Gail: Hi, everybody. So “American Idol” is over, and oddly, nobody wants to talk about it. I thought the topic would dominate the chat, but I guess everybody’s as tired of Adam-vs.-Kris as I am. By the way, to get these chats started, I have to do several things in the correct sequence, and last week I did it wrong, depriving you of my scintillating intro. So I’m inclined to write extra long today, except my wrists are still tired from live-blogging the “Idol” finale last night. Just in case they quit on me all together, I’d better get on with the questions.

wgmartin: Re Chris’ comment in last week’s chat about lip-sync problems:

If you watch over-the-air digital TV and flick between channels as
often as I do, you’ll find that somewhere between 10 and 40% of the
time, you’ll get an audio/video mismatch causing lip-sync failures
when landing on a digital channel. It will usually clean itself up
if you just do a couple presses of your last-channel button on the
remote. It’s worth trying on cable, too.

But speaking of over-the-air digital TV, why are so few people complaining
about how the signals constantly fail during the recent spate of bad
weather? Digital signals just do NOT work during times of storms,
heavy rain, and high winds. Channel 2’s digital signal was out all
last weekend; channel 9’s set of digital subchannels repeatedly get
lost and have constant audio and video dropouts if the weather is
at all adverse. Even the most powerful signals, like channel 4.1,
get interruptions at the height of the storms

The point is that this violates the whole public-service rationale
of giving a broadcaster a license — if they cannot provide emergency
warnings and announcements when needed, and especially in hazardous
weather conditions, there’s no justification for assigning them
frequencies for exclusive use for broadcasting. When analog totally
disappears, so will most of the emergency-notification capability.

Gail: Or punch in the channel number again. That clears it up when I have tiling.
I think nobody’s complaining about digital signal outages (yet) because not that many people are using over-the-air digital yet. The majority of people, even in St. Louis, have cable or satellite. And everybody who has a box hasn’t hooked it up yet because it’s not necessary yet. (They’d better get started. The switch is June 17.) But think about it: How could the govt./FCC penalize a station for not getting its signal out when it was getting its signal out fine before this cockamamie digital order went out.

Chuck: Hey Gail, very disappointed here. No more Medium? What happened? Were the numbers that bad? No chance anyone will pick it up?

Gail: You may know by now that CBS has picked up “Medium” and will air it at 8 p.m. Fridays, between “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numb3rs.” CBS Studios produces the show. NBC said “Medium” had run its course and was fading. CBS said that was looney. I think it will be a good fit on CBS in that lineup.

wgmartin: Re “The Unit” and its fate, as mentioned in last week’s chat:
I was one of those who gave “The Unit” a serious try when it first
came on. (I worked for the Army for 28 years — an authentic
special-ops program, technically accurate and realistic, would be
something I’d follow fanatically.) But, after the first few episodes,
it degenerated into a series of whiny nonsense about the families
and the storylines became more and more idiotic and unreal, and
technical inaccuracies became more prevalent. I gave up on it and
didn’t even watch any episodes this season, due to my disappointment.
The problem is that having something like this on the air supposedly
devoted to that concept prevents any other program that would really
do it right from being produced, and the aura of failure that will
now hang over the idea from “The Unit” not succeeding will militate
against a better version being produced in the near future.

(But I guess there is *some* hope — after all, a huge pile of lousy
cop shows in the past haven’t prevented an infinite number of new cop
shows being churned out in the hope that some of them will be worthwhile!)

Gail: Yeah, I wasn’t crazy about it either, although I didn’t analyze it that intensely. But “The Unit” had a ton of fans.

Pat: The ending of “Old Christine” last night….was that a cliffhanger or did my VCR shut off too soon?

Gail: I was watching the “American Idol” finale last night. I’m kind of surprised CBS had new episodes on. So sorry, I don’t know. Anybody?

