TV fans of “Lost” are already in mourning.
Tonight, it’s now the series endings for Fox’s “24″ and NBC’s “Law & Order.” (Both have possible films slated so all is not lost, so to speak.)
And several of America’s highest rated shows are closing shop for the spring: “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Good Wife,” “American Idol,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “The Biggest Loser,” “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: Miami.” All those shows draw at least 10 million viewers.
Two popular summer shows immediately launch as well: “So You Think You Can Dance” on Fox and “The Bachelorette” on ABC.
MONDAY
“24″ 8 p.m. Fox (series finale) — Maybe Jack Bauer can relax now that vengeance is served.
“Chuck” 8 p.m. NBC (third season two-hour finale) — The Ring closes in on Chuck.
“Dancing With the Stars” 8 p.m. ABC — Nicole Scherzinger can close the deal tonight.
“How I Met Your Mother” 8 p.m. CBS (fifth season finale) — Is a baby in the cards for Marshall and Lily?
“The Bachelorette” 9 p.m. ABC (sixth season debut) — Ali Fedotowsky dropped Jake for a job in the spring. Now she can start over.
“Two and a Half Men” 9 p.m. CBS (seventh season finale) — Charlie Sheen has signed on for two more seasons. Stacy Keach and John Amos guest.
“The Big Bang Theory” 9:30 p.m. CBS (third season finale) — Mayim Bialik (“Blossom”) guests as Sheldon’s ideal woman.
“Law & Order” 10 p.m. NBC (series finale) — Twenty years later, NBC cuts the cord on this sturdy drama. Lupo and Bernard try to stop a possible school bombing.
“CSI: Miami” 10 p.m. CBS (eighth season finale) – A serial killer taunts the CSI team with puzzles.
TUESDAY
“American Idol” 8 p.m. Fox — Crystal Bowersox, the presumed frontrunner, and Lee DeWyze, the more mainstream rocker, face off.
“The Biggest Loser” 8 p.m. NBC (ninth season finale) — America decides whether Koli or Daris make it to the final three. (Daris gained weight while prepping for a marathon.)
“NCIS” 8 p.m. CBS (seventh season finale) — Gibbs heads to Mexico to face his demons.
“Dancing With the Stars” 9 p.m. ABC (two-hour 10th season finale) — The ugly trophy will likely go to Nicole Scherzinger but Evan Lysacek can’t be counted out.
“NCIS: Los Angeles” 9 p.m. CBS (first season finale) — The team searches for a woman who knows about Callen’s past.
“The Good Wife” 10 p.m. CBS (first season finale) — Will Alicia stand by Peter or pursue Will?
“Parenthood” 10 p.m. NBC (first season finale) — Crosby has to decide to move to New York with his new family.
WEDNESDAY
“American Idol” 8 p.m. Fox (ninth season finale) – Fox will give Simon Cowell a lovely send off, for sure. Atlanta’s Larry “Pants on the Ground” Platt will perform his hit song. And either Crystal or Lee will take the crown on what has been a lackluster season.
“Criminal Minds” 9 p.m. CBS (sixth season finale) – Tim Curry (”Rocky Horror”) plays a serial killer.
“CSI: NY” 10 p.m. CBS (sixth season finale) – Serial killer Shane Casey targets Danny.
“Top Chef Masters” 10 p.m. Bravo – Chefs play “Name that ingredient.” And they must create dishes inspired by the Greek Gods.
“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” 10 p.m. TBS – Calvin’s two job schedule makes it hard for him to spend time with Miranda.
“Worst-Case Scenerio” 10 p.m. Discovery – Bear Grylls deals with life when his truck breaks down in a desert.
THURSDAY
“FlashForward” 8 p.m. ABC (series finale) – A promising pilot led to dull characters and muddled mythology. “Lost” this was not.
“So You Think You Can Dance” 8 p.m. Fox (two-hour seventh season debut) -
A dozen former participants will return and be paired with 10 newcomers (instead of the usual 20.)
