NBC recently came forth with the welcome news that Friday Night Lights has been renewed for an additional two thirteen-episode seasons, with DirecTV owning first-run rights for the fall as it did this past season.

The producers had an interesting challenge when planning for the third season finale (NBC, Friday 9 p.m.): They had to come up with something that could serve as a satisfying series-ender if the show was not to be brought back, while at the same time setting things up for a potential fourth season with a largely new cast, given that only two of the show's original teenage characters will still be in high school.

The two big questions looming for the finale: Will Matt Saracen achieve his dream of leaving Dillon for art school, or will devotion to his grandmother throw another roadblock before this mostly luckless character? And what will be the result of Coach Taylor's falling out with the McCoy family, given that young J.D. still has three years in school left, and given the disruption that a potential new school in town will create? As last week's episode showed, you can't have a happy ending all the time.

Also this week:

Monday: The Hills (MTV, 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.): They're calling this season the end of the line for Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge, but I refuse to believe it until they're drawing a paycheck somewhere else. The premiere episodes deal with Lauren's birthday party and the "surprise" appearance of mortal enemy Heidi Montag. If this show was any more fake, it would be embedded in Joan Rivers's face.

Tuesday: Rescue Me (FX, 10 p.m.): The last of the series whose 2008 episodes were derailed by the writers' strike is finally back. Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) deals with his father's death and the appearance of a new boyfriend (Michael J. Fox) for Janet, while some of the guys come up with a way to utilize Mike's inheritance.

Wednesday: High School Reunion (TV Land, 10 p.m.): The second season ends with the Chandler (Az.) Class of 1988 holding a slumber party held on the football field. Do the jock and the homecoming queen, now divorced, have a future after all? Can the onetime ugly duckling overcome her past? Will the geek get revenge for that time he got dunked in the toilet? Oh wait -- that last one was me.

Thursday: Parks and Recreation (NBC, 8:30 p.m.): It's finally time to see that series first talked about a year ago as "that Office spinoff." It's no longer a true spinoff, but the Office sensibility remains important to this examination of small-town government. Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) plays an Indiana bureaucrat trying to turn an old construction site into a park.

Saturday: The Ten Commandments (ABC, 7 p.m.): I guess it must be Easter tomorrow? I've found that you can tell a lot about a person based on whether they regard this movie as a reverent evocation of one of the Bible's classic tales, or as so much 1950s cheese. Personally, I've always doubted that ancient Egypt resembled Beverly Hills High all that much, but I'm a stickler for historical accuracy.

Sunday: In Treatment (HBO, 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.): Most observers seem to like the new format for this season -- two episodes on Sunday and three on Monday, instead of one episode at the same time every weekday -- but I will miss the Season One routine. On this night, it's the second session for new patients Mia (Hope Davis), who tries to titillate Paul with news of her married boyfriend; and April (Alison Pill), who discusses her strained relationship with an ex.

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