wilson cruz

With the news coming down this week that MTV is adapting the UK's teen sensation Skins for American audiences, it became obvious which show I was going to do next for this column. The thing about Skins that works so well is that it rings of authenticity, which is rare in teen programming. It also features teenagers who are truly acting their age; no old dudes with male pattern baldness pretending to be high school sophomores.

We've seen all this before. A long time ago, before The WB and UPN built programming models for teen audiences, there was a little show on ABC that nobody really knew what to do with. My So-Called Life tackled teen issues, not in "a very special episode" way, but in a raw, unfiltered way. It was wonderful.

"This life has been a test. If this had been an actual life, you would have received instructions on where to go and what to do."-- Angela Chase

Say what you will about My So-Called Life: It was a pivotal show in American TV History. Although it was canceled after only two years and 19 episodes, when MTV picked it up and began showing it round the clock, it acquired a cult following that keeps it resonant even today.

(S04E20) Twenty episodes in, and I'm chomping at the bit to get to the Tony/Jeanne story. Credit to team NCIS that they have created an arc that has people waiting anxiously for a resolution. With that in mind, if you would have told me that we were going to get a stand alone episode that didn't get into any of the big seasonal stories, I doubt I would have been excited about it.

But then they went and did this. Bringing McGee's next book, "Rock Hollow," into the picture made for some great scenes. And those scenes were really what sold this one. The actual mystery was interesting, but more for what we learned about McGee and the new book than the actual whodunnit aspect. I thought they gave Landon away right off the bat when he recognized "Thom."