“100 Questions” 8:30 p.m. NBC (new series) – Charlotte fills out a 100-question on-line dating survey and recounts a humorous anecdote based on each question.
“Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon” 9 p.m. ABC – How do you like them apples?
“Build it Bigger” 9 p.m. Science (fourth season finale) – Switzerland builds the world’s longest tunnel through the Alps.
“Mall Cops: Mall of America” 10 p.m. TLC (new series) – Thanks, Paul Blart. This is all your fault!
“The OCD Project” 10 p.m. VH1 (new series) – A group of OCD patients living together, guaranteeing conflict and much (literal) hand-wringing.
FRIDAY
“Past Life” 8 p.m. Fox – Fox burns off remaining episodes of this already canceled drama, which was shot in Atlanta.
“Wife Swap” 8 p.m. ABC – A family that prizes etiquette and elegance for their daughters trades wives with a family with mud-racing tomboys.
“Friday Night Lights” 8 p.m. NBC – Tami and the boosters clash.
“How It’s Made” 9 p.m. Science – Find out how to make an alligator bag, a locker and a bench plane.
“The Soup: 20 Years of Takin’ Some E!” 10 p.m. E! – Joel McHale mocks the best of E!-related clips.
“Friday Night Alright: Kanye West” 11 p.m. VH1 – West hasn’t been seen much lately since the Taylor Swift snafu. Here he is in concert in London.
WEEKEND
“The Special Relationship” 9 p.m. Saturday HBO – Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid) and Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) forge a special relationship after Blair becomes Britain’s prime minister in 1997.
“Food Network Challenge: All Star Grill-Off” 8 p.m. Sunday Food – Six Food Network stars, split in two teams, battle for $10,000 for their favorite charity.
“National Memorial Day Concert” 8 p.m. Sunday GPB – A tribute to the military featuring Lionel Richie, Brad Paisley and Yolanda Adams.
“Chefs Vs. City” 9 p.m. Sunday Food (second season finale) – Chefs Daisy Roman and David Rosenberger of Kitchen 24 in Los Angeles are the challengers.
“Breaking Bad” 10 p.m. Sunday AMC – Walt’s concerned as Skyler gets more involved in his business.
“Basketball Wives” 10 p.m. Sunday VH1 (first season finale) – Everyone gets teary at a dinner.
“What Chilli Wants” 10:30 p.m. Sunday VH1 (first season finale) – Picky Chilli must choose between two guys – or nobody at all.
“The Boondocks” 11:30 p.m. Sunday Adult Swim – The Stinkmeaner is back to harass the Freemans.
4 comments Add your comment
GTFan
May 24th, 2010
8:38 am
Law and Order, and 24 are two of the best shows. I can’t believe you are ending both. What a bad decision!
Am I a fogey?
May 24th, 2010
9:11 am
Wow, am I an old fogey, or do I just have a life…I look at the list and am somewhat amazed that I have no clue what most of the shows are. Never seen most of them, including those that have been on for years like “Law and Order” ( maybe have seen parts of 2 or 3 of the shows and it’s been on 20 years ?!?) Couldn’t care less about Idol’s or Dancing has-beens….will miss 24 though, about the only show on the list I try and catch….
Bob Andelman
May 24th, 2010
2:22 pm
You might also enjoy this May 20, 2010 Mr. Media interview with ‘Chuck’ co-star Vik Sahay, who plays Buy More employee ‘Lester Patel’ on the popular NBC romantic comedy and spy show. He talks about the season finale, the future of the band “Jeffster,” Yvonne Strahovski, and the new movie he’s filming, ‘Afghan Luke and the Burgundy of Hash,’ in which he plays a New York Times reporter covering the war in Afghanistan! http://www.mrmedia.com/2010/05/chuck-season-finale-preview-with-half.html
Cheryl Drefs
May 24th, 2010
4:28 pm
With the main writer of “The Good Wife” leaving, I hope they don’t trash this really terrific show. This always seems to be the case – someone decides to “re-tool” a popular series only to find it plummet in ratings. PLEASE don’t do this to “The Good Wife”!!