It says something about the nature of May sweeps that the most anticipated program of the evening comes from the news division. As widely reported, “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) will present an interview with Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a woman who has been dubbed “the D.C. Madam.” Palfrey claims to have a list of thousands of clients, some with high-profile positions. And she has promised to name names, or at least provide phone numbers of her clientele. ABC News will let its fingers do the walking and tell us whether there are any notable names on her Rolodex.

Any whiff of personal impropriety drives news, particularly news of the tabloid variety. “20/20” is certainly no stranger to this subject. The show’s ratings rocketed into the stratosphere on March 3, 1999, when Barbara Walters sat down with a certain White House intern at the center of an impeachment drama.

Palfrey’s story seems like something out of a scripted drama. The ascension of possible scandal to a sweeps fodder makes me ponder the relationship of news and television.

It’s interesting to note that Palfrey was once in law school. As fans must surely remember, in the pilot episode of “The West Wing,” Rob Lowe’s character winds up spending the night (and switching pagers) with a lady of the evening (played by Lisa Edelstein, now of “House” fame) who plied her trade to pay for her law school tuition.

Of course, “The West Wing” debuted the same year as the Walters-Lewinsky interview and reflected the concerns of that era. Will viewers flock to watch tonight’s “20/20” or consider a Washington sex scandal as something downright quaint by contemporary standards?

Of course, more recent events seem to influence sweeps programming from both the news and entertainment divisions. On Sunday, former CIA director George Tenet used “60 Minutes” to launch his book tour and an emotional defense of his reputation. Fans of “24” must feel his pain. After all, on that series, Bill Buchanan (James Morrison), the head of CTU, has been thrown under the bus by a White House eager to cover its posterior. And on “24,” an aggressive no-nonsense Vice President Noah Daniels (Powers Boothe) is calling the shots and ruffling feathers. But now Daniels may face a sex scandal of his own. And that brings us back to tonight’s “20/20.”

When it comes to sweeps programming from the news and entertainment divisions, sex and scandal still sell. And, much to the chagrin of Freedom Fries aficionados, I think the French said it best: “Cherchez La Femme.”

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A ghost prophet has a dark vision for Melinda on the first half of a two-part season finale of “Ghost Whisperer” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Scheduled on “Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC): A former beauty queen and mother of seven stands accused of having one lover kill another.

¢ Three’s a shroud on “Stargate SG-1” (7 p.m., Sci Fi).

¢ Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco in the 2004 sequel “Spider-Man 2” (7 p.m., FX). The franchise is now ready to reload the sequel machine. Funny, I was bored by the first.

¢ A secret agent (Bruce Lee) takes on a drug lord in the 1973 martial arts adventure “Enter the Dragon” (7 p.m., AMC).