Bob: I watch the neilson rating in the Wed USA Today paper and can’t imagine why CBS could cancel WITHOUT A TRACE as it is always in the top shows. The UNIT is one of my favorites and always did good in their time slot so what is the reason for the cancellation of these two shows, especially WOT which was so popular?

Gail: “Without a Trace” was still did pretty well in the ratings; “The Unit” less well. The issue with “Without a Trace” was that, going into its eighth season, it was very expensive. Ditto for “Cold Case,” going into Season 7. CBS had said it couldn’t afford both, and was able to work out a cost-cutting deal with “Cold Case.” The problem for “The Unit” was more that CBS thought it had new shows that could do better, while “The Unit” had no growth potential.

srs1: In response to Pat’s Christine question, yes it was a clifhanger. The U-verse DVR usually records 90 seconds and 90 seconds after the programs scheduled time.

Gail: Thanks!

garricks: Gail, as you know I watch TV on my computer using a digital tuner with a digital antenna. I can verify what wgmartin says, but my reception is somewhat better. FOX2KTVI has the weakest/lowest-quality signal of the network channels; all of the KETC channels are horrible. I don’t even try to watch them any more.
I do know that I can get better reception by fiddling with the antenna. Sometimes an inch makes all the difference in the world. But the stations better pump up the power before the switchover or there will be mobs in the streets!

Gail: My colleague Tim Barker is covering the digital switch, and I’m going to make sure I hook him up with you guys. I really feel bad for the older folks with rabbit ears who are going to lose a lot of stations when the analog signal cuts out. We should go door to door and help them!

Anita: Where can I find the time listing for “Army Wives”? The Post does not have a week end late night listing. Thank you.

Gail: “Army Wives” begins its new season June 7 on Lifetime. If your cable/satellite doesn’t have an interactive guide, just the scrolling channel, I suggest using online listings like the ones at STLtoday.com/TV. Once you set them up with your ZIP code and provider, they are comprehensive and searchable and will help you find missing shows. By the way, I have a summer TV preview with many dates in Friday’s GO section. Clip ‘n’ save.

david: When will broadcasters stop letting shows run long? I missed the last couple of minutes of the Glee preview this week because Idol ran long preceding it and my DVR cut the end of the show off.

Gail: I could just kick Fox for that. They are the big culprit with “Idol,” claiming, well, live shows can run long, but I think they’re doing it deliberately. That’s fine, but admit it and give the listings services the correct running time. “Idol” was supposed to run a minute into “Glee,” which my DVR reflected, but it actually ran three minutes long.
By the way, “Glee” is currently free on iTunes, so rush to grab it before it goes away. And don’t stop believin’.

Jim Amos: Was that the last episode of the year for “24″?

Gail: Yeah, that was the season finale. The ending sucked, didn’t it? As I complained, 24 hours and they still couldn’t save time for an ending that ended it?

ndoz: What is the future of Scrubs? How can this show survive without Zack Braff?

Gail: I don’t understand the renewal of “Scrubs,” either. And I haven’t heard from many fans who think it’s that great an idea. Zach Braff has promised to come back for several episodes, as will Sarah Chalke. But Neil Flynn (Janitor) and Christa Miller have new series.

Jerry: I don’t understand why Fox 2 refused to re-run Prison Break after weather histeria messed it up so bad. If you spent four seasons following this story I think you deserved at least to see the end without them breaking in every 2 seconds. & BTW — did it have to end that way?

Gail: The station didn’t think the interruptions were that bad. Many of you did. I can’t weigh in, as I’d already seen it on DVD, provided by Fox. But it’s not going to happen, so I suggest Hulu or the DVD set about to come out.
About the end — I liked it. Yes, it was sad, but everybody was happy and it was nice to see them like that. And what a cute little boy!

garricks: Which of the new Fall shows have you seen? Are any of them promising?

