'Grey's Anatomy' recovery: Sealed with lots of kisses

Like surgeons, television viewers see death on a regular basis. Especially this season. Whether it was the almost instant failure of the much trumpeted "Bionic Woman" or the last-minute tragic demise of "Aliens in America," TV has had a fairly high mortality rate. So when you see a show, trapped in a potentially fatal spiral, emerge from its coma, blink a few times, then rise from the bed like a wounded action hero, it is worth taking a few moments to rejoice.

"Grey's Anatomy" is totally and seriously back.

The lead item for last night's two-hour season finale would seem to be the much heralded reunion of Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey). But frankly so many wonderful things occurred in that the Big Kiss, high on a hillside surrounded by luminaries outlining the house Meredith finally has the courage to envision for them both, was anti-climactic. In the best way possible. How could it not be? It was preceded by some of the greatest moments on television this season.

Callie (Sara Ramirez) finally kissed Dr. Hahn (Brooke Smith) in the hottest, loveliest liplock between two women ever on scripted network television, unbroken by the typical horrified/frightened pull-back. Alex (Justin Chambers) broke down in Izzie's (Katherine Heigl) arms after finally admitting that his Ava/Rebecca (Elizabeth Reaser) is mentally ill, just like his mother. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) turned over the keys to her beloved clinic, acknowledging that even she cannot do it all. George (T.R. Knight) grew a spine, took a stand and got the chance to retake his residency test. Cristina (Sandra Oh) got her groove back, performed a tricky surgery and told Dr. Hahn to back off. Meredith thrashed the Chief (James Pickens Jr.) for abandoning her mother and driving her to a suicide attempt, and the Chief told his wife he loved her and he was coming home. Even Dr. Sloan (Eric Dane) had a moment of glory, giving Callie the final push she needed.

I did mention it was two hours, right?

In between there was much commotion over a young man encased in concrete, and two young lovers, who were also patients in Meredith and Derek's clinical trials for a new treatment for brain tumors.  Some of it bordered on the ridiculous -- moments before brain surgery the tumor couple, er, coupled for the first time; the concrete was the result of a bet to impress a (really mean) girl, and in the last three minutes pretty much everyone in the cast was kissing someone. But it didn't matter because it was such a relief to see the show functioning as the unique hybrid it is.

One part "Sex and the City," one part "ER," one part "The Paper Chase," "Grey's" captured hearts and eyeballs with its comely cast, snappy dialogue and unapologetic search for wisdom, not to mention true love. Then, last season, something went tragically awry. What was effervescent fell flat, what was illuminating became preachy, what was quirky turned weird and possibly mentally unbalanced. Meredith's faux suicide, George and Callie, George and Izzie, Derek and Meredith over and over again.

Season 4 debuted with some promise but the writer's strike hit too early in the season to really call it. But while other shows sputtered and stalled in post-strike episodes, "Grey's" kept its shoulders squared and its chin up. Meredith went into therapy and apparently she took everyone else with her. The dark days of Season 3? It's as if they never happened. The final moments of the season finale may have been a bit goopy, but they were intentionally the opposite of a cliffhanger. What "Grey's" viewers needed was a renewal of vows. And they got them, sealed with the kiss of their choice.

-- Mary McNamara

(Photo courtesy ABC)

'Ugly Betty': An uneven ending

Let's see who got what during last night's "Ugly Betty" season finale:

Daniel got a French son who inexplicably wears eye makeup. At least he thinks the kid is his son. (More on that later.)

Wilhelmina got her revenge, unseating Daniel and finally clinching the title of Mode editor in chief.

Hilda got herself a new (albeit married) man.

And so did Betty.

At least, we think Betty chose a man. If she did, we won't know whom she picked until the fall. (We noticed, however, that she was not sporting an engagement ring, which points to a Gio victory. She can't move to Tucson, right? Then again, maybe she packed those bags for a solo trip somewhere to figure things out.)

