Joey and his "Friends" go to Hollywood...

Robert Guillaume returns to "Sports Night"...

Christine Lahti leaves "Chicago Hope"...

"Will and Grace" get mismatched.

From Sherri Sylvester
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

May 6, 1999
Web posted at: 4:46 p.m. EDT (2046 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Weddings, funerals, and special guest stars -- hmm, it must be sweeps. The month of May is do-or-die time for TV programmers who want to dominate this important ratings period, and viewers can expect to be drop-kicked off a couple of choice cliffhangers by the end of the month.

On NBC's "Friends" for example, Joey finally gets his big acting break as the lead in a movie, and his buddies travel to see him on the set. It's in Las Vegas, a town known for casinos ... and wedding chapels, a fact that's unlikely to go unused in the show. Predictably, and humorously, all does not go well for Joey on his fictional film's sleazy set.

Also on NBC, "Frasier" features star-crossed lovers in a one- hour special, and Grace is mismatched on "Will and Grace," prompting this bit of catty dialogue: "Are you so intent on ruining your life? My God, Pamela Anderson makes better choices than you."

A wedding between adults on ABC's "Boy Meets World" gives the kids cold feet. Actor Ben Savage wouldn't give up too many details, saying only that his character gets a little uneasy about his promised marriage to Danielle's character.

Mum's the word at NBC mainstay "ER," where they hint at new relationships. (There are rumors that Alex Kingston's character could break off her liaison with Eriq La Salle's Dr. Peter Benton, and take up with another of the hospital's doctors.)

And among the props for an upcoming "X-Files" episode is a coffin -- about which actor David Duchovny (Fox Mulder on the show) says, "This is actually from my funeral, obviously I'm not dead and yet I die, so how, the question is how. What do we have up our sleeves?"

NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" plays up its Internet killer. In the season finale of ABC's David Kelley courtroom drama "The Practice" -- slated to air May 9 -- one of the partners is savagely attacked. And "Walker, Texas Ranger" delves into a near-death experience when, during a ride in the governor's airplane, Chuck Norris's character crashes into a Texas lake.

Christine Lahti is on the critical list at "Chicago Hope," -- she'll be leaving the show, along with other cast members from the long-running hospital drama on CBS, via plot device when Mandy Patinkin (known to show fans as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger) returns to the hospital and fires half the staff.

Already revealed on May sweeps: Robert Guillaume returned to "Sports Night" earlier this week after recovering from a real-life stroke, which was written into the show.

Star appeal is just about everywhere on May TV, with Kathy Bates appearing on "Third Rock from the Sun," and Julia Roberts guest starring on "Law & Order" with her real- life love, Benjamin Bratt. Civil rights legend Rosa Parks and Mohammed Ali will both appear on "Touched by an Angel."

"Diagnosis Murder" reunites the "Leave it to Beaver" cast, and "Nash Bridges" kicks in wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, hoping to rustle up some ratings before summer reruns set in.