Come on board to dish about "V," the Kennedy assassination, the sight of Pedro on the mound at Yankee Stadium, and anything else you saw on TV this week.

Here's a look at the most watched programs in primetime in Boston, for the week of Oct. 19-25.

1. WFXT:FOX NFL Sunday football 499,000
2. WBZ:CBS NCIS 454,000
3. WFXT:FOX ALCS pre-game coverage 380,000
4. WFXT: FOX Major League Baseball 373,000
5. WCVB:ABC Grey's Anatomy 360,000
6. WBZ:CBS 60 Minutes 350,000
7. WBZ:CBS Big Bang Theory 346,000
8. WBZ:CBS Two and A Half Men 330,000
8. WCVB:ABC Dancing with The Stars Results 327,000
10. WCVB:ABC Dancing with the Stars 311,000
11. WBZ:CBS NCIS:LA 304,000
12. ESPN NFL 299,000
13. WBZ:CBS CSI:Miami 293,000
14. WFXT:FOX House 280,000
15. WCVB:ABC Desperate Housewives 274,000
15. WFXT:FOX Major League Baseball ALCS-Game 5 273,000

source: Nielsen Media Research

compiled by Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff

Come join us to talk about "Mad Men," the end (at last?!) of "Jon & Kate", Adam Lambert's album cover, and, hey, how about "Lost"?

If you're like me, you're a bit spun around by the H1N1 scare, with its gentle message of "Your life might be in peril if you don't get vaccinated, but, whoops, we have no vaccines available. Sorry." On Thursday night from 7-9, NECN will host a live two-hour interactive special, "H1N1: What You Need to Know," which will attempt to shed light on the subject.

Viewers will be able to call, email, and tweet their questions to an expert panel that includes Boston Public Health commissioner Dr. Anita Barry, Brigham and Women's Hospital vice chair Dr. Richard Zane, Dimock Community Health Center CEO Dr. Myechia Jordan, New Hampshire deputy state epidemiologist Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, and Pediatrics Now editor-in-chief Dr. Gwenn O'Keefe.

You can send in questions before and during the show in the following places:
Call-in Number: (617) 244-3344
Email: flu@necn.com
Twitter: #necnh1n1

Wow. This is a surprise. Next year, the Golden Globes ceremony is going to feature its first host since 1995, and that host is going to be Ricky Gervais. "I have resisted many other offers like this," Gervais said, "but there are just some things you don't turn down." The telecast is on Jan. 17.

Gervais turned down those previous offers, I bet, because he knows that hosting awards shows is a mostly thankless and doomed job, one that usually only brings criticism and disappointment. It's the very rare awards-show host who doesn't get tiresome by hour three. "Not only is this the biggest Hollywood celebration of the industry, which includes both film and TV," he explained about his change of heart, "but also an environment where I feel I can get free reign as a host." Maybe his lackluster movie career is playing a role in his decision-making, too?

I do hope Gervais (here's my recent interview with him) will be an exception and do a brilliant job. He has had prime moments on awards shows in recent years (see below), and he has helped to change the face of TV comedy across the decade with his influential cringe-comedy masterpiece "The Office." Fingers, as they say, crossed.

What do you think?

I complain a lot about Betty Draper and January Jones -- I did it again in last week's TV chat -- but after last night's episode of "Mad Men," I'm reconsidering. The scene in which Betty finally confronts Don about his past was brilliantly played, both by Jones and especially by Jon Hamm, who dropped all traces of the smooth-talking Don Draper and reverted to Dick Whitman's deep vulnerability and guilt. And wouldn't you know? It might have been precisely what he needed to do to save his marriage.

Betty was understandably angry, suspicious, and cynical -- not just about the contents of the box, but about how Don, the brilliant salesman, would try to talk his way out of it. So she ordered him around like she would a petulant child (and she has plenty of experience with that; now Don knows how Sally feels). She wasn't going to feel sorry for him. She said so. But the instant she saw him fumbling with his cigarette -- to me, the most important moment in the scene -- she could see that this was a different Don. He was nervous, hesitant, not at all himself, and it made her protective shell crack. And by the time he was finished telling his (almost) real life story, in a childlike voice she might never have heard before, she did feel sympathy. But she also knows she has power in her marriage, power over Don's life, much more than she had before. How will she exercise it in the future? And does his newfound devotion stem from gratefulness or fear?

