Things I love about the Emmy nominations:

1. Those 12 long overdue nods for “Lost,” particularly Matthew Fox’s, which has been deserved for at least the past three seasons. Also great to see Elizabeth Mitchell getting recognition – as a “guest actress” – for her beautifully nuanced performance as Juliet.

2. Practically the entire cast – at least the female element – of “The Good Wife” the best drama on TV, being nominated. There would have been a revolt (probably by more people than just me) if Julianna Margulies had been overlooked for her quietly commanding presence, but Christine Baranski AND Archie Panjabi getting recognized with supporting actress nominations is not only a surprise, but is going to make the Emmy pool with my friends impossible to handicap.

3. The always-excellent Andre Braugher representing for the low-key charmer “Men of a Certain Age.” While Ray Romano’s screwed-up divorcee is relatable and Scott Bakula’s washed-up-actor-playboy schtick teeters between amusing and irritating, it’s Braugher’s character, Owen, the happily married, beaten-down-at-work-by-his-father, who extracts our sympathy and our respect.

4. “Nurse Jackie” and its prickly star, Edie Falco, are both captivating. As much as I loved Showtime for sending the entire second season to the media for early viewing, about halfway through the DVD, I stopped myself from watching more than one episode per night because I didn’t want the show to end. By fleshing out its supporting characters this season – particularly Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best) and Zoey (Merritt Wever) – and acknowledging Jackie’s drug addiction with typically pungent humor, the show demonstrated a new fearlessness.

5. Oh, “30 Rock,” how I love thee. Was this its best season? No. Although Julianne Moore’s hilarious turn as Jack’s (Alec Baldwin) ex-girlfriend from Bah-ston almost compensated for some of the lackluster story lines (trying too desperately to find Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon a husband is getting grating). But still, “30 Rock” is a layered delight that often requires multiple viewings because of the zippy pace of its writing and jokes. Nice to see Jane Krakowski nominated again, although Jane Lynch (“Glee”) is the likely lock in the supporting actress in a comedy category.

As for the priceless Fey, I’ll let her statement about “30 Rock”’s nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series say it all:  “This is great news. We’re grateful and excited. Especially since today is the fifth anniversary of the day NBC forgot to cancel us.”

P.S. Congrats to Richmond native Vince Gilligan, creator, writer and director of “Breaking Bad.” The show won multiple Emmys its first two seasons – including two statues for leading actor in a drama for star Bryan Cranston – and is up for seven Emmys, outstanding drama series and another nod for Cranston, among them.

P.P.S. Another local congrats to former Richmonder, comedian Sara Schaefer, who is part of the producing team nominated for “The Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience.” Schaefer, whose family still lives in town, is the lead blogger for Fallon’s late-night show.

The thing you take away from “Hot in Cleveland” isn’t the always-welcome presence of Betty White – even though her role seems nothing more than a reason to get Betty White back on TV – but how appealing Valerie Bertinelli still is on screen.

And once you get past the show’s corny setup, it’s much easier to appreciate Bertinelli’s adorableness and the ever-sharp comedic timing of Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as her fellow L.A.-rooted girlfriends who land in Cleveland when their Paris-bound plane gets diverted.

Yes, it’s a standard sitcommy setup – middle-aged women who are considered average or washed-up in L.A. are total catnip to a bar of Midwestern men who appreciate girls who can chow down on cheese fries…and since it’s such an awesome feeling to be wanted, why not move to this wonderland of Middle America?

That “Hot” is shot the “old-fashioned” way with multi-cameras only adds to its traditional appeal and, considering this is TV Land’s first foray into original programming, it’s probably best to play it safe for an audience used to tuning in for reruns of “The Cosby Show.”

Nothing about “Hot in Cleveland,” which premieres at 10 p.m. tomorrow, is groundbreaking, but neither is “The Middle,” another show that borders on hackneyed but shines thanks to an outstanding cast.

