Amy Carlson Gustafson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and I talked today about our likes and dislikes when it comes to TV this summer. Here are the pertinent links:

Among the recurring complaints I get about television, one is that some TV shows just look too dark — that it's difficult to figure out who's there and what's going on because the artists making TV shows love shadow and muted light far more than viewers do. They're making shows for people who watch TV theater-fashion, while many viewers still prefer to have a light on.

If the pilot is any indication, you might be better off dimming the lights for "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the drama set behind the scenes at a live TV variety show.

It has an impressive cast, it has a significant pedigree (Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme of "The West Wing"), it will have people wondering which real-life performers and executives were the basis for the fictional ones here, and it will spark a lot of talk about how close the Sorkin-Schlamme relationship is to the one here between Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford.

I did not like it anywhere near as much as I did the other behind-the-scenes show on NBC's schedule, "30 Rock," which I wrote about in my last post. In fact, during "Studio 60," I kept saying to myself, "Hey, I had a lot of problems with 'The West Wing' when it started, too."  But "West Wing" at least had that Bartlet scene at the end — the one where he dismantles some right-wing evangelicals — that said, there's stuff going on here. "Studio 60" also takes on conservative Christians, though not as artfully as "West Wing," and …

Well, at this point I need to remind myself that this is not a review. (See my previous post for why.) So I'll get back to the topic at hand, which is that "Studio 60" is really dark. Not in the cynical sense. In the sense of, it's often hard to see what on earth is going on onscreen.

As I've said, some TV shows like going dark because it feels artsy and theatrical. "Studio 60" is also harking back to the movie "Network," both in a scene done in explicit  homage to the movie (which proves that homage is not always successful — but TINAR) and in a look that recalls "Network's" visual style, which also embraced the darkness of its compressed little world of control booths and conference rooms.

Now, the fall is a long way off, and NBC and "Studio 60" could decide to lighten this thing up in all sorts of ways. Let's hope so. Since the show's fictional network resembles NBC, maybe its corporate owner could send over a few boxes of light bulbs.

It's Tuesday morning and I am sitting here laughing — yes, laughing — at "30 Rock," the Tina Fey sitcom premiering this fall on NBC.

Please note that my laughter is purely a visceral reaction based on a casual viewing of a "30 Rock" and not a review. Networks hate it when you review a fall show based on the pilot sent out in May. After all, they may change the title, the cast, the basic premise, the time slot and everything else that made them want to put the show on in the first place — because, well, they can. Sometimes, too, they stick to the original vision of the show. Either way, you could end up with "Emily's Reasons Why Not."

Anyway, as I said, the networks don't want too early reviews of their pilots and even put warnings on the review, er, preview copies of the shows they send out in May — so we can see them before interviewing the cast and producers, who will then tell us how they've changed the title, cast, basic premise  and — well, you've already heard that.

So when I tell you that this is fall-down funny and Fey is charming and Alec Baldwin is hilarious,  I'm not reviewing "30 Rock." I'm just saying, as if we were chatting at a party, that you might want to mark your calendar for this one.

Also giving you a hint of what the days ahead will be like.

The 2005-06 television season is over. This does not mean television is over, since the networks fill their summer time with new programs (reality mainly) and the cable folks bring out some of their goodies ("Rescue Me," "Entourage," "Deadwood," for example). But I won't be spending every night trying to figure out what to record and what to watch of the four or five shows that are on that night's must-check list. And I might actually be able to get caught up on all those episodes of "The Unit" sitting in my DVR.

And I will have time for the fall pilots. So far I have gotten through CBS's four new shows, and some of Fox's, and the CW's two new shows await, and this morning brought a very big box containing NBC's. While there has been some interesting stuff here and there — Brad Garrett on Fox's " 'Til Death," for one — "30 Rock" is the first show that has me saying, yes, I want much, much more of it.

But that's not a review. And I'll have some more not-reviews as things go along.

