The Add-End-um

Yep, like she said, it's over. It's the end of probably one of the best all-around TV seasons in recent memory, and I don't say that lightly. Well, maybe I do say it lightly, but it's true. With the exception of The OC -- wherein Seth Cohen and his real life alter-ego Josh Schwartz both struggled equally unsuccessfully with their newfound success -- the past several months have been couch nirvana. Allow me to relive, briefly, the many wonders that the idiot box has bestowed on us this year. Or don't allow me; it's up to you. Go look at some porn or something. Do I look like I care?

Awesome new shows:

Lost - Some weeks, it staple-gunned you to your seat. Other weeks, it was people talking about their feelings. But somehow it always worked, either way. The finale is tonight and I'm pretty excited to see what gi-normous "WTF???" moment J.J. Abrams pulls out for the ending.

Veronica Mars - The fact that a really good show about high school made it past the first season is cause enough for celebration. But on top of that, this show managed to use rape, incest, teacher-student affairs, and cults as plot points without sneaking in any kind of "message" even once. And it kept a season-long mystery going about as well as any show ever has. And it has one of the best leads (character-wise and actress-wise) in TV history. And it's freaking hysterical when it wants to be. Do I need to keep going? Because I could.

Awesome returning shows:

24 - Can a show this gimmicky last more than one year? The second and third seasons left me about halfway convinced that it could. But this year they finally just threw every paranoid schizophrenic's worst fear into a blender and hit the frappé button, and then just when you thought everything was over, HOLY CRAP THE GOVERNMENT IS AFTER KIEFER! And as Sutherland the Younger walked off into the L.A. sunrise with his Black Rain-era aviator sunglasses and the clock ticked down its final seconds, I had more faith in this ridiculous enterprise than ever before.

Gilmore Girls - The high school-college transition is usually poison on shows like this. Yet, somehow, in Rory's second year at Yale (often even more yawn-worthy than the first, since there's none of the wacky freshman hijinks to portray), things finally got interesting.

Alias - Killing Melissa George at the end of last season was a good start, but the first few episodes this year were just off. And then, about five or six episodes in, the show started down a beautifully fucked-up path and never looked back. Getting Lena Olin back for the final 2 hours makes everything ten times better.

Scrubs - Really funny every week, unlike last year.

Arrested Development - Really freaking hysterical every week, like last year.

And, so forth. It'll be a long summer; thank God for Rescue Me (battling it out for the title of FX's fucked-up-est show ever, which is a lofty goal indeed) and, hopefully, Curb Your Enthusiasm.