Nothing sells tabloids like morbidity. Next to adultery, rehab or the sight of cellulite captured by powerful telephoto lenses, pictures of celebrities loitering defiantly at heaven’s door are a mainstay of the tawdry rags.

This brings us to “Farrah’s Story” (8 p.m., NBC), a two-hour, 12-hanky affair about the actress and her cancer that just happens to show up during the last Friday of May sweeps. Look for Meredith Vieira to interview the former “Angel” and her longtime companion, Ryan O’Neal, as well as Farrah’s friend Alana Stewart.

This has been a strange TV year. Back in January, A&E’s promotion for the cop series “The Beast” seemed to coincide with the appearance of star Patrick Swayze’s face on countless tabloids and their lugubrious speculation about his health. Happily, Swayze is still with us, even after “The Beast” has run its course.

Some years back, O’Neal, who suffers from leukemia, was subject to similarly dire rumors. Those stories were false, and the star of “Love Story” has gone on to appear on “Bones” and grace the Internet with even more recent mug shots.

So here’s hoping that Fawcett also endures and thrives and lives to look back at this special as one more act of desperation and questionable taste by the folks at NBC.

• Celebrity interviews of a less maudlin sort are featured on “AMC Storymakers” (9 p.m., AMC), hosted by longtime Hollywood journalist Peter Bart and producer Peter Guber.

No interview with Tom Cruise can be considered an uncalculated event, so don’t be shocked when he says he has postponed any plans to direct movies in order to spend more time with his family. Comedy director Judd Apatow discusses male nudity in film, and Cameron Diaz likes the fact that she appears without makeup in her forthcoming “My Sister’s Keeper.”

Actor Nick Cassavetes offers platitudinous gibberish about his film-going experience. “I’m always there ready with my receptors open looking to try to connect to something.” Don’t sit next to him at the six-plex!

• “Don’t Tell the Bride” (7 p.m., and 8 p.m., BBC America) offers a marginally sane variation on the tiresome “Bridezilla” theme. Young couples are offered a tidy wedding budget if they agree to not see each other during the four weeks leading up to the big day, while the groom goes about planning the whole affair.

Look for an occasionally diverting wrinkle on the war between the sexes. Bride is deprived of the shopping spree of a lifetime, while groom gets addled with deciding on a thousand tiny details, many of them matters of taste that he would just as soon leave to someone else. And who can resist the sight of the groom bringing his best (male) friend to try on a bridal gown because he’s about the same size as the bride-to-be?

Tonight’s season finales

• An unplanned visit from the other realm leaves Melinda shaken on “Ghost Whisperer” (7 p.m., CBS).

• “Prison Break” (7 p.m., Fox) wraps up loose ends with a two-hour series ender.

• Melanie and Derwin get cold feet on a one-hour episode of “The Game” (7 p.m., CW).

• Overtime adds up after Amita is kidnapped on “Numb3rs” (9 p.m., CBS).