TV Junkie: "Wisteria Lane, Seattle Grace, Indiana & more… "

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Memo to NBC...YOU'RE KILLING THE "MOTHER SHIP"??? Not only are you ending one of the consistently best shows on TV, you're also putting thousands of actors, technicians, writers, vendors, caterers, drivers and basically, NEW YORKERS out of work, adding to the unemployment rate in the city, which now has one less show filming on its streets. Following the loss of ABC's "Ugly Betty" and "All My Children" within a few months of each other, the additional loss of this show is expected to cost the city over $79 million dollars annually.

More than 4,000 people per year were employed by "Law & Order," which is estimated to have brought in more than one billion dollars to New York City over its 20-year run. Guess "Chuck" and "The Biggest Loser" are more thought provoking and must be preserved at all costs. Well, I hope Marshal Dillon & Miss Kitty are happy that their record still stands. The TVJ is appalled & horrified. Shame on you NBC!

"Lost" Report

It's all beginning to make sense, and that scares me that the TVJ knows that! The TVJ will hold all theories until next week's column promises to be honest with you. Is the Island a dream? (NO, NOT THAT ONE AGAIN!!!) Is the side-ways life a dream? Is there even a dream? This Sunday will tell all. And now, as I have, for every week this season, I hand you over to my pal Bill Ervolino, and his wonderful "Completely Lost" site. Next week's column will be all about "Lost." Like you didn't know!

Enjoy! http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/completelylost

Season Finales – ABC All Week Long

Sunday: Ok, so I cried all through Sunday night's shows. First was "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." So the kid has spina bifida and the father has ALS. Throw in the real family from The Blind Side, and the TVJ was blubbering by 8:11. "Desperate Housewives" managed to tug at the heartstrings all night, in one of the most touching episodes of the season. The ready-to-deliver Felicity Huffman's scenes with Josh Zuckerman as Eddie Orlofsky gave me my second weep of the night. I actually felt sad about Bree & Orson, but the TVJ is so very sorry to see Drea de Matteo leave the Lane. After the big bang – buh-bye John Barrowman - she turned out to be one of the good guys, and her scenes with her son were beautiful. Brava! And then...Mark Moses back as Paul Young? Oh, this is going to be one interesting fall season. As wonderful as "DH" was, "Brothers & Sisters" was the icing on the cake, with one of the TVJ's top fave dysfunctional families of all time, leaving us with a semi-cliff-hanger. Who will live and who will die? Well, duhhh...Rob Lowe has already opted out of his contract, so you do the math. Uncle Saul has HIV, Holly could be dead, maimed or worse and all we saw of Scottie was LOTS of blood. So much for Sunday.

Wednesday: Both ABC season finales are family-centric, beginning with "Modern Family." One of the best of the new crop of sit-coms this season, "Modern Family" is one of those feel-good shows, one that always leaves you with a smile on your face and tears running down your cheeks; not from crying, but from laughing so hard. Now, I have to confess: as much as I really love "Modern Family," my favorite new comedy is "The Middle," and this season finale was one of their best shows so far. Poor Sue, gets into a no-cut club and gets cut; Axl gets a ego boost, and then loses it and Brick (my fave) almost has to repeat the second grade. Throw in two harried parents (Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn) and Betty White as a cranky librarian, and you're in sit-com finale heaven!

Thursday: "Private Practice" had its finale last week and it was as uplifting as it was gut-wrenching. Life, death and dealing with long bottled-up emotions filled the episode. I must admit, it took me a long time to warm up to this series, and I still think that this is the most narcissistic and egomaniacal group of people I have ever seen, but they're growing on me. OK, meeting the beautiful (both inside and out!) Kate Walsh at the opening of White's Lies, did push me over to the "love it" camp on "PP," but I think I was on my way there all by myself. Now..."Grey's Anatomy" was character-centric, focusing on the doctors and the choices they have made. As a despondent man whose wife died (he thinks) because of Derek Shepherd and Richard Webber, comes into Seattle Grace to kill the three of them (the third is Lexie Grey, who unplugged the life support machine) and creates a carnage from floor to floor, we see lives lost, true loves revealed and just what really counts in life. Creator and writer Shonda Rhimes hits a two-run homer with these finales.

The TVJ's "TV Family of the Week"

You know who they are; they're the most dysfunctional family on TV. I know, I know, so many qualify, but there is no family as f*#+*d up as our beloved Walker clan from "Brothers & Sisters." I used to joke that, in my family, if someone sneezed in New York, they said gezuntheit in Chicago, handed you a Kleenex in LA and called to make sure you were ok on Long Island. But trust me, the Michaels clan has NOTHING on the Walkers. Call-waiting and conferencing was made for this family. In light of this week's season finale (see above), I will spend the summer months worrying who survived. Ok, maybe for an hour or two, but I will think about life chez Walker, until we meet again.

Gleek Alert Guest of the Week

Neil Patrick Harris...need I say MORE? In a season rife with the likes of Olivia Newton-John, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff and the ever-fabulous Kristin Chenoweth, NPH has blown them all out of the water. As Will's old high school nemesis, now the school district's administrator, he comes to end the Glee Club. With a hilarious take on show choir addiction, complete with meetings, coffee and donuts, NPH was note for note, move for move, Will's evil twin. Who will win? Stay tuned.

Soapbox Moment of the Day:

Kudos to "One Life to Live" for a week of great music. What a talented cast this show has, unlike any other in Daytime! More on this, next week.

See you next week...

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