Closing Time: Time for May Sweeps and Season and Series Finales

As another school year comes to an end, and I close the doors on another chapter of my life it makes me think about all of the wonderful times I had with the RAs I supervised, and the students who lived in the building I worked in.  There were also some crazy moments, but I am excited for some relaxing summer moments where I do not have crazy students damaging my building.  This is also the time of the year when many shows end their seasons or they end completely.

This time is traditionally referred to as May sweeps.  During this time there are lots of shows that end big, with weddings, graduations, deaths, births, elections, or other momentous life events.  The traditional television season has morphed with non basic cable networks, so they do not fit within this typical model, but here what is going on and what we may find out as the shows seasons/series come to an end.

April 29th

The Good Wife-The season has flown by with Alicia struggling with her relationship with Will, becoming friend with Kahlinda again, and trying to find a nice balance with her relationship with Peter.  This season ender has two of the firms most diabolical enemies Patty Niholme (Martha Plimpton) and Lewis Canning (Michael J. Fox) attempting to bankrupt the firm.  Peter is facing an uphill battle in the gubernatorial race potentially against Matthew Perry's character.  Kahlinda has had to face a lot of challenges as well and tonight she will get a major surprise.

May 6th

GCB-This shows pilot made it seem as though this show had no potential but with the show hitting its rhythm I am happy to say I am hope that this show returns next season.  As the season has progressed Amanda has moved forward to try and create a good relationship with mean girls Carleen and Cricket.

May 8th

The Voice-Does the winner even matter?  This show loses so much steam after the chairs stop turning around.  The show is different from American Idol, but at this point I have lost so much interest and honestly do not care who wins.  I do enjoy watching the judges.  I guess I like Jamar Brooks.

May 10th

Parks and Recreation-Will Leslie Knope win the election?  That's the big question on everyone's mind. This show is pitch perfect and has done something The Office could not do keep the the quality, because they do not try too hard.

May 13th

Desperate Housewives-This is end!  Last summer, I stated that this show should end, and ABC and Marc Cherry listened.  This show ran it's course, and I gave up a couple of seasons ago.  I will tune in to see how the 4 ladies will end their time on Wisteria Lane.

May 14th

How I Met Your Mother-Who is Barney going to marry?  We better find out who the bride is in the season finale.  It will be fun to watch Lilly give birth too.

May 15th

Grey's Anatomy-I gave up on this show the same time I gave up on on Desperate Housewives, but this is going to be an interesting finale.  There are a lot of contracts up on Grey's, a lot of doctor's will have offers to leave Seattle Grace, and someone is going to fail their boards.  Mix this up with another crazy ending like the gunman in the hospital, and you have one crazy cliffhanger ending on your hands.

May 21st

House-After many years on the air this show is coming to an end.  How will it end?  The last episode is called Everyone Dies, this cryptic title has a dark an ominous tone for the series ending episode.

May 22nd

Glee-The kids from McKinley High are graduating.  Where will they all go, and what will their futures bring?  Who will be back next season, and who is gone for good?  I think this will bring the show to an important cross roads that will make or break it for me next year.

May 23rd

Modern Family-Will Mitch and Cam adopt their second child, will Haley go to college?  No cliffhangers on this show, just good ole fashioned fun comedy.

Revenge-Amanda knows who killed her dad, and it's on!  The Grayson's are in even bigger trouble with her.

GCB....a Reason to Avoid Texas and Poorly Constructed TV

Tonight I sat down to watch the new ABC show GCB for two reasons Annie Potts and Kristin Chenowith. That is my defense when people ask me why.  The most important question on most minds out there is what does GCB even mean?  This new television show is based on a series of books entitled "Good Christian Bitches."  Why the name change, well ABC got cold feet and first decided to change the name to Good Christian Belles, but then decided to split the difference and go with abbreviated title makes them look like an even bigger sell out.  Gotta love the Disney machine.  This is the reason quality programming is escaping the grasps of the major networks.  If you are going to do something you have to do it right!

On to the show itself.  GCB centers on Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb) who moves back to Dallas after her ponzi scheming husband dies in a car crash while Amanda's best friend is giving him road head.  Amanda's assets are tied up because of her husbands money swindling so she is forced to back to Dallas with her two children and live with wonderfully witty Christian mother Gigi Stopper played by the biggest breath of fresh air to this show Annie Potts.  Amanda's homecoming is not a welcome one; she has returned as the former mean girl in high school to find out that her title has been usurped and four women she made fun of in high school have become the queen bees of her neighborhood, church, and Dallas.

This terrible foursome is made up of Sharon Peachum (Jennifer Aspen) a housewife who overeats to deal with her stress; she is married to a man that Amanda would never give the time of day, but he still carries a torch for her.  Heather Cruz (Marisol Nichols) is a real estate magnate and is the only potential ally Amanda has in the group; she quickly saw that Amanda was a changed person so quick if you blinked you would have missed her evil stares at the beginning.  Cricket Caruth-Reilly (Miriam Schor) works with her husband who owns a cattle ranch; she is pulling the strings to get Amanda black balled, but does not see that she has a husband who would rather spend time with the ranch hand, if you catch my drift.  Then there is Carleen Cockburn (Kristin Chenowith) who is the new queen bee, married to an oil magnate, sings the in the church choir, and climbs on her step stool to see things in the neighborhood through her giant telescope.  Carleen hates Amanda most and is poised to be her bitter rival throughout the run of this show.

GCB is Desperate Housewives in the South, but does not have as strong a start as its Housewives. I have a feeling this show will anger most of the southern evangelical crowd because it pokes fun at them a bit, and the joke is somewhat amusing, but not funny enough.   I did not care about any of the characters, nothing pulled me into the plot.  I thought I was going to be thrown off by the location of the show and the way the show used the good ole Dallas ways, but that was fun.  Annie Potts is by far the best part of the show; she has the wit and charm that will keep me watching for one or two more weeks to give this show a few more chances.  While i like Bibb in her former show Popular, I can't help but think this just is not the strongest character, or it may be the way she is playing Amanda that does not work.  The supporting players sans Chenowith (and Potts) are incredibly forgettable.  The only reason Chenowith manages from saved from this is because of her talent as an actress.  With a lackluster cast, the shows only hope is that the writing improves.

GCB was created by Robert Harling.  Harling not only created the show, but he wrote most of the first few episodes of the series.  Harling also wrote Steel Magnolias, Soapdish, and The First Wives Club.  These are three of my biggest guilt pleasure films, I love them. These films are filled with a lot of wit, which could help GCB out as it grows, but bless his heart I think Harling could be in for a world of hurting.  The show may start out strong with the ratings, but I can't see it having a lasting appeal beyond the novelty of being more than a lesser version of Desperate Housewives that will be leaving the air this May.