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A couple of hours before "20/20" broadcast the interview of singer Rihanna by Diane Sawyer, I was involved in a three-way, sometimes loud, discussion about the Rihanna/Chris Brown incident.

The guy in the conversation, who is a good guy, basically said that it was odd that Chris Brown beat Rihanna for no reason, thus suggesting that somehow Rihanna was at fault somehow, and then said that he thought it unfair that Chris Brown was still a pariah. He feels that we (society) shouldn't hold celebrities to a higher standard, and, I guess, in real life Chris wouldn't be having it so hard.

Again, this is a good guy. And I hope he watched Rihanna's interview because she addressed all his issues.

The interesting thing about the interview was that it was basically structured as a public service announcement; Rihanna got to talk about her specific case, but it perfectly framed her story as one of many, and put her in a position as a strong voice against domestic violence, particularly against young girls.

Sawyer used fan reaction and domestic violence stats to tell a bigger story. Rihanna, we learned, grew up with a father who abused her mother, a common trait for those who abuse and get abused. (Oddly, her father was making all kinds of comments after the incident.)

Rihanna talked about how fast she and Brown fell for each other and described their relationship as "obsession."

And she detailed what happened the night of the beating. She saw a text from Brown's old girlfriend, catching him in a lie. She wouldn't let in go and he, caught, got annoyed that she wouldn't drop it. Rihanna made clear it was a verbal argument and that she never hit him. She said, in fact, she wasn't interested in hurting him. She just wanted the beating to stop.

His eyes were blank and she thought he was beating her "like he has nothing to lose." That's a pretty powerful description of blind rage.

She said that he had never hit her before, but after Diane pointed out other reports saying he did, Rihanna admitted that she meant he never beat her like THAT before. (Chris Brown denies that there were other incidents. Did he mean other 'bad' incidents? Does he really not remember? Is he really that sick?)

Rihanna also revealed the complex emotions a victim of abuse experiences; the stuff that makes the rest of us not understand their actions. It seems that once the swelling fades, you forget a bit and start to thinking. She describes herself initially wondering what she could have said to cause this. She became lonely, not wanting to be pitied as the victim by others, and so, shutting down. And then, she felt she had to protect Brown because if she felt that bad how bad must he be feeling.

That confusion is what sent her to their Diddy-sponsored rendezvous in Miami. And, it seems, that when we saw Chris Brown on that jetski, it may not have been exuberance on his face, but relief that everything was going to be OK again.

But Rihanna says she began to resent him; everything he did annoyed her. Soon after Miami, she broke it off.

Rihanna says she wants to hear nothing from Brown; she wishes him a good life. She wants him to accept what he did as a man and not feel sorry for himself. She acknowledged that she still had lingering love for him, he was her first great love, but having those emotions annoys her. She thinks it's possible for him to change.

What Rihanna says helped motivate her was the e-mails, texts and YouTube videos from fans. "My selfish decision for love could get a young girl killed."

That, I think, sums up my friend's problem with celebrities being treated differently than others. The fact is celebrities ARE different from us. And in this case, Rihanna, sooo much more mature and articulate than Brown, may have been saved by that difference.

Perhaps without the burden of a million eyes watching, she would have gone back to Brown.

The Wanda Sykes Show (11pm, Fox) - Tonight is the debut of Wanda Sykes' new talk show, the first late night network talk show hosted by a woman since the Joan Rivers disaster of '86. Don't expect this one to go down in flames, though. Wanda Sykes is hilarious and it's a smart move to go for Saturday nights. Wanda's show will have an open bar for her guests (which should make things really interesting), and will include sketches, a monologue, and panel discussions about current events. Using Chris Rock's old HBO show as a blueprint, Wanda says she wants her to show to be fun and wants viewers to feel like they're "hanging out at my spot with me and my friends.” Her first guests include Mary Lynn Rajskub, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, and “Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan. The show will air each Saturday night at 11pm on Fox.

Saturday Night Live (11:30pm, NBC) - SNL returns tonight after a couple of weeks off, and Taylor Swift is the host and musical guest. I'm expecting at least one Kanye West joke. Question is, who can play Kanye? Will they draw some crop circles on Fred Armisen's head and make him try that one too?

Evil pretty people are extra scary, probably because we like to think that things that look good are good.

That's why Rob Lowe is well cast in "Ann Rule's Too Late to Say Goodbye" (Lifetime Movie Network, channel 47, 8 tonight).

Lowe uses his borderline feminine looks as Bart Corbin, a successful dentist whose wife Jenn, as the movie opens, appears to commit suicide. Her young son finds her with a gun in one hand and divorce papers in the other.

The chief investigator (Michelle Hurd) calls it a suicide and wants to leave it at that, but Jenn's sister Heather (Lauren Holly) doesn't believe it's suicide, yet she doesn't suspect her brother-in-law. At first.

