Bad TV shows have littered the airwaves for some time. But what are the consequence? Low ratings? Series cancellation? No prospects for a long-term production deal at your favorite studio-network? A bad table at The Grill? All this doesn't sound too bad - especially in light of recent news for TV producers on some Arab networks. It seems a local Saudi Arabian cleric has given the a-okay for worse punishment for a wrong-sided -- or, in this religious person's eyes, "deviant" TV shows: death.

Riffing off old, easily identifiable TV shows in an effort to market new shows is always a tricky affair, since consumers may be misled into thinking more of the same is coming.

Pumping up our TV attention brainwaves, TV programmers are designing shows to keep us on-edge all year round, with lots of series finales. My colleague Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star says it's gone too far: now there are the more ubiquitous "mid-season finales" -- especially ones from cable networks.

Are we on the fringe of a big TV season, or will that big TV season just stay beyond reach? The Beijing Olympics seem to suggest there is plenty of life in the traditional ways of looking at TV. But looking at this season's crop of new efforts from network and cable, it's hard to tell whether any of those will grab a medal.

Any still-famous celebrity athlete coming out of retirement can influence TV ratings -- but probably not that much. On the same day when there was news that last year's NFL MVP Tom Brady, injured during his Patriots win on Sunday, would be lost for the season, came rumors of Lance Armstrong returning to professional road cycling. Those rumors are now fact: Armstrong has confirmed he's coming back.

The season is only a few days old for some TV networks -- plenty of time to test your TV knowledge: Which of these shows grabs the most viewers? The CW's "Gossip Girl," TNT's "Raising the Bar" or AMC's "Mad Men"?

You can blame TV for today's rise in revenue for the optical industry. "Palin has created quite a stir ... with her designer glasses," blares a headline in USA Today. Forget that that the market dropped almost 400 points yesterday -- there are rimless spectacles to buy!

It's time again -- whoops, strike that, since it's never happened before -- for 10 questions, issues, opinions, etc. that hopefully will be thought-provoking. Here goes....

The dominoes in online video are falling faster than Michael Phelps. The latest and somewhat surprising example is Major League Baseball, which in a deal earlier this month gave ESPN the rights to stream three games a week live on its ESPN360.com service. That follows the NFL reaching a deal with NBC to do the same with that network's prime-time games, starting with the high-profile season debut Thursday.

If cars in Iran are seemingly running on water, I want to know about it. I have a right to believe in any crap I want. Oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens doesn't go that far. But he suggested something else and, as a result, got roughed up a bit by NBC.