All in all, we were disappointed. But because "Ugly Betty" has never disappointed us before, we choose to believe that the finale could have and would have been stronger had it not been interrupted by the writers strike. In spite of a bangin' soundtrack, composed entirely of Madonna's new dance-happy album, "Hard Candy," the whole affair felt somehow slapped together.

'So You Think You Can Dance': Summer reality TV at its finest

It's tempting for skeptics unfamiliar with "So You Can Think You Can Dance" to write off the show as just more summer filler. It's one of many dance competitions on TV, it's got a rather clunky title and it's produced by the same people as "American Idol," which, to some, had a lackluster season this year. 

However, "SYTYCD" is arguably the best performance competition on TV, let alone during the summer season, and it's the perfect series to cleanse the palate after "Idol." Here are a few reasons why:

• It's contemporary.  "Idol" never likes to verge too much into the present in terms of slang, song choice or general acknowledgment of current events.  On "SYTYCD," the audience is treated to a wide range of contemporary music, dancers addressing issues such as war, racism and death in their performances, and, occasionally, unique vernacular. Last night, for instance, guest judge Mia Michaels told a dancer that he gave her "stank face" (i.e. he was so good that he made her screw up her face as she watched.) 

'Battlestar Galactica': Dinner mishaps

"Guess what's coming to dinner?" had more little twists than expected.  It was also the first episode in a while to bring everyone back together in one spot.   But that's about to change again after Roslin's little trip.  JUMP!

With the imagery of her sickness in the forefront, some forget that President Roslin is also a good little politician with skills at the behind-the-scenes puppeteering sometimes required to be successful.  That came into play when she outed Tory's relationship with Baltar.  She even has spies there! And she wants more. "Whether it's on your knees praying or just on your knees ..." A great, cutting line.

But balancing the compliments ... a Cylon truce, huh?  Starbuck put good things in motion, but the Hybrid and Athena may have messed that up for good.  What did Roslin and the others expect to happen once the Hybrid was reactivated?  They were relinquishing their already shaky control over the basestar, so they didn't know.  And now, the president is gods know where.  The Hybrid has never shown violent, or even self-defensive, tendencies, so there may not be any danger.  But when the Cylon soldiers were given their own cognizance, that threw everything up in the air.

'American Idol' finale ratings surprisingly high

The battle of the Davids propelled Wednesday’s "American Idol" finale to one of the show’s best numbers ever, with 31.7 million viewers tuning in.

Rocker David Cook’s upset victory over the runner-up, teen crooner David Archuleta, capped a historic season for Fox, which amid the disruptions of the three-month writers strike became America’s most-watched network for the first time ever. It also notched its fourth straight season as No. 1 in adult viewers aged 18-49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

The 2007-08 TV season officially ended Wednesday.

The high viewership for "Idol’s" Season 7 finale came as something of a surprise, because the show had seen lower-than-expected ratings this season. As recently as earlier this month, "Idol" retreated to some of its softest numbers in years.

But the match-up between Cook and Archuleta evidently proved irresistible. In fact, the two-hour episode was the third most-watched "Idol" finale, after the 2006 showdown between Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee (36.4 million) and the 2003 face-off between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken (38.1 million).

Last year’s contest, between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, drew 30.7 million.

In Los Angeles, the "Idol" finale overlapped for about 45 minutes with a closely watched game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs on TNT. Yet both programs performed strongly in the local market, with "Idol" capturing 1.3 million area viewers vs. the Lakers’ 1.2 million.

The "Idol" finale was a welcome dash of good news for the broadcast TV industry, which has been brought low by the writers strike and ongoing viewer defections to cable.

Every network except Fox saw significant ratings declines this season, including CBS, which shed 16% of its average total viewers compared with last season. As a result, Fox snatched the crown for most-watched network away from the usual victor, CBS, with 11.1 million vs. 10.5 million (this data does not include the Wednesday results).

Among the ad-friendly demographic of viewers aged 18-49, Fox led the season while ABC and CBS, which both logged double-digit declines, tied for second.

Results for the May "sweep" period, which local stations use to help set ad rates and which also ended Wednesday, were even worse. Every network posted losses, even Fox, which slipped 7%. NBC shed nearly one-fifth of its audience compared with a year ago.

