1. 90210: That noise you just heard was 90210 finally getting interesting thanks to the introduction of Naomi’s new fast and furious guy candy (can we trademark that moniker?) Liam and Silver, who went from zero-to-crazy in less than sixty minutes.

2. LIFE ON MARS: As much as we’d like to applaud executive producers Josh Appelbaum, Scott Rosenberg and André Nemec for ending the American version of LIFE ON MARS on their own terms, it would help if we had a better understanding as to what exactly those terms were.

3. SUPERNATURAL: Regardless of whether you’re a “Sam Girl” or a “Dean Girl,” this TV Addict’s fairly confident that neither camp is complaining about Thursday’s seriously meta and super hilarious installment of SUPERNATURAL.

4. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: From the gut-wrenching play that lost the Dillon Panthers the State Championship in the closing seconds of the game to Tyra Collete’s heartbreaking college entrance essay, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS continues to be the best show on television nobody is watching.

5. TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES: And speaking of shows nobody is watching, our kudos of the week goes to TERMINATOR show-runner Josh Friedman for not only managing to keep a lid on one of the biggest surprises of the season, but for doing what BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Ronald D. Moore failed to do — pull a ‘Whedon’ by killing off a major character in a minor way.

6. ER: In what we can only assume is an unfortunate sign that ER should have checked out years ago, the hour-long retrospective that aired prior to the two-hour series finale packed a far more emotional punch than the episode in itself.

7. GLEE Trailer: If “being a part of something special makes you special” GLEE stars Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Company are in for one helluva ride. That, and can FOX get their actor together and please release a “Don’t Stop Believin’ single on iTunes so I can stop re-playing this trailer again and again and again.

In what is sure to go down as one of the most literal endings in television history, Sam Tyler and Co. ended their seventeen episode journey known as LIFE ON MARS last night, doing just that. And whether you loved it, loathed it, or are still scratching your head over it — this TV Addict can’t help but feel that in this era of cancel-happy-television-executives — serious kudos must be paid to executive producers Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg for providing fans with any ending at all.

Clearly, Appelbaum and Rosenberg get it. As evidence by the fact that not only did they make good on their promise to write and produce a fifteen minute ending to their prematurely canceled series OCTOBER ROAD (which will be included on the second season DVD coming out in MAY), they took the time out of their insanely busy schedule while up in Toronto shooting their new two-hour pilot HAPPY TOWN for ABC to provide a little insight as to what went wrong with LIFE ON MARS and what it’s like developing and creating shows in this increasingly challenging and constantly changing television landscape.

To start us off, I just wanted to take a moment to say how impressed I am with your level of commitment to your fans. It’s not everyday that showrunners will take the time to promote a show that has already been cancelled.
Scott Rosenberg: We are those guys who will just continue to kick a dead horse. We love our dead horses so much that we still believe.

Josh Appelbaum: We’ve also been fans of so many shows that we’ve been in that position where you’re watching something, it gets cancelled and there is no resolution and it’s so f*cking frustrating. Fans have been so great with this show, as they were with OCTOBER ROAD and to not have given them some conclusion would be ridiculous.

Scott Rosenberg: The one thing that I really truly believe with all my heart, the one thing that all of our fans have in common is that they have impeccable, impeccable f*cking taste and they need to be rewarded for that taste!

Josh Appelbaum: Yeah the show’s gone but with all these things [such as DVD, iTunes etc.] they’ll live on forever.

On the surface, LIFE ON MARS seemed the perfect show for the times. It was essentially an easy-to-follow procedural with an interesting mythology woven in. What went wrong?
Scott Rosenberg: Oh boy where do we begin? I think it’s a combination of things. I don’t necessarily know that it was best network for it. LIFE ON MARS was very very different and I think that because it was wholly original actually kind of hurt it. The whole notion of 1973 to us is wildly cool, too all of us who grew up on Sydney Lumet movies, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino films, it’s almost like a cinematic thing. But most people couldn’t give a sh*t about 1973. And also there was maybe not enough sci-fi for the sci-fi fans, too much for those that weren’t interested and not enough cops for the cop people.