Oh, and who else was freaking out because Dick Whitman instantly forgot that Miss Farrell was OUTSIDE WAITING IN THE CAR?

Great news. HBO just annouced that it has renewed "In Treatment" for a third season. The half-hour drama will begin production in New York in early 2010, with debut scheduled for later in the year. Gabriel Byrne will star once again as Dr. Paul Weston, with additional cast members to be announced. I'm really pleased HBO has decided to stick with this series, despite its lack of large-audience potential. Maybe the success of "True Blood" is enabling the cable channel to stand by a prestige project?

And there's a small local angle to the news. Anya Epstein and her husband Dan Futterman (above) are joining the show as executive producers, along with returning executive producers Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Hagai Levi, and, most likely, Paris Barclay. Epstein is the older sister of Theo Epstein of the Red Sox, the daughter of B.U.'s creative writing director Leslie Epstein, and one of the "Homicide" writer-producers; Futterman is an actor and a screenwriter who was nominated for an Oscar for his "Capote" script.

The White House's ongoing battle with Fox News took an interesting turn yesterday, when the other TV networks stood up for Fox. When the Treasury Department tried to deny Fox reporters access to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, the other networks -- who serve as both colleagues and competitors in the White House press corps -- refused to go along.

It's a good message for the White House: Journalists cringe at anything that smacks of censorship. And throughout this war of words, Fox has been hewing to its longtime contention that its news operation is separate from its right-wing stable of talking heads, and that its journalists are simply doing their job by asking tough questions of the president. I will vouch for the fact that there's a big difference between Sean Hannity and, say, Shepard Smith.

Of course, Fox has crossed into ethically shady ground by "covering" news its talk show hosts have created, such as the anti-government "Tea Party" rallies that became right-wing talking points for weeks. And I can't blame the White House for cringing at Fox News talk-show rants that veer into loony territory, and cross the line from disagreeing with White House positions to trying to delegitimize the government. Can we set to rest the question of whether Obama is a citizen already? Or whether Obama "has a deep-seated hatred for white people"? Glenn Beck even looks loco when he says that. He looks loco two-thirds of the time, in fact, which is precisely why he makes for weirdly-compelling TV. Yet however loco he happens to be, he still has First Amendment rights, and so do his colleagues on the news side of the fence. Which means this is going to be a tough one for the White House to win.

In other news, via Politico: Some conservatives want Fox News honcho Roger Ailes to run for president.

Updated: Ailes is declining to run. "I can't take the pay cut," he says.

As you can see below, WBZ/CBS dominated the Boston TV market for the week of Oct. 12-18. Almost everything in Boston primetime was led by a CBS comedy, crime procedural drama, 60 Minutes, or football. WHDH's most watched show that week was Sunday night football on Oct. 18 with 270,000 total viewers (ranking 18th in Boston.) WCVB's most viewed show was Grey's Anatomy (#9 with 326,000 viewers.) WFXT's popular show was House (#21 with 254,000 viewers.)

1. WBZ:CBS NFL Football 1,306,000
2. WBZ:CBS NFL Football 1,096,000
3. WBZ:CBS 60 Minutes 571,000
4. WBZ:CBS NCIS 561,000
5. WBZ:CBS Two and A Half Men 416,000
6. WBZ:CBS NCIS: LA 379,000
7. WBZ:CBS Big Bang Theory 368,000
8. WBZ:CBS The Mentalist 327,000
9. WCVB:ABC Grey's Anatomy 326,000
9. WBZ:CBS Criminal Minds 325,000
11. WBZ:CBS CSI: Miami 307,000
11. WBZ:CBS CSI 303,000
13. WBZ:CBS CSI:NY 285,000
13. WCVB: Dancing with the Stars 284,000
15. WBZ:CBS Amazing Race 282,000
15. WBZ: CBS The Good Wife 280,000

source: Nielsen Media Research
compiled by Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff
jodiaz@globe.com8.

This is too sad. Former "Smallville" regular and Boston-area native Sam Jones III has been arrested in a federal drug sting and accused of conspiracy to deal thousands of oxycodone pills.

Jones was taken into custody in LA this morning, according to TMZ, with the DEA calling him a "co-conspirator" in several major drug deals in 2008. He has been charged with conspiracy to possess illegal drugs with intent to distribute, which has a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

This comes on the heels of the news that Adam Jasinski, the winner of last year's "Big Brother 9," was arrested on Saturday in North Reading on oxycodone distribution charges.