Against that backdrop, the "Idol" numbers assume even more importance, proving that broadcast TV can still deliver huge audiences with the right program.

-- Scott Collins

'American Idol' Banter: It's one for the rockers

“WHAT does it look like when the No. 1 show reaches its critical mass?” said Ryan Seacrest as this year’s  “American Idol” finale began Wednesday night. “THIS!”

And there they stood, the oddest couple to grace a soundstage since David Bowie and Bing Crosby bonded beneath Christmas tinsel and sang “The Little Drummer Boy.” Though they share a given name, finalists Archuleta and Cook embody two strains of pop that could  be fairly compared only in a competition like this. For most of this century, in fact, scruffy rock dudes like Cook have considered sugar pop purveyors like Archuleta mortal enemies. But not on “Idol” — a Top 40 lovefest designed to heal such divides by touting universal qualities, like “originality” and “making it your own.”

With Cook crowned king, it would seem that “Idol” voters have embraced classic rock as this year’s universal language. But reality is not so simple. The problems “Idol” faced this season, which a very fine finale almost washed away for two energetic hours, reflect the dissolution of any kind of unifying force in pop, even one that can be maintained for the length of a television program.

“Idol” relies on a belief in what the venerable rock critic Robert Christgau has dubbed the “monoculture” — in pop, that means a sound and style most everybody hears and likes and thinks is important. This idea was always only part of pop’s reality, and in recent years it’s become very difficult to maintain: Blame identity politics, the Internet or niche marketing, but the era of blockbuster artists singing for all of us seems to be over. Panic over the monoculture’s death is aiding in the music industry’s slow collapse, making rock- and soul-bred parents fret over their seemingly superficial kids, and preventing even popular songs (like the huge hit OneRepublic performed Wednesday night with Archuleta) from seeming anything but ephemeral.

As a paradigm dies, the romantic side of human nature reaches for some last thread of it to love. “Idol” is that thread — 97.5 million votes were cast for Cook and Archuleta, Seacrest announced. They must be at the center of pop’s universe!! They deserve our passion, our faith.

What does it mean, though, that Archuleta’s and Cook’s own sensibilities are so disparate that they can’t sing a duet without discord? Their personal camaraderie can’t overcome the flat feeling that arose when their voices combined. Even splitting a power ballad by Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger — a blandly ecumenical songwriter if there ever was one — their harmonies grated.

In fact, every group number the final 12  contestants performed in what was (in part) a long advertisement for their summer tour reflected this season’s mood of friendly friction. Chikezie’s soul man moments clashed with Kristy Lee Cook’s country twang. Ramiele Malubay’s  disco-flavored sensuality was buried by the big waves of rock belters Michael Johns and Carly Smithson. Even the Davids lost their footing in the group sings, unable to settle into their particular grooves.

The would-be Idols did fine when left to their own devices. Jason Castro again showed why Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is always deserving of another revival, and Brooke White made a sweet duet partner for her folk-pop elder, Graham Nash. Smithson and Johns brought the house down with a stomping take on the Box Tops’ soul-rock classic, “The Letter.” And both Davids seized their spotlight moments, the rocker comfortably hamming it up with ZZ Top and the pop boy crooning gorgeously as OneRepublic played that forgettable hit.

“Idol” has always celebrated the breadth of the Top 40, making room for soul queens — Syesha Mercado, standing up to Seal’s hip-shaking invitations, can count herself among them now — and beat-boxing white boys, treacly balladeers and country barn-burners. This finale’s star-studded guest list made the argument for such well-processed diversity. Bryan Adams, Donna Summer, Gladys Knight, guest of honor George Michael — all share one thing, the ability to translate a niche sound for the largest audience possible. (Up-and-comers the Jonas Brothers fit in there, no matter how Disney-fied their sound — teen pop is a niche too, just a very well-marketed one.)

