I gush about this show too much, I think, but I'm going to do it again. The "American Idol" results show is something to suffer and speed through. The "So You Think You Can Dance" results show is almost always entertaining. And while the group sings on "Idol" are uniformly cringeworthy, the group dances on "SYTYCD" can actually be exciting. I loved cool-handle commenter A Dingo Ate My Baby's suggestion that the dancers reproduce the "Thriller" video choreography. But maybe a song from "The Wiz" was the next best thing. (And if you really need a "Thriller" fix, and you haven't seen this already, you can check out these inmates from a Filipino prison.)

As for the bottom three couples (spoilers ahead); it's hard to be surprised or unsurprised by what happens here. The judges' technical comments seem to matter less to voters than sheer enjoyment of the performances, and a fair amount of people enjoyed the alien impregnation dance. I was quite happy to be wowed by Philip's solo, and I agreed that Jeanine did herself proud. Her choice of classical music somehow seemed bold. You knew the judges weren't going to get rid of Kayla; they love her legs too much. And I can see why, in Nigel's producing mind, neither Vitolio nor Karla were huge stand-outs at this point. What to do? Someone has to go.

Oh - and Kelly Clarkson is my hero. Why? She just is. Who's yours?

Come join Matthew and me at noon for our weekly dish about all things tube-related. Michael Jackson memories welcome.

What it comes down to, on tonight's "So You Think You Can Dance" performance show, is this: Did you like the freaky alien impregnation dance? Me, I kind of liked it -- the weirdness, the gender-reversal, maybe even the tin foil. Although I also wondered, just a little bit, what it would have looked like if another couple had been dancing.

There was a lot to like about tonight's show, from the quick-step costume change to the hot cha-cha, the Sonya jazz number, and the pas de deux. The fact that Mary didn't yell quite so much. I'm even somewhat charmed by Nigel's constant self-congratulation.

But I did have a lot of questions, such as: How random, really, are the supposedly-random pick-from-a-hat choreography choices? It couldn't possibly have been an accident that Melissa got to dance en pointe. Or, really, that Phillip got to do some more popping, and that he's had two hip-hop dances in four weeks.

And another question: Would Katie Holmes be heralded as a brilliant dancer if she weren't married to Tom Cruise?

And another: Did anyone else spend the entire broadcast wishing she could reach into the television set and fix Mia Michaels' collar?

Here's a roundup of Boston's most watched shows, week of June 22-June 29. TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 resurged last week in Boston, coming in at #6 with 293,000 total viewers. Baseball continues to score locking the top three spots in primetime followed by WBZ's most watched show was 60 Minutes. WHDH's ranked in the top 10 with America's Got Talent with 226,000 viewers. WCVB's most watched program was 20/20, coming in #10 with 220,000 folks with the network's expanded Michael Jackson coverage. And Fox25's most watched show was its own 10 p.m. newscast last Wednesday: #21 with 167,000 viewers.

Here's the list:

1. NESN: Major League Baseball 444,000 total viewers
2. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 422,000
3. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 365,000
4. WBZ:CBS 60 Minutes 318,000
5. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 299,000
6. TLC: Jon & Kate 293,000
6. WBZ:CBS Two and A Half Men 293,000
8. WBZ:CBS Big Bang Theory 251,000
9. WHDH:NBC America's Got Talent 226,000
10. WCVB:ABC 220,000
11. WBZ:CBS CSI 208,000
11. WBZ:CBS NCIS 206,000
13. WBZ:CBS The Mentalist 202,000
14. WBZ:CBS Criminal Minds 199,000
15. WHDH:NBC America's Got Talent 191,000

source: Nielsen Media Research

compiled by Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff
jodiaz@globe.com

I'm not a giant Wimbledon viewer, but a colleague of mine is up in arms about NBC's decision to embargo the men's quarterfinals this morning. The Roger Federer match took place at 8 a.m. Eastern this morning, but it was aired on tape-delay on NBC at 10 a.m. It's what the network calls "plausibly live," though it ignores that little thingie called the Internet. ESPN, which was airing other Wimbledon coverage, was barred from reporting anything that happened on the NBC-aired matches. Hmm. Another rant here.