There are enough non-cringe-inducing one-liners in “Hot”’s pilot to suggest the show has potential, and with Huey Lewis, Susan Lucci and
Carl Reiner confirmed as guests throughout the season, there’s a good chance the show could turn into a campy-fun diversion.

If you haven’t had time to scour the Internet and dig up clips for all of the networks’ new shows, click on any of the links below for a sampling from each network.

Personally, the show I’m really looking forward to is ABC’s “Mr. Sunshine,” starring Matthew Perry as the manager of a second-rate San Diego arena. The clips are hysterical, but I wonder if Perry has gotten himself into another “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”—a great show that no one watched because the general public isn’t usually interested in how things happen behind the scenes.

I’m pretty familiar with the workings of the arena world, so it’s already immediately relatable…but will enough other viewers be charmed by Perry and Allison Janney (who at least can atone for her bizarre “Lost” stint)? I hope so. Perry deserves another hit—and really, how can you not be swayed by a premise that involves sports mascots?

http://abc.go.com/site/new-fall-season

http://www.nbc.com/upcoming-shows/

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/fall_preview_2010/

http://www.fox.com/programming

In “The End,” it came down to the crux of “Lost” – faith versus science.

Well, good versus evil was also at the core of the show, but after six seasons of loving and investing in these characters, it was poignant and heartbreaking and completely sensible that in the final scenes we learned that they were all …dead.

But hang on before you start cursing the names of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, “THEY PROMISED US IT WASN’T PURGATORY!”

The island was not purgatory. Christian Shephard (playing God, perhaps?) assured Jack that while yes, all of his friends gathered in the church were, like the two of them, dead, every experience Jack had on the island was real.

“The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people. You needed all of them and they needed you,” Christian said, solidifying the hallmarks of the show – fate, destiny, things happening for a reason, every person in our lives providing a purpose as we all head toward our own inevitable ends.

But the confusing Sideways World that had us scratching our heads all season?

Purgatory.

Or, some form of the Christian (religion, not Shephard) belief of a waiting room for the soul.

While my first something-ain’t-right-in-this-World feeling came with the insta-recognition between Shannon and Sayid (as if anyone cared about that reconciliation?), I started getting more of a “Sixth Sense” vibe when John Locke, lying in his hospital bed newly mobilized, said to the departing Dr. Shephard as he skipped out ostensibly for his son’s concert, “You don’t have a son, Jack.”

Cue the “Lost” foghorn sound.

As the producers promised, the ending of the show is certainly open to interpretation and really, it will depend on your spiritual beliefs as to how you choose to interpret.

The men of faith will believe that Jack’s destiny was to come full circle, save the island, plug the fire and brimstone hole so that the eternal light returned and resolve his daddy issues before his soul could be set free.

The men of science might go a different route – that the church was merely a gathering place and the blast of light when Christian threw open the doors only signified that the gang was finished with their current alternate reality and ready to move to the next one.

Me? I’m embracing my Christianity and strong belief in fate and resolutions and going the faith route.

Of course, I, like most people, I’m sure, still have a gajillion questions, starting with, at what point did everyone else die and, not that it really matters, but how did Ben get out from under that tree?

Oh yeah, and lots of other things happened in the two hours and 20 minutes leading up to that climactic scene, such as the brutal death of FLocke, the heart wrenching parting of Island Kate and Jack, the brief return of Bernard and Rose and – yay! – Vincent, who also broke my heart at the end. And let’s not forget those awesomely clever Target commercials for a smoke detector.

More on all of those things once I have time to digest this beautifully complex show a little longer.

OK, it’s taken me half a day to realize this, but how about a snippet of one of my all-time Beatles favorites to seal this story: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

But what did you think? Are you happy with the ending? Have any theories? Let’s hear ‘em.

I’m not mad about the ending, but I sure still have a lot of unanswered questions.  I’m such a sap that the ending did fulfill my need for a tear jerker - I sobbed like a baby, especially when Vincent layed down with Jack, and it looked like it gave him so much peace…..

