Michael Emerson, Lost
The pieces are being moved into place as ABC's Lost tees up its two-hour season finale (Wednesday, starting at 9 pm/ET). While Jack and Sayid pal around with Jughead and submariner Sawyer and his ladies somehow manage an about-face, Ben has been left to join Locke on a journey to meet — and perhaps kill — the mysterious and mighty Jacob.
Michael Emerson, who previously has described the season-ender as "explosive," shared a cryptic look at what exactly it beholds.
TVGuide.com: We have two hours left in the season. Is it going to take Locke, Ben and Richard 119 minutes to get to Jacob?
Michael Emerson: It's going to take a while. I mean, we've been making our way to Jacob for a long, long time. I think we can last a little bit longer.
TVGuide.com: Is it safe to say we will meet him in this finale?
Emerson: Jacob is certainly ...
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Merik Tadros with Cote de Pablo, NCIS
There are just two episodes to go in this season of CBS' NCIS, and playing a sizable role in them is Michael Rivkin, the Mossad agent who last week surfaced in bed alongside Ziva. This Tuesday, Tony finally gets some quality face time with Rivkin, and it's unlikely either gent will be smiling. Merik Tadros, who plays Rivkin, shared a look at what's to come.
TVGuide.com: So, the elusive Michael Rivkin is now among us....
Merik Tadros: [Laughs] Yes, apparently so.
TVGuide.com: Did they tell you, back during [the Season 6 premiere] "Last Man Standing," that they had plans for you to return, but that you'd have to sit tight?
Tadros: The way they set it up, I figured I would make some sort of comeback at one point, but I never knew when it was going to be. I had no idea.
TVGuide.com: You have not exactly endeared yourself to fans landing in bed with Ziva.
Tadros: Yeah, I had a sense that people would probably be angry ...
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Joan Rivers with Apprentice boss Donald Trump
Sunday's ratings snippets:
8 pm/ET
An audience of 10.43 million total viewers looked on as The Amazing Race crossed its latest finish line. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition followed with 8.2 mil (slipping 11 percent week-to-week).
The three(!)-hour Celebrity Apprentice finale averaged 8.73 mil (on par with last week) but surged in the 10 o'clock hour to... well, you'll see what it accomplished a few seconds later in this story.
9 pm
Desperate Housewives' penultimate episode of the season drew 12.13 mil, plunging 10 percent from last week. In second, Cold Case concluded its sixth cycle before an audience of 11.78 mil, dipping 680K.
10 pm
The final hour of the Apprentice finale played to 10.24 million viewers, besting the season enders for both The Unit (9.66 mil, down 300K) and Brothers & Sisters (8.84 mil, down 270K). That hissing sound you hear is the Donald's ego re-inflating.
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Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese, Supernatural
For the few of you who have recovered from "When the Levee Breaks," it's time now to start prepping for Supernatural's Season 4 finale. And here is a sneak peek.
Airing May 14, "Lucifer Rising" finds the brothers nearing the end of their long-dreaded (by fans) collision course. Here is the official logline for the season-ender:
"Dealing with the aftermath of a newly created, crushing rift in their relationship, Sam and Dean each race down a different path to try to stop the impending apocalypse from happening. Guest stars include Jim Beaver as Bobby, Genevieve Cortese as Ruby, Misha Collins as Castiel, Katherine Boecher as Lilith, Kurt Fuller as Zachariah and Rob Benedict as Chuck.
As reminded in this week's Mega Buzz, "Lucifer Rising" was written and directed by series creator Eric Kripke.
Make the jump to watch a tormented Sam confabs with Ruby about what he "must do."
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Kathryn Morris, Cold Case
This Sunday at 9 pm/ET, CBS' Cold Case wraps up its two-part Season 6 finale, in which the investigation of the 2005 murder of a female military-school cadet has dug up haunting memories for Detective Lilly Rush. On top of that, Part 1 ended with Lilly's car being forced off a bridge! Series star Kathryn Morris gave us a preview of Lilly's life-and-death crisis, and what other surprises are ahead as the season winds down. Also: Are Cold Case's chances for renewal heating up?See everything Morris had to share, after the jump.