Because Massachusetts mandates coverage for in-vitro fertilization. Pennsylvania doesn't. Here's a smart Washington Post column that explains the consequences.

Plus: a Bloomberg report on the show's business-related liability risks.

MTV has already picked up a second season of "16 and Pregnant," the deeply-compelling documentary series -- which airs Thursdays at 10 -- that tracks girls through the late stages of pregnancy and the early months of motherhood. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, it's a better argument for abstinence than anything else on TV -- and a painful but gripping show. And it's getting watched by its target demographic: It takes the top spot in its time period among girls and women 12-34 and is top across all of television among girls and women 18-24.

On Thursday, July 23 at 10, MTV will also air a “16 and Pregnant: Life After Labor” finale special, hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky.

What do you get when you cross a Michael Jackson tribute with the BET Awards? Tonight, you got a disjointed event that, alas, didn’t quite evoke the spirit of the late King of Pop, despite a last-minute appearance by his sister Janet.

The annual BET ceremony, which honors black singers, actors, and athletes, happened to fall a few days after Jackson’s death. So the stage was set for an emotional tribute to the man without whose video work BET arguably might not exist. But promises by BET for an impromptu, deeply felt night faded as the show teetered between the usual overly lit, overcrowded, overtly self-promotional awards-show fare and too many knee-jerk nods to Jackson. And the complicated presence in the audience of Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, did not appear to stir the Shrine Auditorium.

There were moments, to be sure, at the beginning and the end, when the almost four-hour event had the potential to be moving. Host Jamie Foxx began with a good-humored reenactment of Jackson’s moves from the “Beat It” video, dressed in a red-leather jacket and a white glove. Throughout the night, he and other performers including Keri Hilson sampled Jackson’s iconic clothing -- an ongoing series of fashion winks. And Foxx’s early words about Jackson were clearly from the heart: “We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else.”

New Edition brought potential to the opening of the show, too, with an enjoyably sloppy Jackson 5 medley. They didn’t make magic of “ABC” and “The Love You Save,” but they suggested that the night would be loose enough to allow genuine moments to sneak into the cavernous hall.

Much later, Janet Jackson’s sudden appearance onstage before the finale was powerful. “To you, Michael is an icon,” she said in her brief remarks. “To us, Michael is family. He will forever live in all of our hearts. On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love.” After she left the stage, Foxx and Ne-Yo sang a sweet, poignant duet of “I’ll Be There.”

But BET clearly didn’t have enough advance time to perfect the balance between the homage and the already planned ceremony. The thanks and appreciation for Jackson from almost all the winners sat awkwardly with performances such as “God in Me” by Mary Mary and “Ave Maria” and “Angel” by a wind-blown Beyonce, who was wearing a translucent, insect-like Scarlett O’Hara dress.

Without a doubt, though, the musicians who want to more thoroughly celebrate Jackson will have many, many, MANY more opportunities in the coming days, weeks, months, years, and, yes, decades.

Haven't seen enough of those "Thriller" video reruns yet? This weekend and early next week will be filled with retrospective coverage of Michael Jackson. Here are some highlights.

MTV continues its wall-to-wall Jackson footage until 6 p.m. Friday. At 6 comes a new special, "A Celebration of Michael Jackson on MTV," followed by an encore presentation of "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew" featuring Jackson's greatest hits. Both shows will re-air multiple times over the weekend.

MTV2 will air a marathon of Jackson-related programing from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

VH1 Classic will air nonstop Jackson videos all weekend.

Tonight at 9, ABC will air a special "20/20" episode, "Michael Jackson: The Man and His Music." The regularly scheduled "20/20," at 10 tonight, will also include Jackson-related reporting.

Tonight at 10, NBC will air a "Dateline NBC" special, "Michael Jackson -- The King of Pop," hosted by Ann Curry. (From 8-10, the network will re-air "Farrah's Story," the documentary about Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer.)