Gail: I haven’t seen any of them yet, but people who were at Fox’s upfront presentation really liked “Modern Family,” a comedy with Ed O’Neill. Today, some also enjoyed clips from the CW’s “Melrose Place.” I learned long ago not to guess about what I’d like or hate based on the networks’ glowing descriptions. They usually send the pilots out right after the upfronts, so I could be getting some shortly. And ABC streams its review material now, so that might be even quicker.

Tom: I have noticed that lately, KSDK has been interupting its own morning newscasts as well as the Today Show with commercials that play at the wrong time. It is highly annoying and can’t beleive that NBC wouldnt come down on them for this.

Gail: Channel 5 is having a terrible problem with that. So are other stations, but Channel 5’s mistakes seem to be the worst. I’m sure this is a sign of the economic times. I too know about the perils of trying to do more with less.

realistic1: I went to high school with Kris Allen’s parents so I was happy with him winning. I thought last nights show was awesome. Do you think the backlash from last year’s finale led to them bringing in a lot of different styles of talent, new and old? I don’t remember them having all of the finalists last year sing on the finale, did they do that last year also?

Gail: I don’t even remember a backlash from last year’s finale. It did strike me that last night’s performances skewed old — well, “classic.” Actually, the viewership of “American Idol” is older than you might think, which has been a concern to Fox. That also may be partly why Kris won over Adam.

BK: What becomes of Flashpoint? I have not seen it listed on the fall schedules.

Gail: “Flashpoint” remains in production, CBS says, and will probably air next summer. It’s a Canadian show that CBS bought. Did well in its summer outing, not as well in season.

majigail: KETC is working on their digital antenna. They were going to do all the work around the time of the original mandated switch, but pushed it back. to the time of the new mandated switch. I’m pretty sure that is the case anyway.

Gail: But isn’t it also true that they’re now not making the signal as powerful as planned, because of cost? They should have a pledge drive just for their tower.

Mel: Do you think ‘The Mentalist’ will be hurt by moving to Thursdays at 9 p.m. when it was originally in an 8 p.m. time slot (Tuesday)? Also, what do you think the reasoning is for CBS moving around their Monday night sitcoms? ‘Big Bang Theory’ moved from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., is this a good sign or bad?

Just curious. Thanks for keeping me up to date with all my shows!

Gail: Some people do think “The Mentalist” will be hurt at 9 p.m. Thursdays, but I think it’s a good fit with “CSI” and a natural move. “Big Bang Theory” will be helped by following “Two and a Half Men” — but I don’t think they pair all that well; I like it better with “How I Met Your Mother.” Maybe it’s also that I don’t like “Two and a Half Men.”

Matt: What did you think of the Lost finale? They definitely changed things up going into the final season…

Gail: I thought it was great and have it saved to watch again at some point. Did you hear ABC say this week that Juliet isn’t necessarily dead just because Elizabeth Mitchell has a new show (”V”), that she can do both? I guess Juliet would be alive if the bomb did what Daniel said it would do.
I can’t believe we have to wait till February for more, and that it will be the last season.

majigail: Ok, so after My Name is Earl was unceremoniously dumped from NBC and countless others were cancelled after season finales were shot, I’d like to start a lobby that urges the networks to give shows that have been on three years or more enough notices to create a meaningful SERIES finale. Are you with me?

Gail: When I hear a show is canceled, I immediately stop watching it. Wow, I just realized that’s true. But when a show like “Prison Break” or “ER” ends its run, I do watch the finale. So you clearly have a point. I don’t know what would be in it for the networks, though, except building viewer loyalty, which they clearly don’t care about.

Erin Smith: So do you think Izzy and George are both really dead on Grey’s? I’m still crying about this a week later, and I know they had both complained, but did the characters have to die? They were my favorites.

Gail: “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes won’t say anything about the death toll in the “Grey’s Anatomy” season finale. Some fans say George is dead (because he was in his uniform, with honors, at the elevator where Dead Denny always was) but Izzie is probably alive because of — well, whatever. But please promise me you’ll stop crying.