Jones, who was Pete Ross on "Smallville" and Chaz Pratt on "ER," is from Roxbury and, later, from Mattapan. I spent an afternoon with him and his father in 2002 when he was home visiting his parents. In the cruel irony department, he talked a lot that day about trying to stay out of trouble as a kid. "It's just a bad situation growing up in the inner city, but you don't know any better, so you love it. And you just get involved in what all your friends are getting involved in. If everybody in the neighborhood is smoking weed and selling drugs, then you smoke weed and sell drugs, too.

"My message to the kids is just don't do that; there's another way. Your life can be bigger than Boston. You may have started here but you can go somewhere else."

Here's hoping Jones finds his way back to a good place. The entire interview is reprinted in the previous item on Viewer Discretion.

February 23, 2002

UP, UP, AND AWAY

SAM JONES III'S FLIGHT FROM ROXBURY TO `SMALLVILLE' LANDS HIM IN THE BIG TIME

During their years toiling in Hollywood's celebrity-profile factory, most actors perfect the art of the cautious blab.

The consummate cautious blabber knows how to gush endlessly about his magnificent TV series and the magical wonders of his magnanimous network - and then withdraw into imperious stares when the questioning gets too real. Slick and evasive, he knows how to steer clear of the personal sphere.

Sam Jones III is a newcomer to the realm of the cautious blab, and as such he is a refreshing two hours of talk. Later in his promising career, the Boston native will learn to skirt subjects with the best of them; he will earn his MFA in MYOB. But right now, the young costar of the WB's Tuesday night Superman drama, "Smallville," is a reckless fountain of confidence, pride, and naivete. During a recent visit home from the Vancouver "Smallville" set, Jones arrives for lunch in the South End undaunted by an East Coast head cold, still high on his odyssey in La-La Land and the fans who actually want his autograph.

"Even grown women come up and ask to take my picture and tell me how cute I am," he says, talking a mile a minute while his chicken sandwich patiently awaits his attention. "I just keep my mouth shut, but when they leave, I'm like, this is funny. . . . I say to my dad, `Why are those people staring at me?' And he says, `Because what you're doing is not normal. When you do something out of the average, people put you on a pedestal.' It's weird how one man can put another man on a pedestal, but that's what happens in life."

The pedestal: It will present a great challenge to Sam Jones III in the coming years, as he negotiates the ego trips of fame, fortune, and a role on what has been called "The Hottie Network." Once a basketball-playing Roxbury kid trying to stay out of trouble, he will soon find himself up for parts in big-budget movies, facing the country from awards-show podiums, and fending off designers who want him to wear their clothes. He'll be in serious risk of catching the Hollywood flu, which leaves its many victims dangerously puffed up.

OK, I was had. I believed in Balloon Boy. Or, rather, I believed that his parents believed that he was in the balloon. And I hoped that they were wrong, that he was hiding under the bed, or in a box. And I was happy - genuinely happy - when I learned that, in fact, he was.

So now I'm mad at the Heenes for wasting my time and recklessly misusing public safety resources. I'm mad at whatever TV network was allegedly their co-conspirator. But I'm not mad in the least at CNN, Fox News Channel, or MSNBC for going all-out with the story last Thursday. Arianna Huffington might think it was a waste of airtime, but I don't. Not even now.

Let's start with the premise that, except in a time of actual crisis, there is no need for 24-hour news. And let's think about what the networks might have been covering, instead. Yes, of course, there are important stories out there, which merit coverage and get it - in Afghanistan, in Iraq, on Wall Street, on Capitol Hill (where many machinations are political theater, designed for display on 24-hour news channels). But these are ongoing stories, developing at incremental paces. What was happening specifically on Thursday afternoon that was more compelling than an emotional, visually-arresting, evocative drama playing out in the Colorado skies? A drama that was certain to have a discrete ending -- just not quite the one we expected?

I'm not saying the networks were perfect. Unsurprisingly, the talking heads often had no idea what they were talking about (though the head of the Experimental Balloon and Airship Association must have thought he was born for this day). The feverish speculation about a mysterious speck, captured in a photo below the errant balloon, was distasteful at best. But let's also remember: The Larimer County, Colo., authorities might have gone on believing these folks if it weren't for that Wolf Blitzer interview. Sometimes, it's not so bad to have the media horde on the case.

