Imagine a world where you’re not allowed to think. Or express yourself about anything not involving the crudest sensation. For anybody with a mind and who likes to use it, it would be a kind of hell. Or “The Real World: Las Vegas” (9 p.m., MTV).

In this, the 25th installment of the fishbowl series, the granddaddy of reality spectacles, a group of well-honed types move into the penthouse of The Hard Rock Cafe. If you’re going to surrender your life to a reality show, you might as well live in a product placement.

As we’ve come to expect from this, there are two male “players” who behave rather typically and not unlike sociopaths. A tease at the episode’s beginning hints of a violent altercation. Will it erupt between them? Then there’s the Catholic School Boy who just lost his virginity and can’t wait to talk about it. And the too-handsome-to-be-true southern gentleman who harbors some kind of secret about his past as a male model.

Of all the girls, only one has a boyfriend back home. Gosh, I can’t imagine how that will work out.

Even the folks who created the slogan “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” knew that most people stay, or want to stay, in Las Vegas for few days at a time. At most. To linger longer is to be trapped in a dark amusement park that grows more claustrophobic and boring by the minute. Welcome to “The Real World.”

• Speaking of distractions, the news’ rubber-necking obsession with Charlie Sheen’s self-destructive behavior offers another example of the lengths corporate media will go to avoid reporting “the news.”

CNN’s fledgling prime-time talk show “Piers Morgan Tonight” (8 p.m., CNN) devoted an hour to the deranged sitcom star. In a surprising twist, its glib host seemed more deluded than his notorious guest. Morgan repeatedly referred to “Two and a Half Men” as a “family show” and as a “great show,” when it is neither.

The CBS executives who appear so surprised and hurt by Sheen’s recent statements and actions expect us to believe, or to forget, that they based their sleazy show on Sheen’s reputation for sleazy behavior.

As powerfully chronicled on Jezebel.com last week, Sheen has a history of hitting and even shooting women and of being served restraining orders by women who grew to fear him. Yet folks like Morgan treat him like an amusing “bad boy.” Does he have to kill somebody for us to change our minds? Or will that only launch this mindless frenzy into the O.J. stratosphere?

Tonight’s other highlights

• At last, the official 13 finalists perform on “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Claire snoops to conquer on “Modern Family” (8 p.m., ABC).

• Murder in the windy city on “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” (9 p.m., CBS).

• A home invasion victim may have something to hide on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

• Lily mulls a major decision on “Off the Map” (9 p.m., ABC).

• Raylan finds himself on a collision course with the Bennetts on “Justified” (9 p.m., FX).