Alex: When Does “Glee” Start On FOX?? I Saw The First Episode On Monday & IT IS FANTASTIC! The Music Is Incredible! By The Way Is - Privileged Canceled??
Gail: “Glee” debuts in the fall (probably early fall, before the baseball playoffs) on “Fox.” The preview — fantastic! — was to whet our appetites. It’s free this very minute on iTunes, and two of the songs are available for .99 cent download.

And yes, the CW confirmed today that “Privileged” is canceled.

shers: Hi Gail, love everything you do!
But what about Lost? Nobody discussed last week, and you didn’t do anything special. It’s crazy! I’ve had to resort to reading TVGuides recap.

Gail: Thanks!
Don’t you read Doc Jensen’s “Lost” recaps on EW.com? They are brilliant. I just don’t have the time to do full recaps, and people always complain about spoilers so much. But I was surprised, too, that nobody mentioned “Lost” in the chat last week, because it was all we were talking about. I can’t answer questions/comments I don’t get.

gusmcrae1: Harper’s Island was cancelled–but will all the episodes air? I’m almost ashamed to admit I’m hooked!

Gail: “Harper’s Island” wasn’t canceled; it was moved to Saturdays and then preempted last week, presumably because May sweeps was going on and CBS thought it could do better with reruns. But it’s back this Saturday. Fingers crossed that CBS will let it run for all 13 episodes.

garricks: Speaking of “Prison Break,” I noticed at IMDB there are two unaired episodes, and a little research told me they cover some of the years between their exoneration and the final scene. Some sources say they’ll be shown two weeks from Tuesday, others say it will be direct-to-DVD in July…do you have any scoop? Not that I really want to revisit it, I’m mostly relieved it’s over and I wish it had ended as the creators envisioned, after the second season.

Gail: Those two episodes are about Sara in prison and the others breaking her out. I really don’t want to go there. I was happy with her and her little boy living wherever. Last I heard, the episodes would be on DVD. The schedule I have from Fox doesn’t go that far out.

majigail: Aside from Glee, what new fall show are you most looking forward to?

Gail: I didn’t see any that made me say, wow, I can’t wait to watch that one. Of course, when I heard about “The West Wing” or “Mad Men,” I didn’t think that either. So I’ll have to wait and see.

Matt B: GP; The Non-Lambert guy on AI won because he got the Gookey vote. One Gookey didn’t make it his fans probably voted for the more…ummm, conservative…of the remaining 2.
I don’t watch Idol regularly and I didn’t even know there was another contestant until the final show. I had thought it was Gookey and Lambert based on media reports from weeks ago.
Gail: Gookey is such a great name. It’s Gokey, though.
We’ve all heard the Gokey-to-Allen theory. That’s why Allen’s win was being predicted yesterday.

majigail: I heard there’s talk of a MacGruber (SNL) movie. Can you confirm that this is the worst idea ever?

Gail: Here’s how out-of-touch with “SNL” I am. I don’t know who/what that is.

srs1: So what is up with shows switching networks? Scrubs last year, Medium this year, and I understand Earl was at one time rumored to be on Fox. This never seemed to happen. Why now? Is it the network giving up on shows too soon, or is the production advatage that great that the same or lower ratings provide that much more of an advantage?

Gail: There were more rumors of network-switching this year than there turned out to be. Only “Medium” moved, unless Fox still picks up “Earl” at some point. The advantage of airing shows that your own studio produces is that you make more money — if they’re hits. If they flop, and some other studio produces them, that studio takes the hit. So there’s no clear answer on which is better.

Gail: OK, guys, that’s it for today. Thanks for all the great questions and comments that came in live today! I didn’t even have to hell across the room: “Hey, somebody ask me a question!” (As if I’d do that….) I’m unplugging for a long weekend after working 60-plus hours this week, but I’ll be back with you here next Thursday. That discussion is already scheduled, so put your comments and questions up when you think of them.