On Monday, Fox will re-air this season's Top 13 episode of "American Idol," featuring Jackson's songs.

E! weighs in with multiple Jackson specials, including the two-hour "True Hollywood Story: Michael Jackson," which re-airs Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. On Saturday at 10:30 a.m comes the half-hour "E! News Special: Michael and Farrah: Lost Icons." And at 10 p.m. on Monday, June 1, the network will air the special "E!'s Michael Jackson."

On the Fox News Channel, Greta Van Susteren will host "On the Record" live from Los Angeles tonight at 10. On Saturday night, she will host special coverage from Los Angeles at 9 p.m. On Saturday afternoon from 2-3, the "Journal Editorial Report" and "FOX News Watch" will be pre-empted by Jackson coverage.

On Saturday at 10, Biography will air a special, "Biography Remembers: Michael Jackson."

On Sunday from 2-7 p.m., TV Land will re-air the miniseries "The Jacksons: An American Dream." (The Farrah Fawcett retrospective comes on Saturday, with two episodes of "Charlie's Angels" at 7 and the first two episodes of the series "Chasing Farrah" at 9.)

Next Wednesday, July 1 at 8 p.m., MyNetworkTV will air an encore of the 2006 World Music Awards, featuring a tribute to Jackson.

Michael Jackson may have been the king of pop, but he was also responsible for some of the most indelible TV moments of the past quarter-century. (And I'm not counting his Jackson 5 appearances on the Ed Sullivan show.) Here are some highlights:

* If there was a moment that made Jackson a superstar, it was his May 1983 appearance on the NBC special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever." He wore a fedora and one glove, sang "Billie Jean," and introduced the moonwalk to a crossover audience of slack-jawed suburban kids and their parents. Junior high dances were never the same after that.

* MTV once named "Thriller" the greatest music video of all time, and despite the cheesy makeup and the horrible acting and the I-don't-endorse-the-occult disclaimer, it's probably the truth. The 13-minute behemoth wasn't especially good -- though that final zombie dance was certainly influential -- but it proved how important music videos had become. I still remember staying up late to watch the world premiere on NBC's "Friday Night Videos" in December 1983. (Disclosure: I was 12.) And I think I must have seen the hourlong "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller" documentary 150 times.

* If there's one thing you remember about the 1985 video for the goopy tribute song "We Are the World" -- co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie -- it's The Pan. The sole fancy shot was the slow pan up Jackson's entire body, from his sparkling socks to his glittery glove to his brocaded jacket to his serious, world-saving face. In a roomful of stars wearing sweatshirts and bad '80s sweaters, he was the brightest light, uncontested, and dressed accordingly.

* Thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, I can recite lines from "The Jacksons: An American Dream," the 1995 film about the beleaguered boys in the Jackson 5, starring Angela Bassett as Michael's mom. Watching this fictionalized version of a talented boy with a lost childhood somehow made all of the real-life weirdness make more sense.

* Not even the Real Housewives of New Jersey go on shopping sprees like the one Jackson showed us in Martin Bashir's shocking and strange documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson," which aired on ABC in 2003. It's probably most famous for helping to spark his child molestation trial -- since Jackson said he let boys who visited his ranch sleep in his bed -- and for the images of his two sons, wearing masks to preserve their anonymity. But the part seared in my memory is his breezy trip through a Las Vegas furniture, when he cheerily pointed to one over-the-top statue after another, and apparently bought them all.

* We didn't get to see much of the Jackson's actual 2005 molestation trial, but we did see the media circus that surrounded it -- and we got E!s strange, low-budget reenactments of each day's events, in which the judge was played by a guy who had been a Vulcan on Star Trek. Then we all got to gather around our TV sets, O.J.-style, to hear the verdict.

* Thursday was another collective TV experience, as people gathered in living rooms across the country to process Jackson's shocking death. In the first hours after the news broke, without much information to go on, the cable TV anchors spent their time revisiting Jackson's career, playing his music, showing clips of his great television moments and his ever-changing face. The images were just as compelling as ever.

