TV Tues - You're Forcing Me to Be the Voice of Reason, and It's Not a Good Look for Me!

First off, let us have a moment of silence for the just-cancelled Invasion; here's hoping tomorrow night's finale isn't a major cliffhanger, but I'd almost bet the farm that it is. And I'm afraid that we'll have to have a similar moment of silence soon for the excellent Everwood, whose on-the-bubble status seems to have been popped by the last-minute decision by the CW to renew 7th Heaven; we won't know for certain until the CW upfronts on Thursday.

On the flip side, much rejoicing that Scrubs has been picked up for another season, and if the rumors are right, Veronica Mars will be around for at least 13 eps but again, we have to wait till Thursday for confirmation. Also two of the pilots I was most hopeful for have been picked up by NBC for the fall: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Aaron Sorkin's behind-the-scenes look at an SNL style sketch show; and Heroes, a drama about people developing super-powers which is being touted as the new Lost. Here's hoping they both live up to the initial hype.

I keep meaning to mention this: the Wes Anderson American Express ad?



Genius; pure genius.

Okay, enough random chatter; on with the show.

West Wing: Well, as series finales go, I've seen much worse (I'm looking at you, Seinfeld), but still, I was a bit disappointed with this one. I just didn't feel like they did an adequate job of saying goodbye to everyone. I think the problem is that so much of the series had become focused on the Santos campaign this season that they had to devote a huge chunk of the episode to that section of the cast; while understandable, it sort of short-changed the cast members who've been there since Season 1. I was a little let down that we never got to see Sam interact with any of the old guard outside of Josh; even a quick "hey, you, I know you, I know you" to C.J., Charlie, and/or Will would have been appreciated. And was anyone else bugged that they didn't have a callback to the season premiere flashforward? No? Is that because I'm the only one still watching this? I thought so.

Survivor: As soon as Terry was voted off, I was tempted to change the channel; haven't been this disappointed in a Survivor decision since Colby lost, and at least then he lost to someone I didn't thoroughly dislike. Aras saying he "played the game with integrity"; get real! The final tribal council wasn't nearly as exciting as it has been in the past; the highlights were definitely Courtney's long and rambling lectures on how the experience had helped the others' souls to grow and of course Shane saying flat-out "Terry should be up there."

Gilmore Girls: The ending; the horrible, horrible ending. It blurs the whole rest of the otherwise excellent episode in my mind. I'm now consumed with two questions: (1) How are the new writers going to handle the aftermath of the Lorelei/Christopher matchup and (2) How did the old writers plan to handle it?

My Name is Earl: A good solid episode; a storyline that was big enough to feel like a season finale, and yet the status quo was upheld by the end. With all of the other cliff-hangers floating around, it was nice to have at least one show that had the courtesy to leave well enough alone. Highlight of the episode is a tossup between Hungry Dizzy Hulk and Old Lady Karma.

The Office: What a way to end the season, huh? The fallout from the big kiss should make next season interesting. In the meantime, we should soon have some webisodes featuring the accounting staff to tide us over.

E.R.: Michael's death was incredibly anticlimactic, as any death which has been telegraphed for months and then is over in a flash can't help but be; the one bright spot in the episode was the fact that Clamente is now gone thanks to his highly entertaining public breakdown. Now, if the big shoot-out in next week's episode makes Abby lose the baby, it's very possible that this show will get pulled from my viewing list next season.

Amazing Race: It's official: I will be happy no matter who wins. I've never been in this position before; I don't know how to handle it. I'm still pulling for the Frat Boys, but I'm not going to have one of those "I'm never watching this show again!" moments if either of the other teams wins.

Lost: Questions answered; even more questions raised. The more things change . . .

Invasion: Was nice to see Dave show some initiative in taking out the hybrid cop

Grey's Anatomy: Throughout the finale I just wanted to shake Izzy violently; I also was yelling at Christina to snap out of it and talk to Burke during the surgery, but not as strongly as I was yelling at Meredith and Derek to stop being such promiscuous sluts . . . yes, I get way too into this stuff. The scene where Bailey realizes that the interns are missing was classic; hell hath no fury like The Nazi on the warpath. I also enjoyed the interrogation sequences, especially when the chief tried out the silent treatment on George; think all the interns were lucky that he had more pressing woman problems on his mind at the time. Speaking of which, I hate that Sara Ramirez’s character is so touchy and confrontational; not saying she doesn't have some cause, just saying that it's going to wear me out really quickly.

Malcolm in the Middle: I don't think I've watched a single episode of this season; its schedule change was got it relegated to "will rent the DVDs status." But, this was the final episode, so I felt obligated to watch. While not a knockout, I think it was pretty indicative of the show as a whole. The whole "mom has planned out his whole life" thing bugged me a little; while it was in keeping with the overall tone of the series, I would have been happier if it ended with Malcolm reaching a mature decision without being browbeaten into it.

Prison Break: Good grief, did that finale wear me out.

How I Met Your Mother: Several excellent Barney moments here, from his relationship with Penelope's mom to his reaction to Ted's rain dance (still funny, still funny, still fun -- and, now it's sad) to his being forced to be the voice of reason; I’m really looking forward to a chance to slap someone and blame the universe for it. Was glad to see Amy Acker, even in a brief (and mostly bland) role; was sad that we never got to see her interact with Alexis Denisof, especially since I just got done reading the Angel comic featuring Ilyria and Wesley . . . but I digress. I hate that they're dragging out the Ted/Robin romance, since we know that they don’t wind up together; it just strikes me as a waste of time.

Apprentice: Was very worried that the signage fiasco was going to signal a loss for the guys; at this point I'm really wanting one of them to win, just because the raging self-delusional ("We never roll our eyes") egomaniacs that are Roxanne and Allie make me see red; was soooooooo disappointed to see Tami go.

SPOILER SPACE FOR 24

24: Was Karen's slap of Miles the wimpiest thing you've ever seen, or what? That man deserved a nice punch in the neck, at least. But props to the first lady for her quickdraw skills coming to Aaron's rescue.