My Final Column: Five Things I Need to Tell You About Now

Today, my final "Stay Tuned" column ran in "The Herald-Dispatch." If you missed it, you can read it here.

Tomorrow, you can read my last post on this blog with all of my many, many thank yous...

Goodbyes are never an easy thing. I admit that I’m terrible at them. But I’m going to do my very best to muster up a good one this week as I say goodbye to this column and move on to a new career.

I considered doing something special to mark the occasion, but in the end, I decided to take the “Everybody Loves Raymond” approach and wrap things up by doing the same thing I did every week, which is spotlighting the shows I thought you shouldn’t—or in some cases, should—miss.

So here are the top five upcoming shows I wanted to talk about now because I won’t be able to later.

5) “Two and a Half Men” (April 30 at 9 p.m. on CBS)

CBS announced this week that Kathy Bates will guest star on the April 30 episode as—are you sitting down?—the ghost of Charlie Harper, Charlie Sheen’s character. The ghost will appear to Alan (Jon Cryer) after he suffers a heart attack. What is the matter with this show that it can’t just leave well enough alone? I’m pretty sure my love-hate relationship with “Men” this season will stay at hate permanently after this one.

4) “How I Met Your Mother” (May 14 at 8 p.m. on CBS)

“Mother” has experienced a creative revival as it continues to take us through the many twists and turns of a bride’s identity—not of the titular mother, but of Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) bride, who will reportedly be revealed in May. I am still hoping it’s Robin (Cobie Smulders).

3) “Falling Skies” (June 17 at 9 p.m. on TNT)

TNT has gotten me excited about this one with a big promotional push during its NCAA tournament coverage. I’m still trying to figure out how the show will pick up after last year’s cliffhanger in which Tom (Noah Wyle) boarded an alien ship. And the sight of Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) in the show’s promos has me positively giddy.

2) “The Celebrity Apprentice” (Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC)

I am not ashamed to admit that this is my favorite show on the air right now. “Apprentice” has been very entertaining this season and it keeps getting better. It’s the only show my husband and I actually sit down and watch together and we’re both really looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

1) “Dallas” (June 13 at 9 p.m. on TNT)

This show was a tradition in my house on Friday nights back in the day, so I was a little nervous about someone doing a reboot. But I really think TNT is on to something here as the clashes over Ewing Oil move to the next generation with John Ross and Christopher picking things up where their fathers J.R. and Bobby left off. But the cool thing here is that J.R. and Bobby—and Sue Ellen—will be there too.

A special thanks to Robyn, Andrea and the entire team here at the paper for allowing me to be a part of your weekend these past two years. For more of my thank yous, be sure to visit my blog before it comes down Sunday.

Photo Credit: Martin Schoeller/TNT