Television

Television critic David Bianculli reviews last night's series finale of the hit NBC sitcom Friends, and looks at the history of series finales.

David Bianculli reviews the final episode of The Apprentice.

Actor Ricky Gervais stars in, writes and directs the hit BBC sitcom, The Office. The show can be seen in the United States on BBC America. Gervais stars as the self-obsessed middle manager David Brent. The satirical The Office is shot in documentary style and follows the goings-on at a suburban paper company where life is stationary. It was just awarded the prestigious Peabody Award. The second season of The Office is available on DVD this month.

From Showtime's drama The L-Word, actor Jennifer Beals and creator Ilene Chaiken. Beals became a star for her role in the 80's dance classic, Flashdance. She's also starred in Devil in a Blue Dress, The Last Days of Disco and The Anniversary Party. On The L-Word, she plays Bette Porter, a gay art curator. Chaiken's previous TV work includes writing Damaged Care and Dirty Pictures. The L-Word wraps up its first season this weekend.

He is the creator, executive producer and head writer of the new HBO series Deadwood, a western drama set in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Milch left a teaching job at Yale University to go to Hollywood and work on the show Hill Street Blues. He also worked on NYPD Blue, for which he won two Emmys. Milch is a former heroin addict and alcoholic.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews Deadwood the new TV series - a Western — on HBO by writer David Milch who brought us NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the use of profanity.

Weide is executive producer and a writer for HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show stars Larry David, who co-created Seinfeld, as himself. One reviewer calls Curb Your Enthusiasm "a comedy of hostility, resentment, paranoia and obsessiveness." The show is currently in its fourth season.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews "The Sopranos" - which begins its fifth season on HBO Sunday.

He created the HBO hit series The Sopranos. The show begins its fifth season this Sunday and picks up where it left off with the separation of Tony Soprano and his wife Carmela.