And ta-ta to Toni Basil, of the strange headgear and the stranger way of talking. She's the closest thing I've seen to a real-life cyborg on TV, and whenever she's doing the judging, I find myself pining for Adam Shankman.

As for this week's eliminations (SPOILERS COMING), I am shedding no tears. I knew the judges would never let go of Caitlin this soon. I will not be pining for Asaka, who never quite seemed to find her groove, and I can see why they kept Vitolio over Jonathan.; Vitolio has real potential, so it will be interesting to see him with someone else.

Also, can I get a mob of preteen boys to come dance on my lawn this weekend? It would make me very happy.

Come share your thoughts about TV shows, if you dare... MWAHAHAHA. Joanna and I will be cochatting again this week. MG

Some thoughts, in no particular order, on tonight's derriere-filled "So You Think You Can Dance." And please chime in with your own!

1) I had a sudden realization tonight: In 30 years, Miley Cyrus is going to look and sound exactly like Mary Murphy. "Hannah Montana" fans, think about it.

2) I enjoy Mia Michaels' French-poodle routines more than I enjoy her electrocuted-zombie routines.

3) I actually thought that waltz was cheer-worthy in its loveliness.

4) The most successful dances on this show tend to be the ones that convey deep emotion. Tyce D'Orio's Broadway routines this season have been cute and clever, but emotionally flat. Does that put his dancers at a disadvantage?

5) It's tricky to choreograph a dance to Carmina Burana. Somehow the music overshadows anything that's happening onstage.

6) Melissa and Ade seem the couple to beat. Who doesn't love a naughty ballerina?

Major League Baseball continues to swing into the top most watched programs in Boston (week of June 8-14.) The most watched non-sports show belonged to the CBS' Big Bang Theory (coming in at #6 with 259,000 total viewers.) NBC's most watched show in the Hub was National Hockey League game with 185,000 viewers or #15 for the week. ABC's top show in Boston was Wipeout (#28 with 151,000.) FOX25's News at 10 p.m. ranked almost each day last week: Monday's newscast had 153,000 viewers coming in at #25; Tuesday drew 142,000 or #30; Wednesday attracted 144,000 watchers or #30; Thursday landed at #24 with 158,000 and Saturday had 149,000 folks or #28.

Here's the roundup:

1. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball (586,000 total viewers)
2. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 566,000
3. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 541,000
4. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 407,000
5. NESN: Mjr. League Baseball 310,000
6. WBZ:CBS Big Bang Theory 259,000
7. WBZ: Two and A Half Men 256,000
7. WBZ: The Mentalist 256,000
9. WBZ:CBS 60 Minutes 209,000
9. NESN: Various 207,000
9. WBZ:CBS Big Bang Theory Special 207,000
12. WBZ: CBS NCIS 198,000
12. WBZ: CBS CSI Miami 195,000
14. WBZ: CBS CSI 188,000
15. WBZ: CBS Cold Case 187,000
15. WBZ: CBS Millionaire Password 186,000
15. WFXT: FOX House 186,000
15. WHDH:NBC NHL 185,000
15. WBZ:CBS The Mentalist 184,000

source: Nielsen Media Research

compiled by Johnny Diaz, Globe staff
jodiaz@globe.com

Surprise! Tabloid celebrities Jon and Kate Gosselin are planning to divorce. Here's the story.

"Better Off Ted," a breezily ironic workplace comedy, returns for the summer tonight at 9:30, and ABC has already renewed it for next winter. And guess what: Jay Harrington (above), who plays Ted, is a local boy. He grew up in Wellesley, and summered on the Cape.

Hey, I think Massachusetts may be a hotbed of TV talent, in addition to having produced a few movie stars including Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. We've bred Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”), John Krasinski, Steve Carell, B.J. Novak, and Mindy Kaling (“The Office”), Eric Mabius (“Ugly Betty”), Denis Leary (“Rescue Me”), Ellen Pompeo (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Jeffrey Donovan (“Burn Notice”), Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”) and Tom Everett Scott (“Southland”).

