Nothing sells tickets like controversy, and the “2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony” (8 p.m., VH1) has its fill. Taped last week at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the fete featured the inclusion of Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Sex Pistols into the musical pantheon.

This year’s contretemps surround the inclusion of jazz great Miles Davis and the tardy and perhaps reluctant recognition of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. For years, Osbourne has griped that snobby critics have excluded Sabbath and have looked down on its music as well as its fans.

At the same time, the inclusion of Miles Davis seems entirely critic driven. The musician, who died in 1991, may have embraced the spirit and amplified electric sound of rock and funk, but can he be considered a rocker?

Davis was arguably the coolest guy of the 20th century, and his 1959 “Kind of Blue” album frequently ends up on best-album roundups in Rolling Stone and elsewhere. But “Kind of Blue” is not a rock album, and being really cool does not make one a rock ‘n’ roll star. If it did, the hall would have inducted Frank Sinatra years ago.

¢ Not all of the women featured in “The Real Housewives of Orange County” (9 p.m., Bravo) are housewives. And it’s hard to accept them as entirely “real.” Not when the words “80 percent of the women I know have plastic surgery” can be heard during the show’s credits.

A documentary-style look at five women living in a gated community where houses start at $1.2 million features fleeting moments of drama between vast deserts of wasted time. It’s most interesting when it seems to prove that “The Stepford Wives” could no longer work as science fiction or satire.

One of the wives actually admits she was “chosen” by her husband and his mother because she was most genetically suitable to his (or their) needs. She’s now the mother of three spoiled children, one of whom considers the gift of a 3-week-old sports car to be a “hand-me-down.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “the rich are different than you and me.” Yes, they’re often more boring than you and me.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ The remaining 11 perform on “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A rescue mission hits a snag on “The Unit” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ On back-to-back episodes of “Sons & Daughters” (ABC), a problem loan (8 p.m.), Cameron tries to shake his negative aura (8:30 p.m.).

¢ Roadblocks and computer crashes cause delays on “Amazing Race 9” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ A murdered scholarship student appeared to be flush with cash on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Shirley’s ex (Tom Selleck) joins her on a case on “Boston Legal” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ Dutch wants a transfer on “The Shield” (9 p.m., FX).