Five-Ring Circus

Tomorrow night marks the beginning of the 2008 Summer Olympics (NBC, Friday, 7:30 p.m.) in Beijing, games that have already been marked by their fair share of controversies.

Doping, Beijing's pollution, China's abysmal record on human rights - these aren't shaping up to be the happy fun games.

Still, there's something about the Olympics that are unmatched in sports. When a record in track or swimming falls, it still seems to mean something. When you see someone like Kerri Strug perform a vault in gymnastics on a busted ankle to capture a gold medal, you still get chills.

So many great stories usually come out of the Olympics that they are worth watching, especially when all they are up against is so-called reality TV. The Olympics are the genuine deal.

Though NBC will have a small army descend upon China for the games, it's a little disappointing to see the other networks not take advantage of this rare opportunity to report from that country; most are only sending a few reporters. It's a rare opportunity for access to a country that, otherwise, rarely grants it.

Still, there are some problems with the Olympics coverage. For me, most notably, American coverage of the Games usually revolves around Americans, so if an American athlete doesn't have a decent shot at medalling in an event, that event rarely gets shown. In addition, the coverage tends to focus on U.S. athletes who finish in sixth place while some foreign athlete sets a record and barely gets noticed.

And, the Olympics have never quite been the same since ABC stopped covering them, which meant no Jim McKay serving as host. McKay died earlier this year, and no studio host will ever match him in the booth.

NBC has provided a complete schedule of what it is televising: www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/index.html. In addition, networks like Telemundo are also providing coverage, and satellite and internet owners should be able to pick up all sorts of broadcasts.

So, let the Games begin.

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: The quirky and charming "My Boys" wraps up its second season at a special time (TBS, 10 p.m.) as the gang gets ready for Bobby's wedding and PJ tries to reunite him with his squabbling brother. It follows two new episodes of the "Bill Engvall Show," beginning at 9 p.m.

One of the best shows of the summer, "Burn Notice," (USA, 10 p.m.) is brand-new. It's opposite new episodes of the docu-drama "Hopkins" (ABC, 10 p.m.) and "Flashpoint" (CBS, 10 p.m.)

On the so-called reality front, both "So You Think You Can Dance" (Fox, 8 p.m.) and "Last Comic Standing" (NBC, 8 p.m.) announce their winners.

Finally, I saw the first episode of the HBO vampire series "True Blood," created by Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") and it's pretty good. I'm going to review it in detail just before it debuts in September (and, I've also interviewed one of show's stars, Macon native Carrie Preston), but you can catch a sneak peek of what it's about with a 15-minute special (HBO, 8:15 p.m.)