SEASON FINALE: Against all odds, Axl (Charlie McDermott) is scheduled to graduate. And Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is about to graduate as well – from elementary school to junior high. The good news is, they’re both coming back, along with this underrated sitcom, to make us laugh some more this fall.

Usually, when I point out this 1984 movie, it’s to praise the supporting performances around Robert Redford, playing an overage rookie baseball phenom. Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley, Robert Duvall and others. And this time, I’d be happy to single out Kim Basinger, who plays the tempting bad girl to Close’s angelic good one. But since Randy Newman just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, let’s single him out, because he wrote this movie score. And it’s a wonderful one, too – proving that he too, at this particular venture, was a natural.

SEASON FINALE: Phil’s mother dies in this season-ending episode. That may not sound like an occasion for a lot of laughs – but on this sitcom, it will be.

SEASON FINALE: What starts out as the seemingly routine arrest of a man exposing himself in Central Park turns into something much more complicated – and darker. And also leads for a guest star turn by Lauren Ambrose, who’s been scoring solid guest spots ever since Six Feet Under went, well, six feet under.

SEASON FINALE: Brad Paisley guest stars in tonight’s season one finale. But for me, the two most dramatic things about tonight’s show are a) the ongoing chapters in the stories of Rayna and Juliette (Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere), and b) the good news that ABC has renewed Nashville for a Season 2. More drama! More Connie and Hayden! And more music!