I am not a fan of PICK A NUMBER — er, I mean, DEAL OR NO DEAL, but I happened to be at my brother's house at 8 o'clock, and my nephew is a big Star Wars fan, so he insisted on watching the stormtroopers hold briefcases (but an early bedtime meant no slave Leias for him). So Howie Mandel can rest assured that he has the under-10 demographic sewed up.

Luckily, Uncle Joe had set his VCR, so a tape of GREEK was waiting for me when I eventually got home. (Something had to give, so, sadly, I had to delay viewing GOSSIP GIRL; watch this space for my time-shifted thoughts on that show.)

GREEK put the spotlight on Rusty, Casey's little brother — the biological kind, not the Greek kind. Roomie Dale got Rusty a date with Emma, a cutie from his lit class. But Emma wanted to bring her roomie, Tina, so Rusty needed a wingman. Unfortunately, Chewbacca was apparently busy with DEAL (see above), so Dale was pressed into service. Since this is a TV show, of course Dale and Tina hit it off big-time, bonding over their mutual hatred of the Greek system. In fact, Tina because so maniacal that she practically stole U-SAG out from under him.

Casey considered normalizing relations with Omega Chi, but a run-in with Evan prompted her to call it off. Seems Casey couldn't perform her official duties without dealing with her personal issues. (How soapy!) And what better way to air personal grievances than a social event with alcohol? But Evan and Casey didn't get drunk; they were charged with checking IDs at the door. But a brawl still erupted. Evan took an opportunity to kiss Frannie, but she shot him down. C'mon, dude, Frannie may be the former president of the sorority, but she's no Casey. Casey told Evan she's moving on, then told Frannie that Zeta Beta is moving on — so Frannie can move back in.

ONE TREE HILL celebrated Jamie's fifth birthday with a big party and a fun episode. And while the little kid was rightly the focus of much attention, I was particularly interested in the spotlight on Skills, best bud and "uncle" to Jamie. Skills was wracked by guilt over Jamie's kidnapping, and felt that Nathan and Haley did not trust him around their child anymore. When he finally confronted them and apologized yet again, Nathan and Haley conceded they were having a hard time trusting Jamie with anyone. Reassured, Skills went to Jamie, who was lamenting that that he didn't get the coolest thing in the world for his birthday. Skills jokingly wondered if he meant "a hot girl who likes to kiss other hot girls?" but knew what Jamie really wanted: a Wii. (I can tell you from personal experience that only cool uncles mount expeditions to track down those rare Wii consoles!)

Lucas was being somewhat cool himself, reluctant to put Haley in the middle between himself and Lindsey. How rare is that in a soap character? And how portentous was it that Lindsey appeared just as Jamie was about to make his wish? Lucas finally got to talk to Lindsey, over birthday cake. Even though Lucas had told his brother that Lindsey is definitely The One, he couldn't convince her. She later packed up her stuff and left her key. I confess I cringed when Lucas originally told her to keep the key, because that would only lead to misunderstandings later when she inevitably used it at an awkward moment.

Awkward is a pretty good description of Brooke's adjustment to baby Angie. It's good to see a soap at least hint at how much work having a child is. They cry and want to be fed, like, every day! But there was still time for the idealized imagery, including Jamie kissing her on the forehead, and Lucas cuddling with the angelic, sleeping child.

You want idealization? How cool is Mouth's new roomie Millicent? She's smart, compassionate, funny, pretty (yet willing to overlook a guy's physical flaws), enjoys beer and pizza, and lets the boys have waterfights inside the house. How did Mouth get so lucky?

Dan isn't very lucky: He needs a heart — and not just the emotional kind. But Nathan (rightly) wants nothing to do with him. Jamie's grandmother grabbed a little of the spotlight by letting Bucko, the creepy birthday clown, show her his…um, balloon animal.

And on that disturbing note, I'll wrap up this edition of Night Shift...