It’s a welcoming definition of greatness that has room to call all of these performers legendary. Certain snobs abhor it, but many millions have found it captivating for seven seasons now. But the “Idol” model still turns on the ultimate belief in one star to rule us all — the final “Idol,” anointed and armed with the collective wishes of the show’s judges and mentors, ready to conquer an empire.

Such empires, if they ever really existed, are no more. We live in fractious times, in music as in religion, lifestyle and politics; we rarely sing the same songs, and the few we do share are the old ones. There is no real critical mass, no matter how many times frantic dialers hit their cellphone buttons Tuesday  night.

At least David Cook belongs to the rare special interest group that still considers itself an embodiment of the norm. Meat-and-potatoes rock, which Cook clearly loves and believes in, hasn’t ruled the zeitgeist for a while, although it can still move large quantities of product for a few hard-working Joes, like unofficial Idol champ Chris Daughtry and Nickelback. Yet its fans pride themselves on loving “real,” “meaningful” music — the kind you can pass down to your kids, or sing in a crowd at a state fair. So maybe Cook will dominate, after all — just in a smaller arena than he may have once imagined.

And what of “Idol” itself? Rumors are buzzing that the show will benefit from a major overhaul next season. It’s hard to know how to mend, or at least acknowledge, the deeper contradictions that afflict not only “Idol,” but the mass-culture oriented industry it supports. “For me, this whole thing has been a progression,” Cook said the night before he won everything, during a moment when it seemed like he’d lost. It seemed like such a healthy attitude. If only the producers of “American Idol” could embrace it.

--Ann Powers

Can't get enough of 'American Idol'? Join us for a chat at 11:30 a.m. PST.

(Photo courtesy AP Images for Fox)

'Top Chef': Lisa survives another week. Am I missing something?

Is it just me or have the judges lost their minds?

Wait, let me back up. I should say that I'm perfectly aware that the deal with "Top Chef" has always been that a single dish can send a contestant home, no matter how good their past work has been.

There was real fan outrage last season when Tre, long considered a surefire finalist, was sent packing early for several botched dishes -- including a particularly bad beet-cured salmon -- and in spite of multiple winning performances. In that instance, there was no one but Tre to send home.

So I wasn't totally surprised to see Dale, who had won several challenges and been a top three contender, get cut after a particularly bad showing. Scallops doused in butterscotch sauce.... I can see how that might not work so well. And he was executive chef for the all-important Restaurant Wars round. Always a risky move and all the more reason to cut him after a team failure.

However -- and this is a big however --  there was just as much reason, if not more, to get rid of Lisa. I've said plenty here about Lisa's inadequacies already. This time, she smoked her laksa to death -- I don't understand how that even happens -- and, again, failed to cook rice properly. What is this girl's deal with rice anyway? It's the first thing you learn to cook in culinary school right after you learn to chop up a potato. 

Does Dale really get no credit for his past successes while the judges turn a blind eye to week after week of Lisa's poorly executed dishes?

I need someone to explain this to me. I know I can't taste the dishes and maybe those butterscotch scallops really sent guest Chef Jose Andres into sugar shock, a total embarrassment for Dale in and of itself. But Lisa screwed up two big dishes, dishes that she knows how to make, dishes she said she has made repeatedly. Lisa has also found herself on the chopping block more times than most.

The worst part is there are online rumors swirling about -- SPOILER ALERT -- all three females in the finale. Please, please, please let it not be true. I'm cool with Stephanie. I'd even be OK with Antonia. But Lisa? Before Richard? Even before Spike? No, no, no!

Thoughts? I'm dying to hear a defense.

--Denise Martin

(Photo courtesy Bravo)

'American Idol' news conference: The Davids sing each other's praises

"I didn't really know that [judge Simon Cowell's] apology was warranted," mused David Cook, during a news conference at the Nokia Theatre on Wednesday, just hours after being handed the "American Idol" crown. Cook wasn't expecting Simon Cowell's apology, but that doesn't mean he wasn't happy to take it. "An apology from Simon is a rare gem!" He chuckled. 

