johndoyleblog.com

Tonight, among other items for your delectation, there is I Survived a Japanese Game Show (ABC, CITY-TV, 9 p.m.), the dopey reality/game show with the breathtakingly ridiculous premise – a bunch of Americans are taken to Japan and compete in a wacky Japanese game show. Hilarity, of a type, ensues.

It’s summertime TV and some people will watch it and enjoy it tremendously. It’s utter froth, but television is both froth and substance, like summer itself. Lazy days and days of hard work and substantial achievement. Sometimes froth is good, healthy entertainment. It’s a mistake to think otherwise. I remember being struck while reading a piece by John Updike, in The New Yorker, years ago, in which he said he cheered up greatly whenever Madonna’s song Holiday came on the car radio. There was Updike, driving around New England, brooding on the grim dilemmas of his characters, and coming over all chipper, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, smiling when Madonna warbled, “Holiday Celebrate”

Another item for your enjoyment tonight is Wipeout (ABC, Global, 8 p.m.) which is, apparently, “The No. 1-rated summer series across all networks.” That’s according to ABC and applies to last year. People do obstacle courses ‘n’ stuff, including Plank in the Face, Hurtles and Gyro Sweeper and Big Balls. Thrills and laughter ensue. And then there’s the great So You Think You Can Dance (Fox, CTV, 8 p.m.) which is really, truly, deeply just about the joy of dance and movement. Pleasure ensues.

Take some froth with your substance this summer. Enjoy both. Now maybe you’re thinking that’s a tad too light and philosophical, what with all the brouhaha about a CBC News overhaul, the Letterman/Palin flap, ABC broadcasting its news programs from the White House next week, not to mention the burden of grievances under which the entire Canadian TV racket groans. Well, I’m taking a few weeks vacation and I’m entitled to be philosophical about froth.

Why yesterday I read about the first auditions for next season’s American Idol . I read this on the Billboard website: “Tiffany ‘Shorty’ Dorsey, 20, of Walpole, Mass., believed she had all that. While waiting in line for more than four hours, the 20-year-old used gel and other chemicals to fashion her hair into a faux mohawk. She promised to sing and dance to Play That Funky Music for the judges.” Oh my, things which we can look forward to with good cheer.

Before I go, your questions answered. No, there won’t be an election. Libs don’t have a platform. No, I don’t know why Linda Evangelista is honoured in Canada’s Walk of Fame. No, I don’t know why Allan King, who has just died, did not get such an honour. He wasn’t showbiz, I guess. But I do know that he was a brilliant, original Canadian documentary filmmaker, and both Warrendale and A Married Couple are masterpieces. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada a few years ago.

No, I’m not certain when Dexter returns for another season. Mid-September is what I’ve heard. Mad Men , I gather, will return in August. No, I don’t know if Evan Solomon is being groomed as the Wolf Blitzer of CBC News, as is rumoured. No, I don’t believe half of what I hear about the CBC. Yes, the Brother’s adventures will be mentioned again. He’s supposed to be in Vancouver, in his treehouse, through the Winter Olympics.

No, I’m not just disappearing to some cottage, lake or resort to lollygag and laze. I’ll be at home, working on the next wee book. It’s about soccer. It’s called All the Rambling Boys of Pleasure . Yes, I like writing. And I hope it shows. Kate “not a cat person” Taylor and Andrew (The Other Man Who Sometimes Writes in this Space) Ryan will be your guides. Be nice. Relax. Back in about a month.

Also airing tonight

Great Performances: Chess in Concert (PBS, 8 p.m.) features “memorable melodies and moving ballads” according to PBS. That’s a stretch. It’s actually a “concert” performance of music from the musical Chess , written by in the 1980s by Tim Rice with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA. The story is a Cold War tale – a chess match between the East and West champions, but the main story is a romantic triangle. The manager of one competitor falls in love with the other. I think. Anyway, One Night in Bangkok was the hit tune. The performers include Josh Groban and Broadway stars Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal.

Wild Docs: Royal Riders (Newsworld, 10 p.m.) is new and, I gather, “a documentary that explores the passion the British Royals have for their horses, and all that’s connected … from sport, breeding and racing, to love affairs, politics and the paparazzi.” Wonder if the Queen says “giddyup”?