And Josh [Appelbaum] has always said that he thinks the title was a problem. As cool as it is, it’s like what the hell? if you’re a casual viewers… LIFE ON MARS, what am I watching? And I think that we got a tremendous sampling, the pilot a lot of people watched and they didn’t just come back. And I think that they knew that the central question wasn’t going to be answered quickly, which was what is Sam doing in 1973. Bbut again, all these things that were different and unique, I think it needed more time. I do believe that if they [ABC executives] had given us a second season and the DVD had come out and they pumped the DVD, it’s only 17 hours so it’s not like a tremendous commitment, I think things might have been different this year.

Josh Appelbaum: I hate to invoke this, but it was invoked so many times to us, in the state of the world we’re living in I don’t think ABC was in the position to take a gamble on something that wasn’t making them money. Understandably. So if this were different times I’m sure everyone would have stuck with it even if it wasn’t profitable in the short term.

I post ratings on my web site everyday, and on a daily basis we see how quality fare such as DOLLHOUSE and TERMINATOR are getting trounced by the likes of SUPERNANNY and WIFE SWAP. Is it disheartening as a showrunner who put their heart and soul into a project to see a high-concept show like KINGS premiere to virtually nobody?
Scott Rosenberg: It’s really really tricky. We’re shooting one now [a two-hour pilot called HAPPY TOWN for ABC] and it’s the same thing. Already we’re asking, is our fate decided? I actually have this fear when they figure out exactly what goes on with DVR and everything else that OCTOBER ROAD will have been bigger than MASH, and nobody knew it at the time because they hadn’t figured out a way to measure. Do you remember Josh? We did a panel at like UCLA or USC with the cast [of OCTOBER ROAD] and there were 300 kids in the audience, fans of the show and we asked, how many watched live on broadcast — nobody raised their hand. How many watched on ABC.com — half the room raised there hand. How many watched on iTunes — a third of the room raised their hand. It was crazy. Nobody was watching it live. They [the networks] need to find a way to track that and monetize that and if we don’t, we’re all finished.

Does that thought keep you up at night?
Scott Rosenberg:The most frightening thing of all is that we’re living in a climate right now were literally there would not be HILL STREET BLUES, SEINFELD, CHEERS of even MASH. These shows that didn’t come out of the gate fully loaded but because they were allowed a couple of seasons to spread their wings, they endured. Who knows, I haven’t watched it yet, but KINGS may have become HILL STREET. It may become this wildly influence piece of television if it was twenty years ago. And now, I’m assuming it will get cancelled. But we’ll never know. It’s really scary that we’re living in a world where these shows are no longer allowed to flower.

Have you ever thought of taking a page from Joss Whedon’s playbook, cutting out the network and creating a show and putting it online?
Scott Rosenberg: We’re faaarrrr too lazy!

Josh Appelbaum: [Laughs] we don’t have as much energy as Joss Whedon!

Scott Rosenberg: We don’t even know how the internet works! Can you imagine. No, our thing is we really love doing it and we want to hit a home run so we’ll just keep trying as long as they let us. But I think at a certain point they’ll stop letting us.

AMERICAN IDOL (9PM FOX, CTV in Canada)
Our prediction: It’s not a good night to have the letter “M” in your name with Megan Joy, Matt Giraud and Scott MacIntyre being our odds on favorites to end up in the bottom three.

LOST (9PM ABC, “A” in Canada)
In an effort to help save twelve-year-old Ben’s life, Kate beings to reveal the truth to Jack about the lie she told in order to protect Aaron. No wonder they call it lost.

LIFE ON MARS (10PM ABC, GlobalTV in Canada)
In the series finale, a mysterious caller offers Sam a chance to return to 2008, but a confusing set of circumstances makes him wonder whether he even wants to do it. Not the least of which being… it’s now 2009!

DAMAGES (10PM FX)
Just how big is tonight’s second season finale of DAMAGES? 97 minutes big long, so set your PVR/DVR’s accordingly.