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NCIS' Mark Harmon and Cote de Pablo
In Part 1 of our in-depth Q&A with NCIS boss Shane Brennan, he shared the secret to creating a "Legend," as in the two-part spin-off pilot that kicked off April 28 and wraps up this Tuesday at 8 pm/ET.
Here in Part 2, Brennan reveals his plan to match if not top last year's season finale, teases the arrival of a trouble-making newcomer, and ponders the future of "Tiva."
TVGuide.com: When we spoke back in December, already you were teasing this season's finale (airing May 19) as "jaw-dropping," saying it would set up a "stunning" Season 7 premiere. Is that still the plan?
Shane Brennan: It is definitely the plan. We filmed a secret ending, and those pages were only in one copy of the script. People will see the finale and say, "I know what's going to happen next in the first episode back." Wrong. You don't ...
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"Cuddy has a complicated relationship with men, it seems," says Edelstein. "She likes the screwed-up ones!"
Coming up this week on Fox's House (Mondays, 8 pm/ET), at least one sect of 'shippers will have their wildest dream come true when Dr. Crankpot and Cuddy (presumably) leave their animus on the nightstand in the name of getting horizontal.
"It's a pretty hot scene," Lisa Edelstein, who plays Cuddy, tells TVGuide.com. When we asked the actress if the characters' coupling was "good" and thus worth the long (long) wait, she answered ...
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Alimi Ballard, Numbers
This week on Numbers (Fridays, 10 pm/ET), the CBS drama marks its 100th-episode milestone with a case that harkens back to Day 1, when a serial rapist vexed Don and Charlie. Original cast member Alimi Ballard, who week in and week out offers formidable back-up as Agent David Sinclair, gave TVGuide.com a look at the very creepy case to come, raved about the Fonz's utter coolness, and teased a season finale that will leave fans — and a very important something — hanging.
TVGuide.com: A lot of shows seem to be celebrating their 100th episode these days. What is Numbers doing special for the fans this week?
Alimi Ballard: We have a lot of humor, we have a lot of pizzazz, we have Josh Gad [returning as conspiracy theorist Roy McGill].... Numbers is going to be its most fantastic self, as much as humanly possible.
TVGuide.com: And that involves giving longtime viewers a sense of déjà vu, back to the series' very first episode?
Ballard: It's more than creepy. I don't want to give anything away, but it's ...
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Amy Brenneman
All is not entirely well with the Oceanside Wellness gang as ABC's Private Practice serves up its second season finale this Thursday at 10 pm/ET. As Addison fights her feelings for married dad-to-be Noah and one of their own "betrays" the practice, pregnant Violet is thrust to a genuinely shocking set of circumstances. Amy Brenneman spoke with TVGuide.com about where her complicated shrink has been and where she is about to go.
TVGuide.com: First off, congratulations on the Season 3 pick-up. Were you concerned at all?
Amy Brenneman: Uh, no. No. Not really. It would have been odd if we didn't [get picked up].
TVGuide.com: How do you think Violet has changed since Season 1? Was there anything you had hoped for or asked for?
Brenneman: In Season 1 we met Violet at a pretty heightened point in her life, and I always thought she's not go to stay in this place of feel jilted and hysterical. I told [series creator] Shonda [Rhimes], "Listen, I will do whatever you want ...
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Erica Durance
Now that "Stiletto" has kicked up her heels and gotten some good phone from the Blur, the CW's Smallville (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET) is just three weeks from its Season 8 finale. Here in Part 2 of our Q&A, Erica Durance shares a glimpse at the season-ender, in which Clark and Doomsday will go toe-to-toe (or at least cotton windbreaker-to-bony protrusions)
TVGuide.com: Before we tease the season finale, I want to rewind a bit and talk about the episode "Hex." To accurately play Lois-as-Chloe, did you work with Allison Mack, or did you study her mannerisms from afar? The result was pretty spot-on.
Erica Durance: Thank you for that. I was duly nervous to do that because of how good Allison is, and also because I know that the fans love the Chloe character. So I really wanted to make sure that I gave it my best effort. I did two things: I studied a lot of Allison's episodes, from this year specifically. And then, and this was really lovely, she would run over and ...
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