It's been a mediocre season of Fox's "American Idol," with no scandals, no annoying (but compelling) characters, and no Paula Abdul on the verge of an on-camera meltdown.
That's been reflected in dipping ratings.
The forecast is bleaker for next season, the first without Simon Cowell. Finally, "Idol" may join the ranks of the rest of television, losing its special status as a show that unites viewers, old and young.
But this season did offer one of the strongest personalities in memory, Crystal Bowersox, who has survived some of her own dramas -- health concerns and an obvious love-hate relationship with the very show that's making her a star.
Her take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" a few weeks ago may be the best "Idol" performance" ever.
Bowersox and Lee DeWyze face off tonight at 7 p.m. in the final one-hour performance show on Channel 6. (The way the season is going, you may want to adjust your recording if you want to watch the entire episode of "Glee" scheduled to run from 8 to 9 p.m.)
DeWyze deserves to be there, breaking away from the pack and steadily improving. He's been a fine singer all along, but he seemed like he didn't care about being there. He's finally seeming to enjoy the ride.
In fact, I sort of hope he wins.
I'm afraid we'll forget about Crystal if she's stuck with an "Idol" recording contract. I'm worried she'll be forced to come out her dreads and get her teeth capped. And I'm especially scared that she'll be assigned a Kara DioGuardi song to sing.
"American Idol" isn't about the best singer or the most talented performer. It's about finding a talent marketable to the teenage girls who have been (usually) short-term careers to pop stars for generations. The original British version of the show is called "Pop Idol," after all.
Crystal isn't a pop idol. From the first time she took the stage, she was a fully-formed artist.
By coming in second after tonight's votes are counted, she'll end up the winner, benefiting from the platform "Idol" gave her, without being trapped in its strait jacket.
Tonight's finales: NBC's "Biggest Loser" wraps up at 7 on Channel 4. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" airs at 8 on Channel 12.
Since "Biggest Loser" wraps up at 9, you can watch both without missing anything.
On TV: The numbers are looking even better for Betty White's "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig. With DVR numbers added in, Nielsen Media Research says nearly 15 million people watched it within seven days of its live broadcast. That makes it the fourth-biggest episode since 1987, and makes it likely NBC will do something like it again.
- After a three-year absence from network TV, ABC is bringing Miss America back next year. The competition will air Jan. 15.
- EW.com reports that Fox has picked up "Glee" for a third season. Although the first episode aired a year ago, we're still in season one.
- Sean Hayes, of "Will and Grace" fame, will host CBS' June 13 Tony Awards broadcast.
- CBS has signed Paula Abdul to be the lead judge and star of "Got to Dance," another "reality" competition based on a British show.
That shouldn't be a surprise. Although the finale was heavily hyped, it's hard to draw in new viewers to a complicated series like "Lost," especially for two and a half hours.
"Lost" hasn't been a huge ratings draw. But it had a loyal, young, audience that ABC was happy to offer to advertisers. The youth of its audience was demonstrated by the Jimmy Kimmel special after the late news on Sunday night.
Although I wasn't a member of the cult, I found Sunday's finale to be a satisfying way to wrap up the series.
But I'm interested in the thoughts of regular "Lost" viewers. Did it work for you, or was it a letdown?
In the meantime, here are Kimmel's alternate endings to "Lost," if you didn't stay up late Sunday:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