Love the ending

After a six seasons of action, mysteries, suspense, drama, comic relief and romance Lost had ended. Did it work? Absolutely. Was the finale and ending satisfactory? Definately.
    The series (and its conclusion) worked because this show was character driven. I believe the writers intended all along to have us examine the idea “what would you do if…”. Viewers responded because they could relate to the flaws and strengths of the ensamble cast. The storylines - connected arcs of tragedy & triumph, overcoming odds, bad luck, redemption, sacrifice, choice, past & present, temptation and revenge - all connect the dots across the 121 episodes.
    Lost is not “perfect” and some will begrudge its creators for not answering every miniscule question raised within its sprawling stories. But what the show did do was give us a great mix of characters and show us why it was important to them to live the life they were given - which is the metaphor and message of the show itself. All the archetypes a literary professor could ask for, pop culture refrences to please even the nerdiest of us and philosophical/spiritual (science/faith) questions were addressed in a way that another show will not be able to duplicate easily (if at all).
  So it has come full circle as a series… and what has happened, has happened. It will be interesting to see if people someday view the themes of Lost the way some view Homer, Star Wars or Shakespeare.

Who cares?  Never heard of this show….

Here’s what a friend of mine concluded and this is what I’m coming around to understand:

It’s all about Jack. 

I think the sideways world for him was his “purgatory” helping him to let go and move on. 

I am guessing each of them would have a similar experience at the time of their death.

I am not disappointed one bit by this last episode. Each week I finished more confused and lost than the last and this episode did the best job of leaving me scratching my head.

I am sad to see it go though. Now I need something else to occupy my Tuesday night viewing. Any suggestions?

Homer, Shakespeare, Star Wars, and Lost in the same conversation…really?

So, what would have happened if the smoke monster left the island?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. IT DIDN’T MATTER.  The apparent secret plot that fueled power struggles, time travel, violence and subterfuge, was a product of a pseudo-reality that didn’t matter in the end.

I would have rather the island be revealed as a crashed spaceship than the location of a magic, light-filled kiddie pool that had no hint of relevance beyond the over-wrenched symbolism that this last season played ad nausea.

Cop out.  Worst. Episode. Ever.

After reading halfway down about the comments, I had one thought strike me, Gilligan’s Island. It had the ensemble cast, and they were trapped on an island. This was an updated freaky Gilligan’s Island lol

It was deeply disappointing.  After being assured by the writers that the story wasn’t about purgatory, the story was about purgatory.  Sure, it was a nondenominational sort of purgatory, though the symbolism of the stained glass window with six different religious images was somewhat mitigated by a character named “Christian Shephard” standing in front of them, but it was exactly what the writers promised us it wasn’t.

All the good versus evil, all the stories of Jacob traveling through time, the flash sideways events, the struggles over the power of the island, all resolved in a way we figured out six years ago.

It makes the finale of The Sopranos look good.

And time travel—-  It had absolutely nothing to do with anything.  They spent hours expanding on the rules of time travel, the inconsistencies, divergent timelines and consequences and then during the final season they introduce the flash-sideways, which builds in urgency and conflict, but the happy secret that Desmond knows, the reason he doesn’t fear the smoke monster and the mission of this time-travel reality is that he’s already dead.  What?

A final episode, a showdown with the smoke monster, and NO SMOKE MONSTER?  Are they going to use the flash sideways to defeat the smoke monster?  Will Desmond’s time travelling brain save the 2 dimensions?  Nope.  Everyone was already dead and everything was only kind of real, but not really. 

The whole message is nihilism.  Act, or don’t, but it doesn’t matter.

I enjoyed it.  It was different, unique.
There was romance, action, drama, suspense and originality.  I felt as though I knew these people and mourn their loss.
  TV today is not very good.  While Hollywood awards themselves all the time, most shows are copies of English shows, low-budget, fast, pieces of junk, or using the same idea over and over and over.
  I appreciated the creativity in this Lost Series and am Lost Without It.