Any others come to mind?

Hello, "So You Think You Can Dance" fans, and sorry for the lax blogging. Given how happy this show makes me every week -- even when the routines are a little sub-par -- I'll be posting much more regularly throughout the summer, I swear. During these early weeks, I feel like we're just getting to know the dancers. So far, I'm quite attached to Evan and Randi, who dance a sweet jive and make Cat look even more like the Amazon woman she is. I'm also loving Melissa and Ade. I'm glad Asuka and Vitolio got redemption through their waltz. And I was sorry to see Max go. Who else could pull off pants like that?

If this week's routines felt a little lackluster compared to last week's, I think I can pinpoint one of the problems: the absence of Tabitha and Napoleon. This show rightly lionizes choreographers, but when things to wrong, they have to share the blame. Could it really be a coincidence that both Shane Sparks routines made it into the bottom 3?

Which brings me to the solos. I'm learning a lot about dance through this show, but I still haven't figured out how to judge for myself whether a solo is good or bad. They all blur together for me, a long series of kicks and leaps (though Caitlin adds gymnastics.) The one I remembered the most? Max's footwork on "Footloose." Go figure. Do you miss him as much as I do?

Ratings have slipped dramatically since the hard-to-watch season premiere a few weeks ago. (People want to see Jon and Kate bickering, it seems, not tooling around with the "American Chopper" guys.) So now TLC is teasing us with a very-special one hour episode on Monday. Will they get divorced at last? Will you tune in?

Joanna and I will take any and (almost) all TV questions today. Come share your feelings about the summer season, which is starting to kick into action.

The title sequence of HBO’s “True Blood” is among TV’s best ever, from “The Twilight Zone” to “Dexter.” Created by Digital Kitchen, the same outfit that made the “Six Feet Under” intro, the clip is a breath-taking flash tour of gothic Louisiana -- a swamp alligator, rotting cars and carcasses, roadhouse lust, ecstatic prayer, blood. Edited to a tension-and-release rhythm, it’s a visual tone poem about sex, death, and rebirth. It’s so visceral and hot that, at points, the film itself appears to be burning up. The accompanying song, Jace Everett’s raunchy “Bad Things”? Pure perfection.

And “True Blood,” back Sunday at 9 for a second season, is more than equal to this spectacular, A-level opener. Alan Ball’s series, based on Charlaine Harris’ vampire novels, is a transporting look at the paper-thin wall between desire and fear, excitement and terror. Populated by members of the undead, a mind-reader, a shape-shifter, and a prickly goddess of hedonism played by the superb Michelle Forbes, the show is really intoxicating, even for viewers who aren’t vampire-obsessed. And the season’s first four episodes reveal a TV production hitting its peak. OK, here’s my big quote: “True Blood” is truly terrific.

What I love about this series is only partly related to its over-arching conceit, by which vampires represent gay people coming come out of the “casket” and seeking equality. The symbolism is certainly a plus -- it gives the “True Blood” plots a nice non-supernatural resonance. While Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) continues her love affair with kind vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) this season, for example, her brother Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) joins a church built on the hatred of vampires. The Stackhouses are like a family riven by Proposition 8, except for the whole, you know, fang thing.

But the fun of “True Blood” is in what’s on the screen, so steeped in bayou atmosphere, heightened melodrama, and offbeat humor. Sookie remains a compelling plucky heroine, undaunted by the violent strangeness of Bill’s nighttime world but still holding fast to her moral center. In an amusing twist this season, she and Bill play surrogate parents to Jessica, the teen vampire Bill created last season, and they bicker about how strict to be with her. Played with tart brattiness by Deborah Ann Woll, Jessica is given an emotional center, too, as she learns firsthand the awkwardness and loneliness of eternal life. In one scene, her fangs emerge involuntarily when she’s attracted to a boy, and her giggly embarrassment is delightful.