Cook was in his glory during the news conference, and rightfully so. He couldn't help but look back at how far he'd come over the course of his singing career, even recalling a grade school teacher who "made me sing at a Christmas pageant." 

It was Cook's moment of glory, but he still made sure to shower praise on his humble competitor, David Archuleta. "He has more talent at his age than I know what to do with at 25," marveled Cook.

When asked which of his performances was his favorite, Cook didn't miss a beat. "The last one," he said, still glowing from the rush of that final performance.  "Tonight was just about exhaling. "

'American Idol' diary: A behind-the-scenes look at finale week

Wednesday night’s “American Idol” finale, in which David Cook was crowned as the winner of Season 7, was a TV entertainment spectacle comparable in scale only to the Oscars. Yet unlike that event, the “American Idol” crew has just one week to pull it together. Richard Rushfield -- the first journalist ever allowed to observe rehearsal’s for the show’s finale -- recorded this diary of the week leading up to the show.

SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD, HOLLYWOOD. FRIDAY, 5 P.M.

If every "American Idol" show starts with the music, then this humble white bungalow on a lot off Santa Monica Boulevard is the top of the assembly line -- where the basic pieces are put in place that will become in four days’ time the biggest television spectacle of the season.

Inside, the bungalow’s current tenant, "American Idol" music director Rickey Minor, is conferring with his staff over rights clearances and arrangements, pouring over song lists and supervising his three backup vocalists, who are in the studio to lay down their tracks for the medleys of George Michael and Donna Summer songs that will be performed in Wednesday night’s results show.

“I’ve got three things to do now and 10 minutes have gone out of my life already,” Minor gently but firmly reprimands his crew after the conversation takes a detour into something not completely relevant to the task at hand.

Just 48 hours earlier, David Archuleta and David Cook became the two finalists in the last of its weekly extravaganzas set at the Idoldome, the show’s home studio in Burbank. But now the clock is ticking toward the finale, and Minor has to oversee the clearances, arrangements, productions and performances of, he estimates, 35 songs between the two nights (including 12 in medleys).

“It doesn’t make sense to start working on this show early. Everything just ends up getting changed,” says Matt Brodie, the show’s assistant music director, as the three backup singers clustered around his laptop in the bungalow’s central mixing room, listening to and quietly singing along with their parts in Summer’s anthem “She Works Hard for the Money.”

Each takes notes on sheets of paper, marking off their parts and accents. And after a few listenings, they head back into the adjoining room that has been turned into a recording booth.

Bill Smith, the engineer, cues them to begin, and the three launch into a beautifully harmonized rendition of the backing vocals. "She works hard for the money. So hard for it, honey. She works hard for the money, so you better treat her right."

As they record, Minor explains that these tracks will actually play under the live singing at Wednesday night’s show. “The problem is that in a huge place like that, the mikes pick up all kinds of room sound, it sounds like you are in a Tidybowl box. So you need this base there to give it that power. ... It's like you have 12 voices singing. Otherwise, when you want more vocals, they tell you to turn up the mikes on the girls, but all you are doing is picking up more room noise and making it muddier.”

When the singers finish their second shot at the song, Minor presses a button to address them on the intercom between the two rooms. “Remember guys, we’re actually live now so you need to do it with a little more attitude. You sound like you’re doing a record.”

“Its like a chihuahua trying to be a lion,” singer Sharlotte Gibson quips, quoting judge Simon Cowell's dismissal of Archuleta’s performance that week.

Rocker David Cook named new 'American Idol'

When David Cook was announced as the winner of "American Idol" Wednesday night at the Nokia theater, the most dramatic upset in the show's history was just another twist in a season that has tested the still-vibrant franchise.

The 25-year-old became the first performer in the rock music mold to win, amassing 56% of 96 million votes, to 44% for 17 year old prodigy David Archuleta, who sings in the pop balladeer style that had previously dominated "Idol."

Before the verdict was announced, Judge Simon Cowell thanked both for being perhaps the "nicest" contestants the show has seen, underscoring the fact that the Fox hit has achieved its success with a G-rated strategy that reaches across cultural divides of all types - ethnic, economic, generational, even musical.