NEW & NOTABLE:
I GET THAT A LOT (8PM CBS)
As much as CBS might think it’s hilarious to trick average folk into thinking celebrities have assumed ordinary jobs. Just how far off really is Jessica Simpson from working behind a counter? We’re just sayin’

SOUTH PARK (8PM CBS)
An April Fool’s joke goes bad on tonight’s episode of SOUTH PARK. Kinda like the TV Addict’s gag from earlier today.

DRAG RACE HIGH (10PM Speed)
Rival High Schools build their own dragsters to race in front of friends and family. Proving once again, that boy did our parents send us to the wrong high school.

1) So you can kick yourself for not having watched sooner. Especially the last 7 or 8 minutes, with executive producers Josh Applebaum and Scott Rosenberg promising in an interview with Michael Ausiello that, “There is a very clear and definitive answer as to what his journey has been about and how all the pieces over the past 17 hours play into that journey.” Adding, “If there’s one thing we feel pretty good about it’s that in the afterlife of LIFE ON MARS on DVD or wherever, it will exist as a cohesive, complete thought that will all make sense.”

2) Because even if you weren’t there for the beginning, you’ll be there for the end. Which means after you’ve finished kicking yourself for not having jumped on the LIFE ON MARS bandwagon sooner, you’ll have already saved $1.99 when you inevitably head on over to iTunes to download the rest of the series.

3) This may be your last chance to see Harvey Keitel on TV for a while. As he joins the long line of big screen stars (including: Ray Liotta and Christian Slater and Geena Davis) who couldn’t cut it on the small screen.

4) Both CSI: NY and LAW & ORDER are repeats.

5) So you’ll appreciate it all the more when theTVaddict.com runs our exclusive LIFE ON MARS post-mortem interview with showrunners Josh Applebaum and Scott Rosenberg tomorrow.

6) Inspired by frequent commenter Todd W in NC, Reason #6 is that ABC should be rewarded (read: with viewers) for allowing the LIFE ON MARS team enough time to craft a genuine ending for the series. Something networks far too often (read: almost always) fail to do.

Don’t miss the LIFE ON MARS series finale airing Wednesday April 1 at 10PM on ABC (GlobalTV in Canada)

LIFE ON MARS (10PM ABC)
WEST WING Alum Alert! Janel Moloney (aka. the artist formerly known as Donna Moss) guest stars as a political-science professor who may-or-may-not be tied to a group of student radicals.

NEW & NOTABLE:
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (8PM AMC)
At the risk of losing all credibility, we’re just gonna say it. We enjoyed TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES.

AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (8PM CW)
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas when Tyra selects the Top 13 contestants out of 34 would-be models and moves them to a loft in New York.

MOST DARING (9PM TruTV)
Most daring or most stupid? You decide when tonight’s installment of MOST DARING offers up tips on how to turn your school science project into a weapon. Really?

Good News: After months of build up, webisodes and tweets, Jimmy Fallon’s LATE NIGHT adventure begins tonight. Bad News: At this point, there is only about a 30% chance that this TV Addict will be able to stay wake until 12:35AM.

Good News: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION alum Levar Burton had an impromptu Tweetup in Toronto this evening. Bad News: Burton neglected to give this TV Addict (and recovering Trekkie) enough time to make it downtown, clearly forgetting that transporter technology only works on TV! [Click for Pic!]

LIFE ON MARS (10PM ABC, Global in Canada)
As if newspapers aren’t having a rough enough time as it is, this evening’s LIFE ON MARS puts another nail in print media’s coffin by quite literally killing off a newspaper columnist. Ouch!

AMERICAN IDOL (8PM FOX, ABC in Canada)
The only thing we can promise you with regards to tonight’s second set of 12 semifinalists is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie most definitely will not be watching.

NEW & NOTABLE:
DAMAGES (10PM FX)
“They had to Tweeze that out of my kidney” gets our award for tonight’s ickiest episode title.

CRIMINAL MINDS (9PM CBS)
In these dire economic times, should we really be punishing a prostitute whose only crime is luring and murdering ethically bankrupt business executives? Discuss.

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (8PM CBS)
Left to her own devices, Christine attempts to prove she can take care of herself. Something tells us this won’t be pretty.

