'L&O:SVU' Cruises Through its Finale! Plus More From Upfronts, 'Chief' Movie and Nielsen Wednesday

There were two happy ele- ments during last night's Law & Order: SVU finale: Olivia was back and the obvious allusions to Tom Cruise. So, I'm super psyched that Liv's back and all, but what exactly was the point of her little Computer Crimes excursion? I thought it would carry over for the duration of star Mariska Hargitay's pregnancy and that Connie Nielsen would be filling in for the beginning of next season. Weird. I guess we'll have to see what happens in the season premiere. I'll discuss the Tom Cruise stuff later, but first, I was so excited to see American Dreams' Brittany Snow in this episode. I wasn't an avid Dreams watcher, but I always enjoyed the episodes that I watched, and I loved Meg Pryor. It seems from this role and what I heard about her role on Nip/Tuck that Ms. Snow is trying to break out from her sugar-coated goodie-goodie Meg role and grow as an actress. She did a great job last night as a 16-year old who stopped taking her meds to treat her Bi-Polar condition. The role essentially required Snow to play two different people, one on the meds and one off, and she pulled it off beautifully. Like Casey, I felt torn about how to charge and punish this girl. Yes, she tried to kill herself by ramming her parents' car into a crowd of people, killing one of them, but she was also a victim. On her meds, she was a normal functioning young lady, but off of them, she became someone that even she wouldn't recognize. I do agree with the guilty verdict and Casey's sentencing recommendation to a mental facility so she can get the help that she needs. It's a shame that the entire downward spiral could have been avoided had she just taken the meds.


So, why then you ask yourself, did she stop taking her meds? This is where Tom Cruise comes in. A rock star (who we'll call Tom Cruise for fun) went on a morning talk show (that we'll call The Today Show, again for fun) and told a reporter (who we'll call Matt Lauer) that psychological drugs are bad and completely useless. Our young, impressionable Bi-Polar 16-year old heard the interview and decided to give it a try without meds. We all know the results. Rock Star (a.k.a Tom Cruise) paid for her defense and tried to use her case to further his cause. He managed to keep her off her meds during the trial, a violation of her release, so she was force fed the meds. Once on them again, she revealed that Rock Star: Tom Cruise Style had been in a mental institution as a child and given electric shock treatments, which led to his crusade against the meds. Of course, the story was in fact "fiction" and any resemblance to real-life people and events was mere "coincidence," and as far as we know Tom Cruise never spent any time in a mental hospital receiving electric shock treatments (although, that would explain some things, wouldn't it?), but the point was made and it was hilarious!
To read thoughts on last night's Scrubs finale in the special Finale Blowout edition, click HERE.


Well, it was make or break time last night on American Idol, and all of the contestants had a little bit of both. Overall, I thought that Katharine and Taylor were the best last night. Elliot has an amazing voice and deserves the competition, but I think Katharine and Taylor are a touch better, so I'm picking them for my final 2. The Clive Davis songs went over like three lead balloons. Katharine's rendition of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" was so over sung that I half expected Christina Aguilera to come out and accompany her. This is what bugs about Katharine. She over sings the crap out of almost every song. The girl has a beautiful voice, but it sounds its best when she just sings the damn song! The judges' choices were much better. I actually really liked Elliot's "What You Won't Do for Love," and Katharine's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was brilliant because she didn't over sing it. I can't remember which song, but Taylor had Paula up and dancing and I figured nobody would be able to get her down after she got up there. I have to give a big shout-out to Simon for telling her that she was good for her age. So awesome! Taylor's version of "You Are So Beautiful" was just amazing. I think it was his best performance all season. Elliot singing Journey's "Open Arms" made me smile, and learning that Randy was once a part of Journey made me love him even more. You see, I have an unnatural love of all things Steve Perry and Journey. Laugh all you want, but their cheese-tastic love songs never fail to evoke some sort of impromptu singing session. I mean, you have the aforementioned "Open Arms," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Lights," "Lovin', Touchin' Squeezin'," "Faithfully" and countless other songs that you hear on all of those Romantic Moods CDs for 3 easy installments of $19.99. What's not to love? Anyway, the last round was a bust for me, except for Taylor, whose star shone brightest last night anyway. Who will make the final 2?