As for the weekend, it was pretty good. Although it was too hot by far, we found ways to work in the morning and late-afternoon, to trim some shrubs and hang some flower baskets and plan what else the yard will need before fall. Cleaned up the grill, then put it to use Monday night.

Not much TV in those days, other than some pilots and about half of the Matthew Broderick-Nathan Lane version of "The Producers," which didn't really work for me. That may be because seeing the original, with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, was such a big experience for me when I saw it at the movies in New York City in 1967. If memory serves, my mother and sister went shopping, and my dad and I were looking for something to do. I have no idea how we picked "The Producers" — but I watched it with shocked, choking awe. (I can't remember my father's reaction, but I suspect he was amused.)

I have cherished the movie ever since, and the newer version is never going to top that. (I watched Broderick do lines I had mentally stored with Wilder's inflections, and it just didn't work.) Also, my father has been dead for 10 years now, I like to hold to the memories I have of him. "The Producers" is one.

Though it doesn't remotely match what I feel about my father, I did feel some sadness over the weekend about the passing of Desmond Dekker. (An obit is here.) Dekker made the infectious, if at times incomprehensible, recording "Israelites," which went Top 10 on the U.S. charts not because of its social message but because of its fabulous beat and variety of stick-in-your-head phrases ("Oh, oh, oh — the Is-uh-raelites, suh," "I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde," "Gets up every morning, slavin' for bread … so that every mouth can be fed"). I ended up buying a Uni records LP of "Israelites" and other Dekker songs and played it often. After hearing about his passing, I dug out my CDs of '"This Is Reggae Music: The Golden Era 1960-1975." In his cultural context, Dekker sounded as fine as he did all those years ago coming out of the radio.

Notes of interest to fans of the WB, er, UPN, oh, right, CW shows, from today's e-mail:

Join Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in Supernatural’s ’67 Chevy Impala for a dark and mysterious thrill ride that will leave you on the edge of your seat.  On September 5, Warner Home Video presents the highly-anticipated release of Supernatural: The Complete First Season DVD featuring all 22 episodes as well as unforgettable bonus features including never-before-seen featurettes, a sneak-peek into Season 2 , unaired scenes, commentaries and much more from the world of the unexplained.  Supernatural: The Complete First Season hits stores just in time for fans to catch up with the Winchester brothers before the paranormal journey ignites with the season two premiere on the CW.   The six-disc collector’s set is priced to own at $59.98 SRP. …

Now is the perfect time to find the clues and discover the ultimate series known for its street smarts with heart.  On August 22, 2006, Warner Home Video presents the critic- and fan-requested Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season on DVD, featuring a collectible six-disc set with all 22 thrilling and captivating episodes and special bonus features.  Witness the mystery, scandal and drama of Veronica Mars, featuring an unparalleled cast including Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, Percy Daggs III, Teddy Dunn, Ryan Hansen, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner and Enrico Colantoni.  Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season includes entertainment for both new and loyal fans with revealing special features including “A Day in the Life of Kristen Bell” featurette and over 20 minutes of deleted scenes.  The DVD is priced to own at $59.98.

Late summer/early fall releases may add to the buzz for a show as it's returning to the schedule. But I think it's smarter to release such sets at the beginning of summer, giving fans months to study and obsess over the shows, so they have all the more reason to come back for the new season in the fall.

The cone of silence has been lifted on "Lost," since the bride and I watched it Thursday night. (Wonderful to have a night when the viewing demands were so minimal that we could spend a couple of hours catching up.) I was sure of some things as it went along, then — within a half-hour of its end — convinced that everything I had settled on was probably wrong.

For instance, when Libby appeared in the flashback with Desmond, I thought that proved she was some kind of recruiter for the island experiment. Then, reflecting on it, I imagined that she could have been unhinged somewhat by the death of her husband — hence her willingness to give up a boat, just like that — and then was institutionalized when Desmond was lost at sea, since that sent her depression spiraling.

