Season finales are essentially the Hollywood version of final exams. They have to shock and awe and entice viewers into returning after four arduous months of dead air. From births and deaths to break-ups and OMG-worthy shockers, I’m grading 10 season finales. The SPOILER ALERT is implied.

Reckoning, Revenge’s thrilling season ender saw Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) not only confront her father’s killer in a satisfying and strangely sweet final fight, but surrender to her feelings for ruggedly handsome bartender, Jack. It wouldn’t be “Revenge” without infuriating twists and double-c...

Shonda Rhimes’ newest creation, ABC’s political thriller “Scandal” (based on the real life of President George H.W. Bush’s aid, Judy Smith) wants you to believe that Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a corporate fixer with some surprising and sexy ties to the President, is a superhero with a chic trench coat and stilettos instead of a mask and a cape. She can intimidate gun-wielding Ukranian kidnappers with a single monologue, identify liars with her fine-tuned internal polygraph and is armed with a set of fabulously lethal cheekbones. To gain entrance to her high-end batcave, you must be a...

New series for ABC's 2011-12 season are "Apartment 23," "Charlie's Angels," "Good Christian Belles," "Last Man Standing," "Man Up," "Missing," "Once Upon a Time," "Pan Am," "Revenge," "The River," "Scandal," "Suburgatory" and "Work It."

"America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Body of Proof," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Happy Endings," "Secret Millionaire," "Shark Tank" and "20/20" join previously announced returning series "Castle," "Cougar Town," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Private Practice." "Sat...