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TONIGHT’S MUST-SEE: “My Name Is Earl,” 8 p.m., WDIV-TV Local 4, NBC. It’s a night of hour-long season finales for NBC. That starts with Earl (Jason Lee) deciding that Billie (Alyssa Milano) isn’t the mate karma intended. He asks for advice from his dad, who has his personal solution: Stay at work and rarely see your wife. For Earl, that means spending more time on his list.
• “Ugly Betty,” 8 p.m., WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, ABC. Betty and Gio have separately agreed to chaperone Justin’s middle-school dance. Also, Hilda tries to attract Coach Diaz.
• “Grey’s Anatomy,” 9 p.m., WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, ABC. Meredith feels she doesn’t need more therapy; her therapist (Amy Madigan) disagrees. Meanwhile, Cristina continues to act oddly after learning of Burke’s life without her.
• “The Office,” 9 p.m., WDIV-TV Local 4, NBC. Toby is leaving, and Michael wants a big party. Angela refuses, leaving the job with Phyllis. Meanwhile, there’s a new human-resources director, played by the talented Amy Ryan.
• “ER,” 10:01 p.m., WDIV-TV Local 4, NBC. Producers have promised this will be an explosive season finale. The trouble starts when a mysterious patient (Steve Buscemi) arrives.
• “Lost,” 10:02 p.m., WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, ABC. A showdown between the island people and the freighter people begins.
TV TODAY is written by MIKE HUGHES, who covers television for the Gannett News Service. Reach him at mhughes@lsj.com.

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Late last week, TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello reported that Khandi Alexander is leaving CSI: Miami at the end of the season. Alexander is know for her fierce but tender Medical Examiner alter ego Alexx Woods. There is no word yet about how the character will depart, but Ausiello hints strongly that the reason for the departure is some issues Alexander has with an aspect of the show.
Who knows? Cast members are leaving CSI, too (first Jorga Fox and now Gary Dourdan), so maybe there is just a limit to how long you can do this kind of show (intense, lots of blood and gore, often depressing). I haven’t followed the plots on CSI: Miami, so I don’t know what kinds of issues Alexander would have with the show.
She is a terrific actress; one of the standout episodes for me was her grief over working on the body of a child, and how she combined tears with professionalism during the episode. She will have no trouble finding other work out there.
Reportedly, there is a search for a new medical examiner, and this one will be male.
I knew Khandi many years ago before she switched from musical theater to straight acting. She blew me away in “The Corner” (HBO miniseries, in some ways a prequel to “The Wire”). Every time I’ve seen her on CSI: Kabuki, the same thought has occurred: They must be paying her an awful lot of money, or else why in the world is she staying in this role? It surely couldn’t be for the one meaty scene they’d write for her every second year.
All the best to you, my dear, from the piano player across the hall in Boston.
“Aw sugar, why’d she have to leave the show so young..”
Finally! Maybe I’ll start watching again–I couldn’t stand her character and that stupid “Aw sugar” stuff at every dead body. I was so happy years ago when they said a character was going to die–but once I saw it was Speedle, I deleted my TiVo season pass.

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Jessica Simpson’s little sis, singer Ashlee Simpson, is engaged to her longtime beau Pete Wentz of the rock group Fall Out Boy, according to People. “Yes, we are thrilled to share that we are happily engaged,” Simpson said in a statement posted on
friendsorenemies.com. “We consider this to be a very private matter, and we wanted to be the first to tell you and to hear it straight from us.” Yep, that’s the way to handle a private matter. Simpson, 23, and Wentz, 28, have been dating since fall 2006.
“The Howard Stern Show” personality Artie Lange reportedly walked out of the studio during an airing of the show, heard on Sirius Satellite Radio, reports Pet Rock: The Pop Culture Blog, on Newsday.com, after an on-air blowup with Teddy, his personal assistant of two years. As in many relationships, money was the root of the argument, which turned physical. Howard Stern was not happy with
Lange’s actions and expressed concern over future Lange blowups. Lange said he couldn’t promise that he wouldn’t go all gansta again and offered his resignation, which Stern accepted. Before Lange departed, he told Stern, “I’m not a good person … I gotta leave … I love you.” To hear it all visit tv.popcrunch .com.
VH1 “Rock of Love” star Bret Michaels and the show’s producers are being sued by Ray Sahranavard, owner of the $9-million California pad where the second season of the show was filmed. Sahranavard claims they left his home in shambles. The damage is valued at more than $300,000, reports E!
• An attorney for “O.C.” star Mischa Barton entered a plea of no contest in her DUI case in a Beverly Hills, Calif., courthouse on Thursday, reports Usmagazine.com. Barton was charged with a DUI, possession of marijuana and driving without a license in February. The 22-year-old is on three-year probation, must attend an alcohol education program and was fined $1,652. The marijuana possession charges were dropped.

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