The idea that the magnetic impulse brought down the plane in a bizarre coincidence was comforting at first, until I began to wonder (a) how the plane came so near this presumably isolated island and (b) whether anything we were being told was actually true and (c) Henry's comment.

You know: That the Others we know are "the good guys."

It certainly feeds into the notion that there are other Others. And who's-watching-whom was a recurring question in the "Lost" season finale, especially when it turned out that the monitoring notebooks were just being dumped. And if the Others know about other Others, who's to say there aren't forces at work that no one has figured out — forces that could bring down an airplane but make it appear as if there was cause-and-effect involving the people on the island.

At the same time, though, "good guys" could just mean that the Others do indeed reflect my previous theorizing that they're a parallel to Native Americans in the Old West, while the crash survivors are the invaders disrupting the established civilization. I'd feel kind of smug about that coming up again, if I wasn't so confused by everything else.

I could go on, but you can see why the "Lost" finale finally ticked me off. I enjoyed watching it at the time. But I would have liked to come away from it feeling sure about something, of having at least one idea I could cling to without any doubt or question. Didn't get that. Instead, there was too much ambiguity. Too many questions old and new. Like the characters on the show, we're all being played with.

Facing the buzzsaws of "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy," NBC has moved new drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" from its planned Thursday time slot to Mondays at 10 p.m.

That's part of a bunch of changes NBC has made since seeing its competitors' fall lineups, including major shuffles of the "Law & Order" shows.

Here's the new lineup:
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "Deal or No Deal" 
9-10 p.m. "HEROES"
10-11 p.m. "STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP" (new day and time)

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS"
9-10 p.m. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (new day and time)
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "20 GOOD YEARS" (new time)
8:30-9 p.m. "30 ROCK" (new time)
9-10 p.m. "The Biggest Loser" (new time);
10-11 p.m. "KIDNAPPED" (new day and time)

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "My Name Is Earl"
8:30-9 p.m. "The Office"
9-10 p.m. "Deal or No Deal" (new day and time)
10-11 p.m. "ER"/("THE BLACK DONNELLYS" in January 2007)

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "Crossing Jordan" (new day and time)
9-10 p.m. "Las Vegas"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order" (new day)

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. "Dateline Saturday"
9-11 p.m. Drama Series Encores

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. "FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA"
8-11 p.m. "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

"Medium" has been bumped to midseason, after football is done. The move of the original "Law & Order," which has been mainly at 10 p.m. Wednesdays for most of the past 14 years, will come with some recasting.

With changes that big, NBC Entertainment Presidnent Kevin Reilly called it "NBC schedule, Part 2." Considering that the first version was announced less than two weeks ago, this network is running very scared.

Given the late hour when I was done with "American Idol," I am still in the cone of silence about last night's "Lost," and expect to remain there until sometime tonight. But I haven't stopped watching TV, and later today may post something about what a freakin' dazzler writer-director Stephen Poliakoff is. (A couple of his TV productions, "Friends and Crocodiles" and "Gideon's Daughter," are coming out on DVD next week, hence my renewed admiration.) Until then, there's this little item from the morning e-mail:

New York, NY - May 25, 2006 - SCI FI Channel today announced that World Wrestling Entertainment®, the producer of the No. 1 weekly basic cable TV series, > "> Monday Night RAW > "> on USA Network, will debut a summer series on Tuesday, June 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.  ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling®) will be an alternative brand of wrestling suited to fit the SCI FI Channel> '> s commitment to fuel the imagination.
>
> "Research tells us that there's a healthy appetite for wrestling among SCI FI viewers," said Bonnie Hammer, President, USA and SCI FI Channel.  "With ECW, we're able to deliver to those fans unique action with a twist that's perfect for SCI FI."
> 
> "> ECW on SCI FI will push the boundaries of sports entertainment in new and unexpected ways,> ">  said Vince McMahon, Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment.
>
> For more information go to ECW.com <http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/>.
>
> SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on.  SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine.  Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.

