Posted on: Monday, May 16, 2005

Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"Everybody Loves Raymond" finale, 8 p.m., CBS; also, "Everybody Loves Raymond: The Last Laugh," 7 p.m. TV's best current situation comedy says goodbye tonight. Details of the final episode have been kept secret. Producer Phil Rosenthal says he wrote the finale more than a year ago. He's sticking to a half-hour (following an hour-long preview), with no gimmicks or surprises. Then again, "Raymond" has always been gimmick-free TV. Many episodes simply have six people in a couple of rooms, talking and fuming. The writers and actors have a wonderful sense of each character's quirks. "Raymond" has remained dry, droll and terribly funny.

OF NOTE

"The Bachelor," 7 p.m., ABC. The previous bachelors were separated from their choices for months before the finale aired. Charlie O'Connell has it easier. He has continued to date his final two. Tonight, we see tapes of the dates and then his choice aired live. The bachelor is 30, an actor and the brother of actor Jerry O'Connell. The finalists are Krisily, 25, a Rhode Island salon coordinator, and Sarah B., 24, a Texas nurse.

"Hercules," 7 p.m., NBC. Remember the epics of old with wooden acting and shoddy effects? Even with good actors and great visuals this story isn't much. Paul Telfer is an impressive Hercules with fine support from Leelee Sobieski, Timothy Dalton, Sean Astin and more. The special-effect monsters are fierce. The New Zealand settings are glorious. What fails is the classic story itself. It's wildly overwrought with characters so sure of their destinies that little humanity remains.

"7th Heaven," 7 p.m., WB. Here's the start of a two-parter. Matt knows that his sister is getting a divorce. Now he has to find a way to tell their dad.

"24," 8 p.m., Fox. As the series nears its finale, we learn more about the original plan to kidnap the defense secretary (William Devane).

"Two and a Half Men," 8:30 p.m., CBS. When "Raymond" is gone next season, this show will probably get that 8 p.m. slot. It's less subtle than "Raymond," but often just as funny. Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer are perfect as the mirror-opposite brothers, Charlie and Alan. Tonight, they feel guilty because Alan's son is being watched by the mom (Holland Taylor) who botched their own childhoods.

"American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till," 9 p.m., PBS. In an uncharacteristic move, PBS has switched tonight's episode. A rerun about TV's quiz-show scandals was scheduled, but it has been replaced by this rerun examining the 1955 slaying of a 14-year-old boy accused of whistling at a white woman. Till's death helped spark the civil-rights movement.

"CSI: Miami," 9 p.m., CBS. Eric Roberts plays a guy who may get off death row unless Horatio can find fresh evidence.