Tonight on the Tube: American Idol, House, Veronica Mars and NBA Playoffs

George Lopez on ABC and The Unit on CBS have their season finales tonight. Gilmore Girls will have its series finale next week. Basically, everyone involved with the show was unable to come to any agreements on salary, the number of episodes for a shortened season next fall and other production details. This is really too bad, as it is always nice when a show has date in mind for finishing things up and can put a nice bow on the weekly present they have been giving us for so many years now. Most everything else the networks have on Tuesday nights will wrap things up on Tuesday, May 22nd, except for House, which ends its season on May 29th. Rescue Me on FX will return on Tuesday, June 12th, which is a week after the season finale of The Shield.

Prime Picks

American Idol (FOX): New. The Final Four sing songs of the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb is the guest mentor.

House (FOX): New. A college student starts coughing up blood during a karate practice and gets taken to the hospital. Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) guests as a nutritionist that House takes a liking to.

Boston Legal (ABC): New. Alan is suing the government, Jerry wants his job back at the firm and Claire is defending a lawyer accused of sexual assault.

Solid Selections

NCIS (CBS): New. A murder victim is found dead in a taxi on the way to NCIS headquarters, so the team investigates the case.

Veronica Mars (The CW): New. Piz hopes Veronica can help track down the person who stole some recording from his idol. Paul Rudd (The 40 Year Old Virgin) guests. Also, an unlikely candidate decides to run for sheriff.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC): New. When a CIA agent’s fiancée dies, the detectives think it might have been a professional hit.

Cable Choices

Emeril Live (Food Network): Repeat. Get ready to visit Rome on this installment of the cooking show.

Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels (Food Network): Repeat. The food of Dallas is eaten.
Road Tasted (Food Network): New. Houston is visited for some tasty treats.

The Shield (FX): New. Vic finally finds out who actually killed Lem. Vic’s daughter is unhappy to hear what her dad has been up to. Runs 67 minutes and plays again later.

Other Options

• Gilmore Girls (The CW): New. Rory’s grandparents throw her a graduation party and Logan makes a surprising request during the party. Next week is the series finale as The CW and the actors and producers were not able to come to an agreement for one more shortened season to close out the story.
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC): New. A boy dies suspiciously and then the mother dies the same way a few days later. The detectives investigate.
• The Unit (CBS): Season Finale. A group is looking into infractions from past missions.

Sports Notes

• TNT has an NBA Playoff doubleheader with the New Jersey Nets at the Cleveland Cavaliers followed by the San Antonio Spurs at the Phoenix Suns.

Late Night

• The Riches (FX): Repeat. Last night’s episode, “Cinderella,” replays and runs 67 minutes. Plays after the new episode and before the replay of The Shield.

TV Marathons

Bravo has 10 hours of Work Out.
Sci Fi has eight hours of Stargate SG-1 early.

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