Jay Leno is drawing about 5 million viewers every night -- which sounds horrid, except that it's roughly the viewership he got on "The Tonight Show." Are you one of those viewers? Were you a fan of "The Tonight Show" starring Jay? And if you've defected, is there anything Leno could do to win you back? We'll be printing some comments in Ye Olde Paper Globe, so please post your thoughts here!

There have to be good reasons to watch a scripted drama about the war in Iraq, as opposed to a documentary. And BBC America’s powerful “Occupation” provides plenty of them. This four-hour epic, which premieres Sunday night at 8, is a spectacularly acted and dramatically filmed look at three British soldiers during and after their service. A sort of “The Best Years of Our Lives” for a more fractured time, “Occupation” is a portrait of how war can break even the hardiest of souls.

We first encounter the three soldiers, all from Manchester, during the invasion of Basra in 2003. The most conventionally heroic one is Mike (James Nesbitt, above), a married father of two who, early in “Occupation,” is trying to get medical care for a wounded Iraqi child. At the hospital, which is overrun with bleeding civilians, he encounters and soon falls in love with an Iraqi doctor, Aliya (Lubna Azabal). They share a powerful, almost tacit bond, built as a shield against the despair and destruction around them. It’s the kind of connection Mike could never share with his wife.

His attraction to Aliya will bring Mike back to Iraq after his first tour. Indeed, all three of the central characters return to the Iraqi war zones, to pursue the transformative experiences they began in 2003. Danny (Stephen Graham) is the most unmoored of the three, and he becomes drawn to the chaos and aggression of battle. He evolves from a happy-go-lucky sort into a bit of a monster. After serving, he returns to Basra to form a private company and take advantage of the American dollars going toward reconstruction in Iraq. He becomes a kind of Kurtz figure from “Heart of Darkness,” as he and his fellow contractors operate by their own rules and morality.

Lee (Warren Brown) is the shaky one, perhaps because he feels a deep sense of guilt about the impact of war on the Iraqis. He has scruples, and they plague him. At home in Manchester with his parents and peacenik sister, he clings to his anger; and in Basra, where he returns to make moral reparations, he clings to his decency. His experiences in Iraq become increasingly intertwined with those of Mike and Danny, as the movie moves across the decade.

“Occupation” is filmed with a sense of narrative disconnection that some viewers will find jarring. As in HBO’s “Generation Kill,” the scene-to-scene links are not spelled out, to evoke the randomness of battle. The handheld camera work has a rough quality, too, that’s documentary-like at times. And some of the dialogue-- the screenplay is by Peter Bowker -- is delivered in such heavy British accents that American viewers may miss a line here and there. Not that the movie takes a distinctly British viewpoint on the fighting in Iraq; Bowker is after the universality of psychic war wounds, and not the specific tensions of international politics. I can easily imagine "Occupation" adapted with an American cast.

Ultimately, patience with the movie's disorientations is rewarded by director Nick Murphy with a larger sense of the emotional ups and downs and ins and outs of fighting a war with no specific goal. And the performances are so breathtaking, they compensate for a lot of the jittery, piecemeal formatting. Nesbitt, in particular, is profound, as he registers unbearable pain on his tense face. You can see the huge costs of war, and of love, in his quiet, piercing eyes.

It was about the wildest thing a boy could do. That was the initial fascination with the Balloon Boy story that captivated TV viewers today -- the notion of a small boy riding in an out-of-control space-age weather balloon was terrifying, dangerous, and utterly believable. Boys are impulsive. They disobey orders. They test boundaries. They climb into things. And as that silver balloon floated silently over Colorado, sometimes in slow motion, sometimes shockingly fast, it evoked some of the thrill rides of literature and film -- Curious George's high-flying travels on a kite, Daniel Craig's far more tragic bout with a balloon in "Enduring Love," the movie based on Ian McEwan's book.

The flight of Falcon Heene -- the flight that wasn't -- seemed far closer to Curious George's, an act of innocent boldness, a dance with danger for danger's sake. That same spirit permeates "Where The Wild Things Are," the visually-stunning and moving film that opens tomorrow. It's an amazingly faithful extrapolation of Maurice Sendak's book (I know that sounds strange, but it's true). And it's a tribute, a love song, to the way boys play: violently, loudly, dangerously.

