating the mediocre Daniel was some high-minded decision. This group of designers has talent and personality to spare, so they could afford to lose him. No wonder the show became a hit, and inspired every cable network under the sun to create their own reality contest show.
Late Night
As I discuss below, tonight was Tom Brokaw's final broadcast. Many solemn tributes followed. But in addition to his very serious journalism work, Brokaw was a frequent guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where he was always happy to get a little silly. The trumpet player does an unhinged tribute song, opining "in trumpet terms you'd be Miles Davis / An Brian Williams would be me." It's all fun.
What Else Was On
As I mentioned, this was Tom Brokaw's last Night as anchor of NBC Nightly News. By the end of the year, all three network news anchors were out (Tom Brokaw stepped aside by choice, while Dan Rather was pushed out and Peter Jennings died).
On Brokaw's last broadcast, topics included the War in Iraq (going very poorly for everyone!), tensions with the UN, George Bush's frosty reception on a trip to Canada, Colin Powell facing gunfire on a trip to Haiti. So everyone hated us and there was an obvious reason why. Also: Russian interference in the Ukranian election, you could get a free copy of your credit report but there were strings attached, and people weren't getting married as much.
Later, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson had a Christmas special on NBC. Nick and Jessica were everywhere at this time. There was the reality show, a variety show, and they were on TV the night before, performing at Rockefeller Center. This special is clearly modeled on the old Christmas Specials from Andy Williams, Sonny and Cher, and the like. Visits from family and friends, dorky skits, the works. And it seemed like a good fit for their brand: Christian and Conservative (Simpson famously waited for marriage and endorsed George W. Bush in 2004) but also mainstream and cool. I'm sure people were hoping this would be the first of many specials, but they were divorced by next Christmas.
Special Sweeps Guest Star
6-year-old Elle Fanning on CSI:NY.
In the News
Lost was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and the story makes for a great time capsule.
The cast is terrified of spoling anything. But they're just as clueless as us. Everyone wants to know: what's the monster? Are they all dead? Is this going anywhere? Are we all gonna be suckers?
EW’s editorial guidelines
Tivo Status
The three-hour Masterpiece Theater miniseries The Lost Prince and The Office Christmas Special from across the pond (2 hours), A Christmas Carol: The Musical, and the TNT movie The Wool Cap, and one episode of Top Model. 10 hours with 19 hours of space left.