Big sigh. This is it. The countown until the end and “The End.”

Regardless of how it ends, we know that tonight’s “Lost” finale will leave us wondering and pondering for days. Weeks, even. Heck, I still have conversations about “The Sopranos” ending, whether people want to discuss it with me or not. That might explain why I don’t have a lot of friends.

Anyway, I think we can safely assume that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse won’t torture fans by cutting to black while a Journey song plays, nor will this all turn out to be a Bobby Ewing-like dream.

So, also assuming that tonight’s goodbye won’t satisfy us all - because really, how could it possibly?—how do you want to see “Lost” end?

Personally, I don’t want a happy ending for everyone. That’s too simplistic for these complicated characters and I’d probably feel a little cheated if Sawyer and Juliet set up house in some Wistera Lane-like setting or Jack becomes a bigwig at the hospital and loses a little of his “God complex” (as one blog reader pointed out in an earlier poll). Life is messy, and even though these folks have been redeemed to an extent, absolute bliss would be too much of a fantasy—even for a show that put a polar bear on an island.

Your thoughts?

“Lost” is not about happy endings. It is about faith, redemption, hope and mystery.Tonight is going to be sad and bittersweet and I think I am in denial that the end is just a few hours away. There will never be another show quite like “Lost”.

After watching and obsessing over this show for 6 years, I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how I would like it to end!

I don’t honestly know what the best ending would be but I do know this. Based on all of the recent interviews I’ve seen or read from cast members. There will be a lot of questions left unanswered. Maybe thats not so bad. They would need a lot more than 2 1/2 hours to do that and satisfy everyone. And some things should remain a mystery. I think tonight both realities are going to come together. Can’t wait to see what really happens.

Now that Jacob confirmed that the castaways’ arrival on the island was indeed planned—a matter of destiny and fate—and that, despite Sawyer’s protestations, the lives they were plucked from were flawed and lonely…which of the gang has truly found redemption?

Was Jack’s willingness to inherit island-duty born out of a desire to do the right thing or to, yet again, try to fix something? Has Sawyer’s untrusting heart been manipulated after his love affair with Juliet? And Ben…that wily Ben. Maybe some things never do change.

Discuss.

Jack. He found faith.

Sawyer, by far, is the most redeemed character. He went from surly con man to loveable hero because of his love for Juliet.

Jack on the other hand began with his God complex and ends with the God complex. That is no change.

Sawyer.  His relationship with Juliet was probably the best one on all of Lost.  He came a long way from the guy he was when he crashed on the island.

Well Sawyer is my favorite character, so I have to agree that he has come very far.But all the characters have made progress. Not too sure about Ben though, LOL. Will have to see what happens tonight!

Hey, “Lost” freaks! I know you’ve been spending as much time as I and my fellow “Lost”-ies have in dissecting every inane detail of the show (Can Richard really be dead? Who helped Desmond out of the well - you know, we haven’t seen Rose and Bernard in ages? When did Hurley become Island Enlightened?).

So, until the finale on Sunday, check back here for the question of the day and tell us what you think. (Also, check out this cool pic of some of the cast at the “Lost Live” event in L.A. last week.)

First up - even though the past two weeks have answered a lot—what lingering questions do you hope the show will answer on Sunday?

Me, I’m going with, why can the island heal people? And, where the heck is Vincent?

Your turn.

How was the island able to move through time?

Why was Walt so special?

Who is Jack’s ex-wife in the sideways world?  (I think it’s Juliet)

Why is Desmond so special?

How much does Mrs. Hawking really know?

Who is the mother of Jack’s son, David Sheppard?

Who were the people in the out-rigger chasing Juliet, Sawyer, Miles, while they were toggling through time in Season 5? Juliet clearly shot one of them.

Vincent is with Rose and Bernard on their retirement island.

