Thursday, May 12, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PRIME TIME TO WATCH: Swept Away

TV networks wind down season with finales, cliffhangers and special guests

Life's no beach for Jorge Garcia on "Lost." Noah Wyle is the last original cast member to leave "ER." Scott Bakula flies away with "Star Trek: Enterprise." There goes the judge: Paula Abdul makes waves on "American Idol." Ray Romano turns out the lights on "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Will America still love Raymond?

Does anyone care that Noah Wyle is leaving the emergency room?

And what are the odds Paula Abdul will melt down during the season finale of "American Idol"?

The answers to those questions will be known soon as the TV networks wind down the season this month with a flurry of stunt casting, finales and cliffhangers.

But while the May sweeps bring out the fans and hopefully the ratings take a jump, local television officials aren't just thinking about the big prime time shows. There's more at stake.

"All dayparts are important to us," says Judy Reich, program director at NBC affiliate, KVBC-TV, Channel 3.

While Reich does take an interest in how the network's shows do, hoping for a good showing, she's also looking at how the station does during the day, because sweeps ratings determine advertising rates.

"We're very competitive with the newscasts, and syndication has done well, too," Reich says.

NBC has a couple of finales set for the same night. "The Apprentice" airs May 19, followed by the "ER" season finale in which Wyle, the last original member of the cast, takes leave of a steady paycheck, perhaps never to be seen again.

The last man left standing wins the Benjamins on the last round of "The Contender," airing May 24 from Caesars Palace. It will be seen live on the East Coast but tape delayed here.

And will God or the anti-Christ win out at the finale of the NBC miniseries, "Revelations." By now, viewers probably know the answer, but they can check how it plays out Wednesday. It could end up as a regular series next season, depending, of course, on the ratings.

Over on CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, Channel 8, the spotlight falls mainly on Ray Romano and the series finale of "Everybody Loves Raymond," set for Monday. The half-hour farewell episode will be preceded by an hour-long clip show of best moments from past episodes.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" closes out the season May 19 not with a stunt "special guest star" but with a guest director, Quentin Tarantino, of "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" fame. The show has seemed to embrace the "ick" factor more than in seasons past, perhaps an indication the Anthony Zuiker-created show has run out of creative gas. If nothing else, Tarantino should give it a jolt.

Meanwhile, "Survivor: Palau" will get down to the $1 million winner Sunday, and even "Without a Trace" works up some excitement as FBI agent Vivian Johnson has open heart surgery May 19.

If there's one network that plays up the big season ender, it's Fox on KVVU-TV, Channel 5. There's the annual blowout May 23 on "24," as the clock ticks down to Kiefer Sutherland saving America once again.

And one of the season's big hits, "American Idol," comes down to the wire to the winner of the televised contest of amateur singers with episodes May 24-25.

Hugh Laurie should win an Emmy award for his portrayal of Dr. House on Fox's best new show, "House," airing its season finale May 24. Sela Ward guests as House's old flame.

ABC, seen locally on KTNV-TV, Channel 13, seems to have loaded up on a potentially winning formula with a string of interesting scripted dramas, such as "Lost," which answers the question of whether the gang makes it off the island. The two-part cliffhanger airs May 18 and May 25.

Wisteria Lane gets its share of excitement May 22 as the soap opera spoof "Desperate Housewives" kills off a cast member.

Meanwhile, what could be more fitting for the characters on "Grey's Anatomy" to finish the season May 22 with a sexually transmitted disease?

And Lena Olin returns to "Alias" as series star Jennifer Garner's mother on the spy drama that finishes off the sweeps on May 25.

There's one show which viewers might shed real tears over, and that's the end of "Star Trek: Enterprise," airing Friday on UPN, KTUD-TV, Channel 25. For the first time in eons, there will be no "Star Trek" franchise left on the air.