NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
The Top 6 contenders perform for the right to continue. Meanwhile, now that American Idol is over for the year, its unsurprising announcements of which judges will not be returning makes this show’s lineup a model of consistency – even with, and maybe especially with, the announced revolving-door returns of Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, followed by the returns of their temporary replacements, Usher and Shakira. Meanwhile, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine hold firm – as do the ratings for The Voice.
ABC Family, 8:00 p.m. ET
SERIES FINALE: 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton, who also created this ABC Family series, says thank you and goodbye with this finale episode – titled, fittingly, “Thank You and Goodbye.” Tonight’s episode, the last in a series that began in 2008, is most notable not for wrapping up the plot line, but for freeing up its star, the talented Shailene Woodley, who broke out opposite George Clooney in 2011’s The Descendants. And she won’t be hurting for work, or for attention: Next year she stars in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, playing Mary Jane Watson.
Showtime 2, 8:00 p.m. ET
For those with access to Showtime 2, I just wanted to point out this prime-time opportunity to catch this instant repeat of last weekend’s new documentary profile of Richard Pryor. It’s loaded with valuable interviews, from Robin Williams to Mel Brooks, and includes a piece of footage that’s new to me, and fascinating: unused footage of Pryor’s post-flameout comeback concert movie, taken during the first night, when things didn’t go well.
TNT, 8:30 p.m. ET
This series has been so even that no team, regardless of home-court advantage, has won two consecutive games. The Indiana Pacers even things up in Saturday’s Game 6, forcing tonight’s must-win Game 7, with the Miami Heat playing before its home crowd. But will Miami’s LeBron James be playing alone, or will the rest of his teammates finally rise to the occasion and find a way to get around Indiana’s stifling defense? Either way, this ought to be one extremely intense game of basketball.
Syfy, 10:00 p.m. ET
One surprise served up long ago by this series was the appearance of a time-traveling H.G. Wells into the continuing story line. Another, even more imaginative surprise was the revelation – fictitious, but fascinating – that Wells actually was a female writer hiding behind her initials, and that the “H” stood for Helena. With Wells played by Jaime Murray, who bedeviled Dexter Morgan as the deadly and unpredictable Lila on Dexter, every appearance by Wells is worth watching, and cheering – and tonight, there’s another. All of which is a lengthy way of saying that this evening, once again, Syfy is going back to the Wells.