With network television and the music industry both up against a fractured audience and new forms of media, Cook and runner-up Archuleta became standard bearers for today's broad-based popular culture. "Idol" remains the only show able to consistently deliver vast numbers of viewers, even eclipsing the Oscars.

However, after a season in which the series came under fire for various offstage controversies and suffered a mid-season sag in its ratings, television's titan stands at a crossroads. It remains to be seen whether this year's ratings dip is a one year phenomenon or the first step on the inevitable downward spiral all successful TV shows must eventually face.

For the moment, Fox network brass are sufficiently concerned that they have made public statements promising major, though as yet unspecified, changes when the show returns in January. With broad-based musical hits becoming harder and harder to generate, the Idol machine's ability to fulfill its original mission of creating "the next pop star" has also been called into question. Some, such as Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, have gone on to stardom, but several others have not mustered major careers.

The show has always been subjected to the sharp news lens normally reserved for Presidential candidates or jail-bound starlets, and season seven saw Idol seemingly struggle at times to control its own storyline. In past years, the show has been remarkably successful at framing the terms of the debate, bringing its hiccups onto the screen and showing a willingness to poke fun at itself.

This year, with the internet-driven media ever more unleashed, the show has had to grapple with several sensitive storylines. There were reports that Archuleta's father was banned from backstage for interfering with the production, and eyebrows were raised when a seemingly off-kilter judge Paula Abdul rendered a verdict on a performance that had not occurred yet.

Still, the bigger audiences returned for what was billed as the strongest finals match-up in years. Archuleta, who himself was practically weaned on the show, having watched since he was 10 years old, had often seemed invincible, with technically flawless renditions of pop favorites.

But Cook, who at one point was told by Cowell that he was without charisma, surged with a string of rock reimaginations of such hits as "Billie Jean" that drew massive ovations from audiences.

The show seems in the finale to have rebounded from its mid-season ratings dip. "American Idol" premiered to an audience of 33.5 million total viewers, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research -- putting it ahead of the Oscars telecast to become the season's number two rated program, trailing only the Superbowl. But the ratings subsequently tumbled, falling as low as 21.8 million for one show - the lowest figure in three years.

Still, even that is a number most TV shows would kill for.

Season Seven's young contestants also reflected the new, multi-ethnic face of America: Three of the four finalists - Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado and Archuleta -- had at least partly Latino origins, yet the huge differences in their styles (laidback hippie crooning for Castro, cerebral jazz for Mercado and soulful ballads for Archuleta) also revealed the great diversity within this demographic.

In a time when ever edgier reality television shows dominate the network airwaves, "American Idol" almost seems like a pristine throwback to a gentler time. While other competition shows are routinely driven by the spectacle of contestants who are at each others' throats -- often quite literally -- with hair pulling and name calling being the norm, the two "Idol" finalists took the stage this week gushing with good will for each other. Cook even declared Tuesday that "the competition is over. It's all about having fun now."

The atmosphere of camaraderie amidst the weekly deathblows is certainly an intentional part of the "Idol" universe, with a crew that seems much more like a happily family relishing their work than the typical TV production staff. It may be this spirit of fun yet gentle competition that has helped "Idol" retain its status as the one show on television that still attracts entire families, across the generational divide.

However, as producers look ahead and consider the ratings sag of this year, part of their calculation must be: How much do viewers want fights and freak-shows instead of a face-off based on pure talent?

While this year's group was considered by many commentators to be the most talented overall in the show's history, the uniformity of talent deprived the show of the train-wreck interest summoned, for example, by last year's contestant Sanjaya Malakar. Viewers enjoyed the spectacle of his weekly public belly flops.

Nonetheless, with an end of the year ratings rebound and a handful of talents -- including the two finalists -- with seemingly very strong commercial potential, Idol obituaries may soon look extremely premature.

-Richard Rushfield

--Scott Collins contributed reporting for this story

Can't get enough of 'American Idol'? Join us for a chat at 11:30 a.m. PST.