Editorial
Saying Goodbye, Saying Hello

I've been thinking of both beginnings and endings this week, though not in that order. You can thank the networks for that. Just as this season's series are coming to their ends, some just for now and others for good, the networks have started teasing us with what waits on the other side of summer. They hope that we'll not only wonder what's in store for old friends four months (or more) from now as cliffhangers get resolved in returning shows, but also salivate over the possibility of new friends waiting around the corner.

I've always been an easy target for this sort of buzz, getting sucked into saying goodbye and saying hello. Over the last week or so I've watched the season finales of Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy, Law & Order, Bones, Law and Order: SVU, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The West Wing, Without a Trace, Desperate Housewives and more, plus the series finales of Invasion, That '70s Show and Malcolm in the Middle. I was pleased that the most recent Veronica Mars episode, which we'd all thought was going to end up classified as one of the latter, wound up in the former category when The CW announced that they were picking it up for another season.

So far, Veronica Mars has offered the most satisfying of the season enders (which I won't spoil for those of you waiting for the DVD release), but that could change, because coming up this week are the season finales of Lost, House, 24, Medium and CSI: Miami, as well as the series finale of Alias. I intend to watch them all, but let's be honest—you know which one really matters. If you've got my phone number, you'd better not call me Wednesday night when Lost is going to be on. Unless you're dying ... and maybe not even then.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned that Wife Swap, Punk'd, Top Chef, American Idol and other reality shows are also ending their seasons this week. What can I say? I know that I'm in the minority here, but most reality TV leaves me cold. I care far more about whether Michael will get his son back—and get punished for his sins—than which pop star has to suppress his or her soul to be accepted by America. I'll choose the heightened reality of scripted series over the false reality of "reality" TV (for which quote marks should be mandatory) any day.

A new fall means new friends

Which is one reason why my eyes are already on next season. Alias, Charmed, Invasion and Surface may have finished their runs, but Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Smallville and Supernatural, among others, will be back. So what about those new friends we've been promised? Here's a brief introduction:

Daybreak (ABC): In a cross between Groundhog Day and The Fugitive, a detective, framed for the killing of an assistant district attorney, will relive the same day over and over again. To clear his name and break free from the cycle, he'll have to solve the mystery and heal his fractured relationships. Taye Diggs (Kevin Hill) stars in a series from director Rob Bowman (The X-Files).

Heroes (NBC): People all over the world suddenly discover that they have super powers and must learn how to deal with them. The reluctant superheroes include a male nurse who believes he can fly, a junkie who has the ability to paint images of the future when he is high and a Japanese comic-book geek who can literally make time stand still. After their super powers bring them together, they must evade a villiain who wants to harness their super-DNA. The series stars Greg Grunberg (Alias), Leonard Roberts (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Milo Ventimiglia (Gilmore Girls) and Hayden Panettiere (Ally McBeal).

Jericho (CBS): A nuclear war plunges the residents of a small town into chaos, leaving them isolated and wondering whether they're the only ones left alive. Fear of the unknown propels Jericho into chaos after all communication and power is shut down. The series stars Skeet Ulrich (Scream), Gerald McRaney (Major Dad), Ashley Scott (Dark Angel), Michael Gaston (Prison Break) and Erik Knudsen (Saw II).

Raines (NBC): An eccentric cop cracks cases by talking to the murdered. Partnering with the ghosts of the victims, he works with them until each killer is brought to justice. His ability is both a gift and a curse, and though he could rid himself of the visitors, there's one ghost he just doesn't want to lose. Starring Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park), Linda Park (Enterprise), Nicole Sullivan (Mad TV), Matt Craven (Assault on Precinct 13) and Luis Guzman (Luis).

Six Degrees (ABC): A mysterious web of coincidences draws six New Yorkers together, changing the course of their lives forever. It may not sound like sci-fi at first, but since the drama is from the producers of Lost and Alias, I expect the coincidences to be very odd ones. Starring Jay Hernandez (Friday Night Lights), Erika Christensen (Flightplan), Bridget Moynahan (Sex and the City), Dorian Missick (Lucky Number Slevin), Hope Davis (About Schmidt) and Campbell Scott (The Secret Lives of Dentists).

Traveler (ABC): Two friends become prime suspects in a terrorist bombing that destroys a museum. Trying to clear their names, they're unable to prove that one of them, thought killed in the blast, ever existed, and they discover themselves pawns in a vast conspiracy. Starring Matthew Bomer (Tru Calling) and Logan Marshall-Green (The O.C.) and created by director David Nutter (The X-Files).

I hesitate to predict which of these six shows will live and which will die. After all, I'm the one who predicted Invasion as the survivor of the freshman class of '05. You'd better just tune in this September and decide for yourself.

Meanwhile, if you value our friendship, come Wednesday night, my phone number had better be ... ahem ... lost.