Here is my question… Why did Hurley never lose any weight… and how come Sawyer, Jack etc. had like the never growing beards?

What’s with all the opening shots on someones eye?
What did Juliet mean when she said “it worked.”
Were the candidates scratched off the list because they redeemed themselves by a selfless act?
What the heck did the numbers mean?
Where’s Penny, Juliett etc in the parallel reality?

Who told Charles and Ben “The Rules”?

Well, how interesting.

Bret Michaels is in the finale of “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

Now that the awesome rocker – who really has demonstrated what a decent dude he is despite that “Rock of Love” ickiness – is on the mend and ready to visit Oprah on Wednesday, I can say this: Can you imagine if the guy had died?

Has there ever been a reality show where a finalist passed away before the live finale aired?

Thankfully, Michaels has made a miraculous recovery from the brain hemorrhage he suffered last month, an affliction that his doctors say kills more than 50 percent of people before they even get to the hospital.

You’ll recall that when Michaels was first hospitalized, Donald Trump, in his widely circulated get well wish, referred to the Poison frontman as a “champion.” It did make me wonder if Trump was being overly complimentary just in case Michaels didn’t pull through or if, as improbable as it seemed, that Michaels made it to the final two, where he will battle the nasty, manipulative Holly Wanna-Be-Omarosa
Robinson Peete.

I’m sure I speak on behalf of all Unskinny Bop-pers out there when I say, go get ‘em, Bret.

But the live finale – airing Sunday from 9-11 p.m. on NBC (and opposite the “Lost” finale – these people are killing me!!) – poses an interesting question. Regardless of how well Michaels did on his create-a-Snapple-flavor task (yawn), how can he not garner some sympathy from Trump, who chooses the winner live?

As much as I detest Peete, it does seem she’s at an unfair disadvantage. That also means that Trump could make another of his illogical decisions, like firing Cyndi Lauper for merely mentioning that Peete gave her the idea to paint a room red, and choose Peete just so he won’t appear to be swayed by Michaels’ recent health scares.

Huh. This might actually live up to the vitriolic hilarity between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke last season.

Update: Now that Michaels is back in the hospital because of a hole in his heart—can this guy not catch a break?!—his appearance Sunday is tentative. Can the show go on without one of its finalists, or will Trump resked?

Fans of “Breaking Bad” – and I know of more than a few – are already wise to the unlikely charms of Krysten Ritter.

The actress, who looks like a little sister version of Katy Perry, now has her own series to anchor, “Gravity” (Starz, 10:30 p.m. Friday), where she plays a sardonic, clinically depressed twentysomething unhappy with her aimless life as a makeup clerk.

The show, about a suicide survivors group, defines “quirky dramedy.” I hadn’t had a chance to check out “Gravity” until now (thanks, FiOS On Demand!) and as much as I want to like the show, it’s the type that goes out of its way to be weird.

It’s a tough sell, getting viewers to tune into 30 minutes about people so unhappy, they’ll drive their car off a parkway or swallow a bottle of codeine. But it’s far more affecting watching Ritter’s Lily and Ivan Sergei (her group buddy, Robert), the guy who tried to end it all by driving his car off the Palisades Interstate Parkway but got “lucky” when the vehicle landed in a swimming pool aboard a gay cruise ship in the Hudson (see what I mean?), struggle in their immediate friends- with-benefits relationship than trying to figure out why a mouse is sitting on a kitchen cheese plate.

Robert’s guilt about dating – two years after his wife died – mines the most emotion, and also offers a smirky confessional scene with Robert Carlyle as the priest. But don’t expect a ton of laughs – after all, a show about sad people trying to lessen their sadness is still going to be pensive by nature.

That said, a kind of creepy turn by series writer/director Eric Schaeffer as a cop and the presence of Rachel Hunter as a washed-up model occasionally pull “Gravity” out of its doldrums.

But it isn’t a good sign when, four episodes in, you really don’t care if anyone lives.