Call me jaded. When I learned about a new talk show hosted by William Shatner called “Shatner’s Raw Nerve” (9 p.m., Biography) and that his first guest would be Valerie Bertinelli, I must admit I was underwhelmed.

I was also dreading that Shatner (“Boston Legal”) would bring his patented campy routine to the show. Few actors have done a better job of sending up their reputation as a canned ham. And Shatner has the Priceline checks to prove it.

So let me admit that I was surprised and delighted to be proven wrong. Unlike virtually every talk show on television, Shatner allows his guests to speak at length about topics that have nothing to do with their latest movie, book, Vegas engagement or cause. And he doesn’t go for the easy laugh, or any laughs at all.

In fact, Shatner often seems more like a wise and empathetic counselor than a talk-show host. Within moments of arriving, Bertinelli launches into a somber conversation about her failed marriage and her personal transgressions. Ever polite, Shatner probes her about her notions of heaven, hell, sin and goodness. They both divulge personal and painful tales about addicted spouses and talk about long-postponed divorces and the shattering conclusions to personal dreams.

Let me repeat myself: This is not at all what I expected.

Next week’s show (Dec. 9) features an equally serious chat with talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel. Again, the conversation almost immediately turns toward bittersweet memories of a man who married too young and for all the wrong reasons.

If Bertinelli treats Shatner’s show like a priest’s confessional, Kimmel gags about its similarities to a therapist’s couch. “Same time next week?” he asks. “My insurance will cover this, right?”

• Life is unfair. And so is television. We’ve recently learned that three ABC shows, “Pushing Daisies,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Eli Stone,” would not survive the season. After a few pangs of disappointment, many fans found themselves resigned to poor ratings and even a little grateful to ABC for giving the quirky series a shot in the first place.

Now, as if to taunt us, the network gods bring back “According to Jim” (8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.), a show that many critics and viewers have been waiting to vanish since it first debuted on Oct. 3, 2001.

• “Explorer: Marijuana Nation” (9 p.m., National Geographic) looks at a marijuana business that continues to flourish despite a decades-long “war” against it.

Tonight’s other highlights

• The voices of Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney animate the holiday special “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (7 p.m., ABC).

• Alicia Keys, Kid Rock, Beyonce, Solange, Mariah Carey and Ringo Starr appear at the 2008 World Music Awards (7 p.m., MyNetwork).

• Jane investigates the murder of three veterans on “The Mentalist” (8 p.m., CBS).

• A fitness celebrity faints during the filming of an infomercial on “House” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Post-honeymoon adjustments come hard on “Gavin & Stacey” (7:40 p.m., BBC America).

• Just another day on the maggot farm on “Dirty Jobs” (9 p.m., Discovery).

• A series of bank robberies yields a surprising suspect on “Fringe” (9 p.m., Fox).