Finale Thursday

OK,so ABC isn't wrapping up tonight, but a bunch of other shows are.

The CW airs the season finales of "Smallville" and "Supernatural" beginning at 8 p.m. A bit of good news on the "Smallville" front - Allison Mack will be returning next season as Chloe. I'm assuming Jensen Ackles will also be back as Dean Winchester even though his soul is ticketed to go to Hell tonight.

Earl has to choose between continuing his list of good karma and Alyssa Milano on the hour-long finale of "My Name Is Earl." Tough choice. I'm still thinking...

It's followed by the hour-long finale of "The Office" (NBC, 9 p.m.) which promises a few shockers as well as the departure of Toby in favor of Oscar nominee Amy Ryan as the new HR person.

More isn't necessarily merrier, though. The supersized versions of the NBC sitcoms that ran this year haven't been among the best of either series by any means.

Speaking of NBC follies, check out this interview with "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence, courtesty of TVGuide: http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Ausiello-Scoop-Lawrence/800039701

No wonder NBC is a fourth-place network these days. Meanwhile, Steve Buscemi guest stars on the season finale of "ER" at 10 p.m.

CBS wraps up "CSI" (CBS, 9 p.m.) by paving the way for the departure of legally-challenged Gary Dourdan, whose character is legally challenged as well. It's followed by the season finale of "Without a Trace."

Speaking of weird programming, ABC isn't wrapping up tonight, but rather setting up its finales over the next two weeks. "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" are all new tonight. "Lost" is essentially a three-part finale, but the final two episodes won't air for two weeks.

Meanwhile, "Betty" and "Grey's wrap up next week, with the latter having a two-hour finale, which is why "Lost is being broken up. Fear not, though. "Lost" will re-air tonight's episode in two weeks at the 8 p.m. slot.

Incidentally, some more good news. The "Lost" producers confirmed that the two episodes that got nixed this year because of the strike will be made up over the show's final two seasons. So we'll get two 17-hour seasons rather than 16 as originally planned.

'Eli's' Coming, With The Season Finale

ABC has cornered the market this season on whimsy, offering viewers the likes of the delightful "Pushing Daisies" and "Dirty Sexy Money."

Right up there has been the ever-improving "Eli Stone" (ABC, 10 p.m.), which wraps up its first season tonight with Eli (Jonny Lee Miller) in a coma after the surgery to remove his aneurysm goes wrong.

I'm pulling for both Eli Stone the character and "Eli Stone" the series to survive next season. It's one of those bubble shows that hasn't gotten a full commitment from ABC for next year.

(For a list of other shows and their chances, check out TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello's list here: http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Ausiello-Scoop-Favorite/800037719)

It's been an interesting ride with Eli as he tries to cope with his visions, which include a plethora of George Michael songs, and his cases. The writers do a good job of making us care each week whether Eli and his law partners win such cases as the rights of prisoners or even two gay chimps who want to live together.

The supporting cast is also first-rate, especially the always-terrrific Victor Garber as Eli's boss and father figure. (Note to producers: include more musical numbers for Garber next season.)

And credit the producers for moving the story along. They could have dragged out Eli's secret being revealed or his relationship with his ex (Natasha Henstridge), and destroying the Golden Gate Bridge (through CGI) last week was particularly inspired, because it let the viewers know anything can happen. As a viewer, you don't expect to see something like that, so it proved to be a delightful surprise to me.

I always pull for shows that have a true sense of originality, and they don't come more original than "Eli Stone." Here's hoping we get a lot more George Michael numbers in the future.

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: It's like a conspiracy that all of the networks get together and decide to put their best stuff on Thursdays. In the end, it's a victory for we, the viewers (and helps make up for crappy Wednesdays.)

In case you need a refresher for the return of "Lost" next week (at its new 10 p.m. time slot), ABC is running the last two episodes from a few weeks ago from 8-10 p.m. The first deals with Sun's pregnancy, making for one of the most poignant moments of the season, while the second one tells us what happened to Michael after leaving the island.

NBC's comedy lineup is all new, beginning with "My Name Is Earl." (NBC, 8 p.m.) Please let Earl get out of the coma, already. Jack tries to recruit Tracy to join the Republican Party on "30 Rock," while "The Office" gang fights for their parking spots, finishing with an all-new "Scrubs" before an all-new "ER" at 10 p.m.

Someone is definitely supposed to die soon on "Smallville" (CW, 8 p.m.) No spoilers here, but if I were a betting man, I'm guessing Lionel Luthor. It's followed by a rerun of "Supernatural," but it's the best episode of the season - Dean is killed over and over and over in the show's tribute to "Groundhog Day." If you have never seen this series before - and it's one of the most underrated shows on TV - this is the episode to catch, folks.

It's Official: FNL Is Back!

NBC delivered the good news Wednesday. One of TV's best dramas, "Friday Night Lights," will be back for a third season next fall.

The network worked out a deal with DirecTV, which will show the episodes on its channel, "The 101," beginning Oct. 1. NBC will then broadcast the series beginning after the Super Bowl in its regular Friday night timeslot.

Of course, for those of us who don't have DirecTV, that means we have to wait until February, and NBC is only making 13 episodes. But for those of us rabid fans of the series, it's well worth the wait, and 13 episodes is certainly a lot better than zero, which seemed to be "FNL's" fate a few months ago.

There's been no official word as to when the series will pick up, but rumors abound that it will be the start of the next football season (senior year for Matt, Landry and Riggins) when it does resume. No word on which cast members are returning, or if new ones will be added.

This new partnership may be the future of TV, since it has become more expensive to produce dramatic programming, and in the age of DVRs, commercial programming is about to undergo a major paradigm overhaul. But if the changing face of TV means keeping the "Lights" on, I'm all for it.

Other returning NBC shows announced Wednesday include: Lipstick Jungle, Medium, Law & Order, L&O: SVU and the 15th and final season of ER.

New shows on the slate include: The Office spinoff, My Own Worst Enemy, Kath & Kim, Knight Rider, Robinson Crusoe, Kings, The Philanthropist, The Listener, Shark Taggers, America's Toughest Jobs and Chopping Block, plus the miniseries The Last Templar and XIII.

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: Jeff Zucker has often been the object of criticism on this blog, but his guest appearance at the beginning of "My Name Is Earl" (NBC, 8 p.m.) is the highlight of the hour-long episode. While in a coma, Earl imagines his life to be 60s-style sitcom. Paris Hilton also guest-stars in the episode. It's followed by four reruns of "The Office."

"Miss Guided" (ABC, 8 p.m.) wraps up its brief run tonight, and after a "Lost" rerun, "Eli Stone" is new at 10 p.m.

Finally, "CSI" (CBS, 9 p.m.) and "Without A Trace" (CBS, 10 p.m.) return with their first new, post-strike episodes.