This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After four seasons, "Nashville" is airing its finale episode tonight (9 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4) — and I, for one, am kind of glad.
I'm pretty sure I've seen all 85 episodes that have aired to date. When it premiered, I rated it the most promising of the Fall 2012 premieres and wrote that "Nashville" had "all the makings of a really good prime-time soap." And I like really good prime-time soaps.
But "Nashville" never delivered on that promise. Even its cliffhangers were sort of ho-hum — there was nothing hugely compelling that made you want to come back week after week.
Those of us who did were saddled with an ongoing gay guy-coming-out storyline that we've seen done repeatedly — and better — elsewhere. With a romance between Rayna (Connie Britton) and Deacon (Charles Esten) that was central to the narrative but always predictable. With a lead character, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere), who was never sympathetic enough to be a heroine and never enough fun to be an entertaining villain.
And this season's ongoing storyline about Rayna and Deacon's ungrateful, obnoxious teenage daughter, Maddie (Lennon Stella) was sheer torture to watch.
So, no, I'm not going to miss "Nashville." I'm relieved it's been canceled.
According to ABC, in tonight's series finale Rayna takes dire action when she discovers who Maddie's encountered; Juliette must decide how to address the truth of Jeff's death; Will becomes a leader for a cause; and a music duo considers breaking up.
Don't expect everything to be wrapped up. The cancellation didn't come until after this episode had been filmed.
Elsewhere on TV ...
• "The Price Is Right Primetime Special" (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): Fan favorite teams from "The Amazing Race" play alongside super fans of the reality series.
• "Heartbeat" (7 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): A mysterious illness sends the hospital into lockdown. (Series finale of this canceled show)
• "Rosewood" (7 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13): Rosewood and Villa may finally be able to reveal their true feelings for each other. (Season finale)
• "Arrow" (7 p.m., CW/Ch. 30): Oliver teams up with a surprising force in an attempt to stop Damien Darhk once and for all. (Season finale)
• "Maron" (7 p.m., IFC): Marc visits his mother in Florida and tries to get along with her annoying boyfriend.
• "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" (8 and 9 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): The team heads to Spain when the ears of a missing American tourist are found; an American is kidnapped in Haiti. (Series finale of this canceled show)
• "Law & Order: SVU" (8 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): The detectives and ADA Barba intensify their investigation into a corrections officer. (Season finale)
• "Genius by Stephen Hawking" (8 and 9 p.m., PBS/Ch. 7): Why people exist; Where the universe came from.
• "Wayward Pines" (8 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13): Dr. Theo Yedlin awakens from suspended animation and finds himself in the middle of a rebellion. (Season premiere)
• "Supernatural" (8 p.m., CW/Ch. 30): God comes to a decision about Amara that has repercussions for Sam and Dean. (Season finale)
• "Chicago P.D." (9 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): The team investigates the murder of a single mom who was in contact with Voight's son, who was himself brutally assaulted. (Season finale)
• "The Americans" (11 p.m., FX): Elizabeth completes a personal operation, but at a huge cost.
• "Lopez" (11 p.m., TV Land): George agrees to be roasted, but his wife interferes and leaves him without an act.
• "Royal Pains" (11 p.m., USA): Evan deals with a cyber-attack when Diana's hacked records go viral.
• "The Soul Man" (11:30 p.m., TV Land): Mayor Saxby revokes Barton's bingo permit.