Summer's coming, and all our favorite network shows are taking their bows with blockbuster finales. Now, some of our cable favorites -- FX's "The Shield" and HBO's "The Sopranos," for instance -- are gearing up to do the same.

FX seems to command a lot of loyalty among fanatical TV-heads, and I hear a lot from viewers of "The Riches," which airs at 10 p.m. Mondays, and concludes its first season next week.

It's the story of how the Malloys, a gypsy Traveller couple from Louisiana assume the identities of wealthy couple Doug and Cherien Rich, who were killed in an auto accident. The Malloys and their three kids move into the Riches' mansion.

Besides the excellent cast, led by British actors Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, the show's main attraction is the constant tension inherent in the scam's flimsiness. It could fall apart any time, as Wayne/Doug passes himself off as an attorney at a greedy real estate company.

Among its fans, count The CW's "Hidden Palms" star Sharon Lawrence of Raleigh -- now Los Angeles -- who admires the show for what it accomplishes on a tight shooting schedule.

"It's smart," Lawrence says. "And they shoot it in seven days."

The seat-of-the-pants quality makes "The Riches" as infuriating sometimes as it is exciting. Improvs in elaborate scam scenes are hit-or-miss comedy-wise. And the Riches' ways of avoiding exposure often stretch viewers' belief to the snapping point.

In episode after episode, Dahlia pontificates against the family losing its way to "buffer" (straight society) values. It's become a predictable device.

But the good news as the season concludes is that "The Riches" is finding its way back to the level of its excellent March debut.

Wayne now questions the values he represents as "Doug Rich" (he says that signing on as a real estate partner "makes me sick to my stomach" but does it anyway). And the threat of being discovered is becoming unbearable.

I love that psycho Traveller Dale, who has been stalking the Malloys, has moved into their ritzy new neighborhood. Even worse, this past Monday, an old friend of the real Doug surfaced as a threat who could expose the ruse.

How do you think these problems are going to be resolved in next week's finale, "Riches" fans? A nifty pair of summertime GAC network flip-flops (and, of course, the glory) goes to the reader who comes up with the right answer.

So now what?

How are YOU going to spend your summer viewing time?

What? READING, you say? Not a bad idea. But just in case you want to park it in front of ye old idiot box every so often, here are some options, as I see it, and let me know if I've missed any:

* Summer network series. Is ABC's new Wednesday action serial "Traveler" worth a try for a few weeks? I'm lukewarm on this one.

* Cable series. I look forward to the new season of TNT's "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgwick, which begins its third season June 18 at 9 p.m.

If you have premium cable, the great polygamy drama "Big Love" returns June 11 on HBO, and David Milch's crazy new surf-noir family saga "John From Cincinnati" premieres the night before at 10, right after "The Sopranos" finale.

* Game shows. Shall we while away our nights with ABC's "National Bingo Night" and NBC's "1 Vs. 100"? I'm going to say "no" for $100, but if someone out there can convince me otherwise, I'm, er, game.

* Reality shows. Will it be CBS's "Pirate Master" (arrrggghhh), or shall I bone up on parenting tips I don't need with "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap"?

* Repeats. That's one option I'll be going for. I missed choice episodes of the CBS hit "Shark" and ABC's Sunday-night soaps "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters." I'm willing to give the latter, which I initially disliked, a second chance based on solid word-of-mouth.

* On Demand series. For those who subscribe to that service, which archives premium-cable episodes of series seen on HBO, Showtime and others, I recommend the first season of Showtime's "The Tudors," the supersexed saga of young Henry VIII, available through Sept 11.

TV in the summertime? Why not? I have a feeling it's going to be a long, hot one, and the fan in the TV room works just fine.

Cooler talk

Andrew Sleeth of Raleigh takes me to task for holding out hope last week that the Petrelli brothers in the season finale of NBC's "Heroes" will survive after Nathan flies brother Peter way up in the sky to explode safely away from Earth.

"Humans can't survive in the oxygen-free vacuum of space. Nathan could never handle the heat of re-entry," Sleeth informs me. "And when Peter's atoms are scattered at the speed of light in that same weightless vacuum, no amount of super-duper Band-Aid magic is going to reunite them."

But I like Nathan and Peter. So I'm dumb. So comic-book science is dumb. So what. Let 'em live! (And thanks for your comments.)

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