Tomorrow, June 2, brings the final two fresh episodes of ABC’s long-running sitcom According to Jim. I know that news will make many people insanely happy, but the comedy does have its fans who enjoyed the show during its eight-season run.

The swan song begins at 8pm ET with “Diamonds Are a Ghoul’s Best Friend.” Give it up for Jim, who at least has the common sense to buy his wife Cheryl a lovely diamond necklace for her birthday. The only problem, though, is that, ever cheap, he purchases the jewelry from some lowlife Andy knows and ends up being haunted by the ghost of the dead woman from whence the necklace came. Serves him right.

Following at 8:30pm is the actual series finale “Heaven Opposed to Hell,” which features very nice guest stars Dan Aykroyd, Erik Estrada, and Lee Majors, as well as the return of fan favorite and original regular cast member Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

Read more

Unless something unexpected happens in coming weeks, it looks like tonight’s episode of the NBC dramedy Lipstick Jungle will be the series’ last.

Called “Chapter Twenty: La Vie En Pose,” the main gimmick, if you will, of the installment is Nico’s appearance on the NBC morning program the Today Show, right alongside real later-hour hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, who play themselves. The visit results from the magazine editor’s attempt to polish her professional image, but it ends up impacting her personal life negatively.

Elsehwere, Wendy gets major attitude from her teenage daughter Maddie while her husband Shane is away, and Victory encounters complications of her own when she plans a get-together for her new fiancé Joe and her much less affluent and urban parents.

Check out the final (as of now) episode of Lipstick Jungle tonight, January 9, at 9pm EST.

USA Network has determined the future of Monk, one of television’s most enjoyable, unique, and memorable series ever. Tony Shalhoub and the rest of the stellar cast will end their fantastic run after the upcoming eighth season, which is set to premiere in the summer of 2009 with a 16-episode order.

Says network executive vice president Jeff Wachtel: “We want to build to a spectacular conclusion for this wonderful show. By many measures, Monk is the most successful series in the history of basic cable television — and it was certainly the original tentpole of our ‘character’ brand. Our fans have been extremely dedicated and season eight should prove to be a very satisfying reward.”

I certainly hope so. We all knew the good times had to end at some point, but I still feel bittersweet tears welling up already. At least it’s reassuring that the series will exit on a ratings and quality high. And then there’s always the near daily repeats and frequent Monkathons.

Original Air Date: March 4, 2008

As much as it pains me to say it, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” almost certainly the series finale, gets my vote as perhaps the worst episode of Carpoolers. It’s too bad the sitcom had to go out with such a weak showing. Then again, saving the not-so-good for last means fans have a longer continuous string of previous well-done episodes to remember fondly.

As the title of the episode states, it’s Take Your Daughter to Work Day at AUBREY’s job, and he brings along his little girl MICHELLE (Guest Star China Anderson). Before he heads to his floor, GRACEN and LAIRD advise him that he’s a superhero in his daughter’s eyes. Therefore, when Aubrey and Michelle get upstairs and she begins talking incessantly about her friend whose father is a heart surgeon and how big his office must be, Aubrey is too embarrassed to let her know that he has no office, just a small and cluttered cubicle.

Instead of revealing the truth, Aubrey takes Michelle into the office of Vice President Mr. Latero (Guest Star Dave Foley), which is across from his cubicle, so she can take a picture to use in her school report. While they’re inside, Michelle notices a picture on the desk of the office’s actual occupant and his family, and like any normal kid, she asks who the people are.

Panicking, Aubrey immediately grabs the framed picture and drops it on the floor, where the glass shatters. He then cuts his hand trying to clean the mess up and hurry his daughter out of the room before his boss arrives. Shaking his wounded hand only causes the blood to splatter all over the white sofa, and when Mr. Latero arrives with his daughter and she sees the blood, she thinks it’s an emergency and releases the fire alarm.

Read more

Original Air Date: March 3, 2008

If you’re a Captain fan, this episode is likely the last new one you’ll ever see. Although it’s only the fifth and six were originally ordered, once again the writers strike has prevented the completion of production on a series. Lackluster ratings and poor audience and critical reception mean it’s highly unlikely the show will get a reprieve in the form of a second-season pickup. Then again, much, much weirder things have happened on TV, so…

…on to the recap.

MARTY interrupts JOSH while he’s slaving over his screenplay. The accountant has big news — he showed Josh’s short film to a new girl he’s dating, and she loved it so much, she showed it to her friend who happens to work as the assistant to VIN KELSO (Guest Star Carlos Jacott), president of production at Paramount Pictures. Kelso loved the film, too, which is why Josh now has a meeting with him to discuss the screenplay he’s currently writing.