Remarkable, yet again, how broadly Sci Fi views its programming mandate.

Here's the link to tonight's podcast, an especially giddy one, perhaps because we knew that "Idol" was done:

http://www.ohiomm.com/podcasts/tv/idol_final_052406.mp3

And here are my notes from watching the finale:

No Buster Douglas moment for Katharine McPhee tonight. Taylor Hicks wins, apparently in a runaway, since they haven't mentioned the voting percentages.

As expected. And since we pretty well knew that was coming, we had to sit through two hours of filler — but sometimes pretty good filler.

Also some awful things. Lame Kellie Pickler skits with Wolfgang Puck, where she encountered escargot and live lobster. Medleys that reminded you why, say, Melissa was eliminated early — and while Kellie should have gone home a lot sooner than she did. Could have gone a long time without seeing Kevin Covais, again, too, but he and Melissa got their last big moments on the show, since they're not going to be on the tour. And, by the end of the show, both Taylor's and Katharine's voices sounded pretty shot on "I've Had the Time of My Life."

Dionne Warwick, for that matter, was struggling by the end of her performance; those Bacharach-David songs are tough even for great singers, and she's not as great as she used to be. Singing with Katharine, Meat Loaf was closer to caricature than he should have been. And didn't I hear "I Made It Through the Rain" sung twice? Are they still paying off Barry Manilow? [Update: I did hear it twice but I shouldn't have. My HD feed of the show went out for a couple of minutes at the beginning of the first hour. When it came back, it was showing the ''I Made It Through the Rain'' opening again before cutting back to the live show. I don't know if this was unique to HD viewers in NE Ohio or not. Thanks to Alan Sepinwall for noting the error.]

Amazing, though, how eagerly people will show up on TV even if the reason is mockery. Crazy Dave Hoover's being there I can understand since he's, well, crazy. But Clay Aiken wannabe Michael Sandecki obviously didn't get the joke; then again, he got to meet Clay in the second-best moment of the evening.

Sandecki, a terrible auditioner who tried to exploit a deliberate resemblance to old Clay, was invited to sing — then was interrupted by Aiken's arrival. Sandecki didn't seem to mind at all. He labored to duet with Aiken, and then, when he was offered a seat, continued to have a look of sheer joy. Aiken, meanwhile, has moved way past his "Idol" look — long hair, nice suit. Still has that big voice.

Best moment, though: Prince. And I especially liked the way he used the show as promotional tool and got out, not even pausing to acknowledge Ryan as he departed before the applause could fade. (Reminded me in a way of Jim Carrey's appearance on the "Larry Sanders Show" finale.)

In my previous post I noted that www.dialidol.com has Taylor easily beating Katharine in the viewer vote. Here's another indication of where sentiment is, from today's e-mail, from the PinnacleSports betting folks:

Entering Tuesday’s episode, Hicks was a solid 1/2 favorite to win the hit reality series, while McPhee was a 9/5 underdog. After performing considerably better than McPhee and having Simon Cowell declare he’s the next American Idol, bettors have flocked to PinnacleSports.com to back the grey-haired crooner from Alabama. Following a frenzied night of betting where 90% of the money bet was on Hicks, the odds on Taylor have dropped substantially and he’s now an overwhelming 2/13 favorite to be named the next American Idol. Meanwhile, PinnacleSports.com believes “McPheever” has gone cold, listing Katharine as a 5/1 long shot to win the country’s largest talent search. If McPhee should win, it would mark a major upset along the lines of Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in 1990.

Katharine fans could take comfort from the fact that Buster Douglas did beat Mike Tyson, but it sure doesn't feel as if an upset is in the making. (And I liked Katharine better on Tuesday night, as you can see below.) Instead, tonight we'll take a long, slow ride toward something we already know.