About Last Night...Fox won the first hour of the night with American Idol, followed by CBS' NCIS and the ABC special Celebrity Debut, which lagged considerably behind the other two. At 9, Fox stayed in front with House, followed by CBS' The Unit and the first hour of ABC's Boston Legal. NBC's back-to-back episodes of Scrubs landed in fourth. The final hour of the night went to NBC's Law & Order: SVU, followed by another episode of CBS' The Unit and the final hour of ABC's Boston Legal. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - CBS' The Amazing Race wraps up another edition with the final three teams racing to the finish line in the 2-hour finale. Over on UPN, it's the 6th cycle finale of America's Next Top Model and either Jade, Joanie or Danielle will walk away a winner. As usual, I've seen some advance clips, and the girls seem to struggle with their CoverGirl commercials and Jade feels herself getting closer and closer to winning the competition. ABC's Alias finds Sydney staying undercover and partnering with Sark to track down Rambaldi's final clue before Prophet Five finds it

@9 p.m. - We find out which two contestants are going to the final on Fox's American Idol 1-hour results show. Over on ABC, Michael convinces Jack and several castaways to help him rescue Walt from The Others on Lost (NOTE: Runs until 10:04 p.m.).

FINALES TONIGHT!!!
Bones (8 p.m. Fox) - 1st season finale
CSI: NY (10 p.m. CBS) - 2nd season finale
Invasion (10:04 p.m.) - 1st season/series finale
Law & Order (10 p.m. NBC) - 16th season finale

To see what else you can catch on television tonight with customized listings for your area (via Zap2it), visit the TV Listings area of PassTheRemote.net.


QUICK CUTS

*UPFRONTS UPDATE: E! Online's Kristin Veitch is reporting that The CW will pick up the following shows when it makes its official announcement tomorrow: Veronica Mars (already confirmed through creator Rob Thomas), One Tree Hill and Supernatural. TVGuide.com says that Gilmore Girls and Smallville will also make the cut, but both sources say that Everwood will not (BOO!). Elsewhere, MyNetwork (the network that will pick up the affiliates left abandoned by the UPN/WB merger) ordered 5 pilots yesterday. Click over to The Futon Critic to get a sneak peek.
To see CBS' fall schedule, click HERE.
To see ABC's fall schedule, click HERE.
To see NBC's fall schedule, click HERE.

*The second season of Joan of Arcadia is finally coming out on DVD. TVshowsondvd.com is reporting that the full season set will be out sometime in September. No other details have been released, but the important news is that the long wait is finally over for all of us Joan fans!

*The show might not be returning, but how about Commander in Chief the movie? ABC is in talks with the show's creator, Rod Lurie, to produce a 2-hour movie that would revisit the first female president. The network cancelled the show earlier this week, but ABC Chief Steve McPherson says that the movie could gauge whether there is any interest in moving forward with the show. For now, talks between ABC and Lurie are ongoing and are expected to last through the summer.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday! Once again, CBS won the week in total viewers and Fox took the 18-49 year old crown. The Eye network was led by CSI (#3), CSI: Miami (#7), Without a Trace (#8), the Survivor finale (#9) and the Thursday edition of Survivor (#10). American Idol (#1, #2), House (#4), Grey's Anatomy (#5) and Desperate Housewives (#6) rounded out the top 10. To see the list of the top 20 shows from last week, click on over to USA Today.

To get more of today's biggest TV news and headlines, visit the TV News section at PassTheRemote.Net.


That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for 2 for 1 Thursday (which will more than likely be 4 0r 5 for 1 Thursday with all the upfronts news) with a special early edition with thoughts on tonight's Amazing Race conclusion and the regular edition with thoughts on the Top Model finale and the Idol moment. Plus, all the latest television news and breaking upfronts news from The CW and Fox!!

To get more television coverage, including a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote and a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.