That's because Jenn appears to have had some issues too; for one, she's been having an online affair. And also, the family thinks her cute husband is all good, instead of too good to be true.

The affair has a twist, and although the based-on-a-true-story case took place in Georgia, it has echoes of North Carolina's own Michael and Kathleen Peterson case in Durham. Except Bart Corbin is extra evil, and as played by Lowe, definitely a sociopath. (Not saying Peterson isn't, but he did show emotion.)

Lowe mostly acts by tightening that square jaw to show how tightly wound he is and smiling that pearly white smile when he's being charming. Holly (doesn't she look very different from how she looked on "Picket Fences"?) does fine as the won't-take-no-for-an-answer sister. Hurd basically does her old "Law & Order: SVU" role, down to the same pants.

It's not the best Lifetime movie ever, but it does the job.

For my money, the funniest moment in NBC's two-hour comedy block last night came during Pierce's (Chevy Chase) college rock band debut, playing keyboards and singing backup to Vaughn's woeful song of heartbreak (and moving on), "Gettin' Rid of Britta."

The lyrics are clever, and Vaughn is easy on the eyes in that sensitive musician kind of way. Rocker Vaughn won me over with lines like, "It isn't like I would ever hit her, but I would sell her to the highest bidder." But it's Chevy chiming in with "she's a no good B" and "she's a G D B" while jamming on the keyboards that had me cracking up -- and watching over and over and over again.

Check it out below.

The second-to-last episode of a boring season has come and gone, and well, there were a lot of tears.

It'll be good to go back to New York City for the next season. L.A. never seemed like the right fit and most of the season's challenges were uninspired.  This episode, however, did bring back some of our favorite things: an inspiration-in-a-museum challenge, sharp critiques from Nina and Tim, petty backbiting and, best of all, really awful clothes!

But first, the "drama: There's still some bad blood between Althea and Irina following last week's runway tattling. But these women prefer to keep the tension in the room thick without actually addressing it, so we don't see much. Everyone's just in agreement that Irina is mean.

In last night's final challenge, the gang of five were supposed to take inspiration in something at the Getty Center. Here's what they came up with:

Althea

She was inspired by the architecture of the building btu she wound up with what Heidi called, "a bit of a mess fest."

Judge Cynthia Rowley said the attempt was "a little ambitious." Heidi, agreed, adding, "You bit off so much more than you could chew.

Tim warned her before that her fabric choice was iffy. The whole skirt puckered, and you could see it down the runway. Althea's stiff gold number was genuinely awful and a real disappointment from what is usually a strong contender.

Carol Hannah

Carol Hannah's beautiful gown was inspired by an 18th century French bed. Can't you see the resemblance?

"You are playing it very safe," warns Nina. "It is a perfect dress but it is almost a safe perfection."

The dress fit perfectly on her model, but I don't see the Getty Center in there. Cindy Crawford, guest judge, didn't either. 

Christopher

Christoper's algae-covered rock fountain dress did not go over well with the judges. The skirt was stiff, the top was nice and the random splashes of green (algae, get it?) were hideous.

Does Christopher understand what went wrong? "This piece speaks more about me than anything else I've done here," he cries. And cries. And cries. Oh, stop it. Even Heidi looks irritated at this point.

"Everyone else's inspiration was art. Mine was a rock with algae
on it. And not everyone would see the beauty in that. [sob sob sob]"

Christopher has been in the bottom for several weeks, and he should've been gone long ago (before Shirin, at least!)

Gordana

Taken from a Monet, Gordana made a beautiful dress that all the judges "got." 

But did anyone else look at the front of this dress and see, erm, female genitalia? No? Okay, I'll stop.

Gordana was in love with this dress, and it made her think about her homeland, her family, her hard work. And so she also cried. 

Cindy Crawford loved the dress, Nina loved the front, and Heidi said that Gordana hasn't taken any real risks.

Irina

"I love the color," Cindy Crawford says of Irina's dress. It was inspired by a painting but I saw Egyptian influence all over this outfit.

But it's too long and dowdy, Nina says. And they all agree the styling is awful. Heidi orders the model to take of her shoes, the bizarre cap.

"The length is very old lady," Nina agrees.  This dress is so blah but at this stage, Irina is too good of a designer that it doesn't matter what she puts out.

In the end, Christopher and Gordana must leave and Althea, Carol Hannah and Irina are going to Fashion Week. (My predictions were right, but it was pretty easy to guess.)

And here's a bone I have to pick.

"I don't know who Gordana is as a designer. To not know at this point is a problem," Nina says. You haven't been around the whole season, Nina! Also, I thought it was unexcusable for Michael Kors not to be there at the final judging competition before Fashion Week. They made a mundane season worse by not being around.

A lackluster season is coming to a close, at least. Next week, we're finally at Fashion Week.