Source:www.jimippolito.com

OK, it's the end of the TV season, so to speak, although these days there aren't any traditional seasons since shows can start and end at any time.

So now it's time for the expected "cliffhangers" and open-ended final episodes designed to keep viewers eager to see next season's shows.

It's no surprise that number of TV viewers has gone down by an estimated average of 2.5 million per show. Let's face it, there really isn't all that much on that's worth watching despite, as is the case with my digital cable system, 2 bazillion channels from which to choose.

But regardless of the plethora of crap that's on there are sill a few shows that are marginally worth watching and they will be back next season because, after all they have to air something on all those channels.

"24" is getting mighty repetitive with the same "plot twists" year after year.

The kidnapping of key "CTU" personnel, a break in at CTU headquarters, a change in CTU's top management, another woman in Jack Bauer's life being killed or at least placed in peril, a nerdy, mild-mannered CTU desk jockey acting, for 30 seconds like a seasoned member of military special forces unit, attempts on the life of the President, and treachery in The White House happen every season.

So how will this season end and what event will set the tone for next year? Your guess is as good as mine but my hunch is that Jack's father will kidnap Jack's nephew and escape with him.

What do you think?

Meanwhile "Lost" is going off in many directions with the only solid piece of "news" being that the character everyone hates, the beady-eyed Ben, finally being identified as the villain we all knew he was.

So is Locke going to croak?

Does anyone care if this crybaby character that makes all the wrong choices does?

And then we have the, "series finales", such as "The Sopranos".

Christopher cashed in. You knew he had to go; he was nuts, beyond hope, and a general pain-in-the ass.

There wasn't really anything appealing about his character; he was just another bully. I grew up around guys like him in New Jersey, not murderers, necessarily, but nutcases with their own style of twisted logic where everything that occurred in the world somehow related to them.

I suppose the big question is whether or not "T" will end up sleeping with the fishes. My hunch on this one is that Phil, the new head of the New York mob, the guy with the perfect hair, and a mentality that matches Christopher's, will soon be reminiscing with the likes of Al Capone and John Gotti while they stoke the furnaces of Hell.

After all, there will always be a mob, and someone has to be the "Capo", so Tony lives on in virtual New Jersey.

What I'm wondering about though is what is to become of his wimpy son, if anything.

They could always start a spin-off show featuring, "Anthony", as a 33-year-old, still freshman, college student struggling to "find" himself.

Maybe it could be called, "The Not So-Soprano, Soprano".

We know what's going to happen next season on Showtime's, "The Tudors", that is if you're at all familiar with the history of the life of King Henry VIII.

That's Natalie Dormer above, who plays Anne Boleyn, and is the reason I watch the show.

This series could go on forever. He's only getting up to wife number two, and there are 4 more to go. Oops, hope that wasn't a spoiler for anyone.

Well, no matter how this season's series end they'll be back soon enough because with TV shows there has to be an end before you can have a beginning.