Josh grows nervous quickly because (1) he’s still in the process of writing the screenplay and (2) he’s never met with anyone that high up in the entertainment industry. Thankfully (or not), UNCLE SAUL offers his services pro bono to help Josh with the preliminaries. Meanwhile, JESUS is psyched because it’s time for the annual smoke detector checks, which means he gets to enter everybody’s apartment … legally.

During Josh’s prep meeting with Uncle Saul, the older writer throws a pillow at him and tells him about the pet monkey that put its diaper on its head like a hat while French kissing his ear. This happened during an important meeting Saul once had with an entertainment executive, and the moral of the story is that Josh must control the room during his sit-down with Kelso. He cannot let anything distract him while pitching his screenplay.

Read more

Well, this is it, Cashmere Mafia lovers. ABC has finally reached the end of the road with its Sex and the City wannabe, meaning the last episode of Mafia that was produced before the writers strike started (seven were finished for an original order of thirteen).

I’m no fan of Cashmere, but you don’t have to be to realize that the series’ future looks grim. Of course, if it’s renewed, that wouldn’t be the first time a mediocre show made it through the network cracks. Just look at October Road, also on ABC, if you need a current example.

On the February 20th first-season and/or series finale “Dog Eat Dog,” Caitlin suffers Fashion Week anxiety when her boss slathers the pressure on extra thick, Juliet must contend with yet another man who has ulterior motives that aren’t in her best interest, Mia goes ga-ga over a pooch, and Zoe continues her quest for perfection (Good luck with that, hon).

Cashmere Mafia airs Wednesdays on ABC at 10pm EST.

Poor Aubrey. On the March 4th episode of Carpoolers, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” he gets booted from his job after he’s discovered impersonating his boss.

Poor Carpoolers fans, too, because this episode is the 13th and final installment of the sitcom produced to date. Since it’s unlikely that ABC will renew the series for a second season, mark your calendar for this episode and enjoy the gang while you can.

Carpoolers airs Tuesdays on ABC at 9:30pm EST.

Original Air Date: February 11, 2008

This episode is the series finale of Girlfriends.

The president of Dirty Girl Records informs LYNN, who’s lurking by her parking spot to spray paint over the space’s name sign, that her ploy of handing in substandard work won’t help her cause and get her released from her contract. The president has the right to release anything she turns in, so if the songs tank and bring down Lynn’s career, the company will just write the losses off.

Later, Lynn and MAYA drop by JOAN’s house, and Joan receives a letter from Aaron in the mail. He’s just been promoted to Head Sergeant, and his letter includes another letter that he asks Joan to read to his class. When Joan arrives at the school to comply, she finds a group of unruly, disinterested teenagers who ignore their teachers, authority, and her.

Meanwhile, WILLIAM drops by Maya’s house to wait for Darnell. He’s out teaching teenage JABARI how to drive, but apparently that doesn’t go to well because he kicks his son out of the car with the advice that he needs to get a bus pass. Maya tried and failed to teach Jabari also, and when William butts in to suggest they should keep their promise to their child, Maya tells Jabari that Uncle William will teach him.

Read more

Industry publications are reporting it more or less all around: Monday night’s eighth-season finale for Girlfriends, “Stand and Deliver,” will do double duty as the show’s series finale.

Yes, you read that correctly, fans. Thanks to the writers strike, which is coming to an end too late for the girls, followers will not even get the courtesy and pleasure of a full final season.

Instead, it seems The CW has decided to cut the show loose after producing and airing just 13 episodes of a normal 22-episode season, the amount that were completed before writers left TV-show sets months ago to picket production studios.

Several publications, including Broadcasting & Cable, additionally report that The CW won’t leave fans completely high and dry with an end as abrupt as it currently appears. It’s been known for some time that the network probably wouldn’t renew Girlfriends for another season, and executives are indicating that they will at least put together a proper send-off, such as a clip show. If they do, look for the special to air this spring.

Followers already know that this season is the final go-round for NBC’s Scrubs, but it looks like the writers strike is making that sad situation even sadder.

A LiveJournal community for Scrubs fans called I’m No Superman reports that star Zach Braff recently posted the following comment while announcing his recent Speechless video. As Braff notes, widespread speculation that the sitcom could end without a proper ending is becoming increasingly justified as the strike continues without resolution.

Many of you have asked about the fate of the final episodes of Scrubs. If the strike goes on too much longer there is a good chance they will never be written or shot and the series finale will remain in the mind of our show’s creator, Bill Lawrence…

The cast and crew of Scrubs only managed to complete ten of the eighteen episodes ordered for the seventh and final season, six of which have already aired, before the strike halted production. Although the series is currently scheduled to return on January 24 with fresh installments, the persistent stalemate between entertainment writers and production companies poses a very real threat to how much closure viewers will get at the end of the road.

Lawrence has expressed his hope that the situation will work out eventually and permit him to give Scrubs a proper sendoff. As it stands now, however, no one can predict if that will happen for certain. Stay tuned…