Of course, there's more to the story of the Heenes, which made today's TV drama that much more bizarre and gave the psychologists something to talk about during recaps on the evening talk shows. The family is reportedly obsessed with science and did a couple of crazy turns on ABC's "Wife Swap," in which the father behaved like a wild young boy, himself. They made a rap video starring the three sons and posted it on YouTube. Youngest brother Falcon seems oddly precocious in some ways, chasing tornadoes and rapping for video cameras. But today, he turned out to be a typical six-year-old boy, hiding for the reasons a six-year-old might. He was scared, self-centered, innocent, confused. And, thankfully, he was safe.

Edited to add: Wow, the backlash is swift and frenzied. And, after learning a bit more about Richard Heene -- and watching him on "Wife Swap" -- I have some healthy skepticism myself. I still believe what I said about six-year-old boys, and I still believe this could have been an accident. But the family isn't doing much to dispel the conspiracy theories. Below, CNN's Wolf Blitzer tries to press the family on Falcon's statement that he "did this for the show." Richard pushes back. See what you think.

More updates: TMZ reports that the Heenes have been shopping a reality show about themselves. And the New York Times reports that Colorado authorities will conduct an investigation into whether the family filed a false report.

Give NBC credit for trying new things. First, the network scuttled a third of its primetime schedule and replaced it with the Jay Leno show. Now comes news that the network has signed Jon Bon Jovi to a two-month "Artist in Residence" deal, which treats him to appearances on "Today," "The Jay Leno Show," "The Tonight Show," and "Saturday Night Live." He'll also be interviewed by Brian Williams and James Lipton (whose "Inside the Actor Studio" airs on Bravo, owned by NBC Universal).

I question the wisdom of the Bon Jovi deal; who does it benefit, besides the guy with the album to promote? Is the nation really clamoring to see an aging hair band rocker? It's not like he's Lady Gaga. No, I'm more intrigued by this: Today, NBC announced that this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" will be exclusively sponsored by Bud Light Golden Wheat Beer.

No, that's not a joke from a "30 Rock" script. And it means more than just a long commercial or two; the show will also feature clips from viewing parties, across the country, sponsored by the beer, plus some segments labeled "Backstage With Bud Light Golden Wheat." I'm not sure what Lorne Michaels thinks of this -- though I'd be willing to wager a guess -- but I actually feel fine, because it's so ridiculously transparent.

I recall being upset, a few years ago, when Major League Baseball considered putting movie advertisements on the bases, but I'm not sure there's anything sacred about "SNL" that needs to be protected and preserved. A few jokes about a Staples paper shredder didn't ruin "The Office" a couple of seasons ago. Viewers today are savvy and smart; they know that networks have to pay the bills, and they're willing to endure some bald-faced product placement in order to get their content. What is "Project Runway," after all, if not a giant ad for Garnier Fructis?

I really didn't want to like last night's wedding double-episode of "The Office," it being a sitcom wedding episode and all. Usually, they stink. But I loved the hour from start to finish. It had just the right amounts of lightly cringy American "Office" moments and emotional pangs.

Every smaller character had a moment, from Creed eating while everyone puked and Meredith smoking her afternoon cigar to Kevin's shoes being destroyed by the hotel. But I really enjoyed Ed Helms as Andy, in particular. He's one of the show's unsung characters, I think -- really different from the more "ouch"-inspiring office staff. I think it took Helms a few episodes to find his character initially, but now he is just a classic big boy in little boy clothing. His orange sweater vest and red pants at the night-before party, his comment about Erin smelling like his mother, his tears at Jim's speech, his bow tie and his walker -- so sweet!

The peak of the hour was the ceremony -- or ceremonies -- after the funny rehearsal dinner debacles (including Jim's strategically interrupted speech about the virtues of waiting). Shots of Jim and Pam getting married on the boat near Niagara Falls were interspersed beautifully with the church wedding, as the characters all did the Youtube wedding dance to Chris Brown's "Forever." The overall effect was joyous and touching, giddy and cinematic. It was once of the best TV wedding sequences I've ever seen, and it did justice to the years of back and forth between Jim and Pam and the durable, loving rapport they have developed.

And the camera kept turning back to Jim's face during the wedding. We usually see him gently telegraphing irony to us while something ridiculous is going on around him. That's one of the show's signature images. But last night, as his ceremony bounced before his eyes. he was quietly projecting true happiness, without a hint of resistance. Nice job, John Krasinski.

What did you think?