All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Memorial Day weekend means TV marathons, and TVGuide.com has a round-up of ’em.

– Nurse Jackie, the quirky new nurse dramedy starring Edie “Carmela Soprano” Falco, debuts June 8 on Showtime, but you can watch the first episode now, free, at Sho.com. The password: “shifthappens.”

– Now that the networks have announced their schedules for next season, they have to deal with the dismal stats of the just-concluded 2008/09 season: ratings were down 16 percent.

– Don’t read this EW.com story unless you want to know the major twist that will kick off The CW’s remake of Melrose Place in the fall.

– Tonight’s season finales: Starz’ terrific comedies Party Down (10:30PM ET) and Head Case (10PT), which features a funny cameo by Jerry Seinfeld.

– What was missing from the American Idol finale (besides an Adam Lambert win, of course)? A goofy Will Ferrell song that was cut.

– Fringe‘s Kirk Acevedo took to his Facebook page earlier this week to say he’d been fired from the show. Not so, says a show producer.

– First Guiding Light is cancelled, and now All My Children killed Stuart Chandler. What is going on in daytime TV?!

– Just when you think you can’t possibly love Neil Patrick Harris more, you find out he has pop-up books in his guest room, Kiehl’s products in the shower and a selection of magazines in his bathroom. NPH!

– And in more things that make perfect sense to me, Project Runway star (and he is the real star of the show) Tim Gunn will become a Marvel Comics superhero.

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• Tags: Adam Lambert, All My Children, American Idol, Carmela Soprano, Daytime TV, Edie Falco, EW.com, finale, Fringe, Guiding Light, Head Case, Jerry Seinfeld, Kiehl's, Kirk Acevedo, marathons, Marvel Comics, Melrose Place. spoiler, Memorial Day, Memorial Day weekend TV marathons, Neil Patrick Harris, Network ratings, NPH, nurse, Nurse Jackie, Party Down, Project Runway, Showtime, Starz, Stuart Chandler, superhero, Tim Gunn, TV Guide.com. TV marathons, Will Ferrell

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– At least Ryan Seacrest warned viewers last night to put extra time at the end of their TiVos for tonight’s American Idol season finale, but isn’t it still ridiculous that an episode that really boils down to one 30-second announcement of who the winner is, is instead so bloated that it can’t even be contained into a two-hour block?

– By the way, DiaIdol.com predicts last night’s Adam vs. Kris showdown is too close to call. People, did you not hear Adam sing “A Change Is Gonna Come”? It really should not be this close.

– The New York Times jokes, I think, that Jimmy Kimmel might not have a job today after the naughty, but hilarious, riffs on NBC, Fox and his own network at yesterday’s ABC Upfront presentation.

– And Kimmel’s remarks about the new Jay Leno primetime series apparently weren’t that far off from what some at NBC might have thought. Leno, it turns out, was NBC’s third choice to host a nightly primetime show, after Oprah and David Letterman.

– Can’t wait for the remake of Footloose with Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford as Ren McCormack.

– In case you missed the premiere of Glee last night, you can catch the episode at Hulu today.

– Lifetime.com, pegged to the June 7 season three premiere of Army Wives, has produced more than a dozen videos, collected as Homecoming: Real Army Wives, that pay homage to real-life Army wives, whose husbands have been deployed for 15 months or more in Iraq.

– Check out clips from ABC’s new comedies, including Modern Family, the mockumentary-ish family comedy starring Ed “Al Bundy” O’Neill.

– Even the most devoted Trekkies may find the new “video-based encyclopedia” of behind-the-scenes Star Trek info a bit daunting.

– Next up: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

– My Name Is Earl star Ethan Suplee is taking it to Twitter to try to rally fans for a save-the-show campaign. To get onboard, follow the “EarlTwitition.”

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• Filed in American Idol, Comedy, Drama, TV News
• Tags: A Change Is Gonna Come, Adam Lambert, American Idol, Army Wives, Chace Crawford, David Letterman, Ed O'Neill, Ethan Suplee, finale, Footloose, Glee, Gossip Girl, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Kris Allen, Lifetime, My Name Is Earl, Oprah, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Star Trek, Upfront

It’s Adam Lambert vs. Kris Allen in tonight’s final performance episode (Fox, 8PM ET), and oddsmaker Betfair.com, which bills itself as “the world’s biggest online betting community,” is predicting Adam will win in a landslide (with 72.5 percent of the vote).

There’s bit a bit of Adam backlash since he and Kris became the two finalists last week – USA Today claims the race is a lot closer than it might seem – but I’m going to stick with Adam as the guy who will, and should, become the season eight American Idol.

Meanwhile, in other AI news:
– Lionel Richie, Santana, Jason Mraz, Keith Urban, Cyndi Lauper, David Cook, KISS, David Bowie and Britney Spears are among the celebs on the Wednesday results show/season finale. And host Ryan Seacrest has confirmed Carrie Underwood, the Black Eyed Peas and Queen Latifah will also be in the mix.

– Adam is reportedly singing “Mad World” – “with a twist” – on tonight’s show, while Kris is considering a repeat performance of either “Heartless” or “Falling Slowly.”

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• Filed in American Idol, TV News
• Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, finale, Kris Allen, odds, oddsmaker, winner

As we head into the final week of American Idol competition, where do you stand: firmly ensconced in Camp Adam Lambert or Camp Kris Allen?

Me, I’m in Camp Lambert. It took me a while to get onboard – specifically, it was that “Motown Week” performance of “The Tracks of My Tears,” where Adam sang his dooper off and styled himself to look like a retro cool Elvis – that made it undeniable that he was not only crazy talented, but also super savvy when it comes to understanding how to play the whole music industry game. Adam, more so than any other Idol contender ever, gets it.

But, as Jimmy Kimmel points out in this clip, the ‘tween factor will play a big role in who’s named the season eight Idol, and, like, those ‘tweens might totally start some sort of, like, anti-Adam campaign to get their hottie fave Kris named the winner:

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• Filed in American Idol, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, finale, Jimmy Kimmel, Kris Allen