GARY UNMARRIED (8:30PM CBS)
We love shows with creative episode titles. This is not one of those shows. In fact, the title of tonight’s episode — “Gary And Dennis’ Sister” — either tells you everything you need to know about the plot or tells me you’re perhaps not smart enough for a better program.

LOST (9PM ABC)
To say that this show has become wildly confusing would be an understatement on the level of “Sometimes, one can spot blue in the sky during the daytime.” But that’s not a complaint by any stretch of the imagination. Given how dumbed-down 90 percent of television is these days, we’ll take a complicated story that keeps us guessing and using our brains any day. This week, Locke gets it into his head that he can stop the island from hop-scotching through time.

LIFE ON MARS (10:02PM ABC, Global in Canada)
What does it mean that both of tonight’s shows with LIFE in their title feature plots revolving around rock stars? Perhaps only that endless episodes of LOST have left me looking for conspiracies and hidden meanings. In any case, Wallace Shawn guests as an FBI agent known as The Sorcerer, and Sam thinks he may have found a way to get back to his own time. Seeing as this is not the last episode, we kinda doubt it.

DAMAGES (10PM FX)
To be honest, this season got off to a bit of a slow start. But things are cookin’ with gas now that we’re tying in plot threads from season one and Patty has someone — Walter Kendrick — to sink her teeth into. Tonight, Patty wages a war against Kendrick in the modern-day equivalent of Thunderdome: The media!

NEW & NOTABLE:
KNIGHT RIDER (8PM NBC)
What horrible sin did Justin Bruening commit to go from the mess that is ALL MY CHILDREN to the mess that is this show? These are the things that I ponder late at night. Meanwhile, ONE TREE HILL alum Maria Menounos (she was Keith’s almost-bride, Julie) guest stars as a DEA agent who arrests our hero following a fake plane crash and a real kidnapping.

CRIMINAL MINDS (9PM CBS)
Parting is such sad, sweet sorrow. Unless, of course, you embalm your victims so you can hang out with them a little longer. In that case, well, don’t be surprised if you find out the hard way that the old axiom about houseguests being like fish in that they both start to stink after a couple days is true.

LIFE (9PM NBC)
The lead singer of a heavy metal band suffocates. Why does my first thought go to “hairball?”

TOP CHEF (10PM Bravo)
You know it’s getting close to the end of the season when you get two celebrity (in foodie circles, anyway) judges. This is the last episode before the finale begins unspooling, so place your bets. And if you’re betting against Stefan, I have a poker game I’d like to invite you to.

GENERAL HOSPITAL (10PM SOAPnet)
You know, the mobsters on this show — meaning just about every male and half the females — could really solve a lot of their problems if they simply, you know, killed their enemies. Anthony should have had a bullet in his brain ages ago, but instead, he gets yet another chance to slip away from Sonny and Jason tonight. Meanwhile, can anyone tell us what these mobsters actually, you know, do to make their money? We know Sonny doesn’t get involved with drugs or prostitution. So, um, what exactly is his racquet?

LIE TO ME (9PM FOX, Global in Canada)
The murder of a federal judge’s teen daughter leads the Lightman Group to her highly competitive prep school. Nelly Yuki Get a Grip!

LIFE ON MARS (10PM ABC, Global in Canada)
Notorious “show killer” Eric Balfour drops by LIFE ON MARS just in time to live up to his namesake. D’oh!

NEW & NOTABLE:
DAMAGES (10PM FX)
Patty beings to suspect that Ellen may have an eating disorder. Oh wait, that’s just what we suspect! Actually, Patty begins to suspect Ellen’s true motives for returning to the firm.

GEORGE CARLIN: THE MARK TWAIN PRIZE (9PM PBS)
George Carlin quite literally gets the last laugh when he’s posthumously awarded the 11th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Among those paying tribute to the comedic genius tonight include Bill Maher, Denis Leary, Garry Shandling, Joan Rivers, Jon Stewart, Lewis Black, Lily Tomlin, Margaret Cho and Richard Belzer.