On tonight’s “Primetime” (8 p.m., ABC), Diane Sawyer interviews Tom Cruise. According to the network, he will be discussing his busy summer, scheduled to include a big movie release, the birth of a child and his wedding. But that’s not why we’ll be watching. Over the past year or so, Cruise has been engulfed in controversy stemming from strange remarks, stranger behavior and his emergence as an outspoken advocate for Scientology.

I have next to no interest in Cruise’s movies, his private life or his beliefs, but I do find his talk-show performances oddly riveting. And not just for his couch-bouncing exuberance.

His 2004 appearance on “Inside the Actor’s Studio” was weird to say the least. While Cruise discussed acting with some passion, he talked about himself and his life experiences from a spooky distance, as if he inhabited a stranger’s body and was commenting from afar.

Just last week, in the popular Sunday supplement “Parade,” Cruise declared, “I can create who I am.” Yes, Tom, and what you are creating is a public embarrassment. Cruise has come to resemble Rock Hudson’s character in the campy 1954 melodrama “Magnificent Obsession.” He’s a handsome middle-aged man who claims to have discovered the meaning of life and insists on boring us with the details.

¢ “The Bernie Mac Show” (7 p.m., Fox) wraps up its season with an hour-long episode in which Bernie has a near-death experience. Unfortunately, this episode may be too close to the truth. The prognosis is never healthy for a show that wraps up before the May sweeps period.

This comedy rarely fails to make me laugh and isn’t afraid to mix a little poignancy with its punch lines. Like too many sitcoms, “Bernie” suffers from being moved all over the schedule. On the other hand, “Bernie” has had a nice little run. It recently aired its 100th episode, a milestone for any series.

I’m getting choked up, America. This could be the last “Bernie Mac.”

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A cranky comic’s spirit receives some standup advice on “Ghost Whisperer” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Cooked books may imperil the casino’s license on “Las Vegas” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ A meth lab bust has reverberations on “Numb3rs” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ A suspect comes with powerful allies on “Conviction” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Scheduled on “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC): a look at the influence of the book “Freakonomics” (William Morrow, 2005) by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.