And it's not just Pinnacle. Here's the latest from Sportsbook.com:

American Idol odds are changing at Sportsbook.com. Taylor Hicks remains the favorite – but the margin is growing! He has also far surpassed Katherine McPhee as the bettors favorite – now 45 per cent of wagers back the

Birmingham

native.

Revised American Idol Odds

                        Odds               Betting Trend

Hicks              1-7                  45.0%

McPhee          4-1                  24.2%

Here's tonight's podcast link:

http://www.ohiomm.com/podcasts/tv/idol_show_052306.mp3

And here are my notes from earlier:

Based purely on salesmanship, including how you close the show and how "American Idol" decides to sell you to the audience, it sure looked as if Taylor Hicks led his Soul Patrol to victory on Tuesday night's performance show. Simon Cowell said as much near the end of the show. [Wednesday morning addition: The analysis on www.dialidol.com also shows Hicks winning easily.] But my report card was a little different.

First, some of the non-vocal things we got in the show: Taylor in a purple jacket of astonishing hideousnes, Paula abandoning any pretense of fairness to lead the crowd in support of Taylor, Katharine McPhee in a pair of jeans so tight I am amazed she was able to bend down in them, celebrity sightings — Ben Stiller, Christina Applegate, Tori Spelling — plugs for the "Idol" tour/CD/ringtones, Simon wearing a jacket, Ryan Seacrest clean-shaven again and Daniel Powter performing his "Idol"-driven hit, "Bad Day."

And, in a moment of staggering obviousness, the videos of the two finalists' "journeys" were accompanied by "Don't Stop Believing" — by Journey. I kept waiting for Randy to remind us that he had been in Journey. Maybe he already hit his reminder limit for the season.

As for the music, let's start with the sad, sad fact that once again the singles for the "Idol" finalists are dreadful songs: "My Destiny" for Katharine, "Do I Make You Proud" for Taylor. Every season I dread the unveiling of the singles, and this was as dreary as usual. That said, as icky as they were, Taylor did more with his than Katharine did with hers. But we'll come back to that.

First round: Taylor's won the coin flip, so Katharine has to go first. She resurrects "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." She stands up more than in her on-the-knees performance from earlier in the show, maybe because of those jeans. She also sings better than before. Last time around, I heard KT Tunstall too much in my head; this time, Katharine seems more confident and assured. I gave it a B plus. The judges, not so impressed.

Taylor follows with "Living for the City,"  which he did well on the show before. This time, he doesn't seem as good (hideous purple jacket aside) and I gave him a B. But the show was selling him a lot harder, the crowd is with him and the judges love it.

Round two: Kat hits "Over the Rainbow" again. And does it well. Another B plus on my card, and the judges are in her camp this time. Of course, the judges — and the show — also don't want this to look like a runaway, and it was Simon who first chose "Over the Rainbow" for Katharine, so she's bound to do all right here. Taylor comes back with "Levon," and he's not very good. Can't seem to put it across. C on my card, Randy complains about pitchy parts and Simon says it's Katharine's round. (Paula sees Taylor's essence. Paula is also especially goofy, but she seems to have recovered from the ouster of former fave Elliott.)

Third round: The singles. Big production, choirs backing the singers, we're supposed to be one with the songs — and … blah. Randy is actually critical of both songs (if not the singers). But this is the moment when an "Idol" performer has to prove he/she can sing anything, no matter how stupid. Taylor is marginally more credible.

I took a break to podcast and am now back. My podcasting buddy, Amy Carlson Gustafson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, is displeased that Katharine and Taylor did not have to sing the same single at some point, contending that's unprecedented — and my memory cells weren't strong enough to provide an argument. Having done some online checking since the podcast ended, I think Clay & Ruben were spared overlapping songs on their final confrontation in Season 2. (And they did release different singles.) But even if they did the same song — or switched, so Taylor did "My Destiny" and Kat did "Do I Make You Proud" — Taylor probably would have sold it better.

So I won't be surprised if the vote goes to Taylor. But on my card, Katharine had the edge tonight.