As someone who has to cough up a column every day, I try to avoid using words like “fascinating,” because when you really try to put your rhetorical finger on the term, it quivers like a bowl full of jelly. Seriously, who gets to define “fascinating”? One person’s “fascinating” is another person’s overrated, overexposed, or in the case of talk shows, overbooked.

This less-than-fascinating rumination on “fascinating” is, of course, a windy prelude to the annual “Barbara Walters Special: 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009” (9 p.m., ABC). For years now, Walters’ roundup of the fascinating seemed limited to blandly famous personalities such as Tom Cruise or Will Smith flogging their latest empty-headed blockbuster.

In contrast, almost every member of this year’s panel could be considered a lightening rod for controversy, and several play the victim all the way to the bank.

The list, including Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, Tyler Perry, Kate Gosselin, Brett Favre, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, almost all fall into the love ’em or hate ’em category. In a furiously competitive entertainment environment, it has become fatal to arouse indifference. None of these “fascinating” figures can be accused of that.

• Viewers in search of more instant nostalgia can tune into “2009: That Really Happened!?!?” (5 p.m., VH1). The hour-long snark-fest recalls a year of scandals and teenage vampires, untimely deaths and unfathomable celebrity behavior. Look for the word “Twitter” to be uttered often, as if we care.

• “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With …” (9 p.m., Sundance) returns for a second season of music and conversation. Last season, Costello’s guests ran the gamut from rock to folk to opera stars, as well as former president and amateur musician Bill Clinton. Costello showed a real knack for genuine conversation, and for encouraging his guests to depart the comfort zone of safe sound bites and well-rehearsed and rehashed anecdotes.

Tonight’s guests are Bono and The Edge of U2 fame. After a minimal and obligatory bout of mutual admiration, the talk gives way to musical influences and favorite albums and performers. Both guests offer plenty of anecdotes about mentors and rivals from Echo and Bunnymen to Paul McCartney, krautrock bands and Frank Sinatra. Costello keeps talk of Bono’s philanthropic work to a refreshing minimum. The emphasis here is on the music.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Veronica seeks help for her combat-related ailments on “Mercy” (7 p.m. NBC).

• Ogre and entourage prepare for the holidays in the 2007 special “Shrek the Halls” (7 p.m., ABC).

• Fin investigates the murder of three immigrants on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (8 p.m., NBC).

• The sectional championships loom on the fall season finale of “Glee” (8 p.m., Fox).

• Phil and Claire put the kids on the naughty list on “Modern Family” (8 p.m., ABC).

• A booby-trapped penthouse hides the victim of a very cold case on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

• “Campus PD” (10 p.m., G4) takes a documentary-style look at the college police on five different campuses. This should give “Cops” a run for its money in the number of drunken perps it shows.

Cult choice

A stolen bicycle takes a man-child (Paul Reubens) on a cross-country odyssey in the 1985 comedy “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” (12:15 p.m., Encore).