There are three stages to every Dancing With the Stars season. Part one establishes both the contenders and the two-left-feet jokes, as viewers are simultaneously amused with and horrified by the latter. Part three brings us the finale, usually matching an athlete against someone who seems almost good enough to be a pro against a likable but overmatched "fan favorite" along the lines of Marie Osmond.

Right now we're still in part two, which is a bit of a lull stage. Let's face it, when Steve Wozniak and Holly Madison went home, much of the watercooler element of DWtS left with them. This week (ABC, Monday 8 p.m.), we are waiting to see if Lawrence Taylor can keep the show's winning streak with football players alive, if Ty Murray can prove that masculine hotness can overcome a lack of chops, and if Chuck Wicks can survive long enough for anyone to learn who he is.

The prime contenders still appear to be gymnast Shawn Johnson, ex-con Lil' Kim, former fiancee Melissa Rycroft, and Gilles Marini, who apparently was naked in Sex and the City. That's all I need to know to pick him to win.

Also this week:

Tuesday: Real Housewives of New York City (Bravo, 10 p.m.): These ladies aren't like the rest of us, and there's further proof this week, as LuAnn's daughter returns home from boarding school, Kelly turns a photo shoot for a party invitation into a major production, and Jill uses a radio interview to complain about how the lousy economy is impacting the filthy rich -- not nearly enough, from the looks of this show.

Wednesday: Make Me a Supermodel (Bravo, 10 p.m.): At one time I was pretty skeptical that this show had any future, but the changes made between seasons one and two, most notably the elimination of the viewer vote, have been for the better. This week, the remaining young models participate in a 1960s-themed shoot before two of them wind up being sent home.

Thursday: Survivor: Tocantins (CBS, 8 p.m.): Now that the "exile alliance" is dead before making it through a single tribal council intact, it's a matter of seeing whether the Alpha males will really hang together, or if some of the apparent female outsiders, none of whom seem to have much on the ball, can pull off a coup. Is Benjamin "Coach" Wade an actor, or does a tool of this grandeur actually exist in modern America?

Friday: Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8 p.m.): Seems like just yesterday we had Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fridays. And now...well, Jennifer Love Hewitt seems like a nice kid. This week, Melinda is called on to deal with a ghost creating issues on the set of a soap opera.

Saturday: NFL Draft (ESPN, 4 p.m.): There's no more overblown media event in sports than the NFL draft, where a bunch of otherwise normal people pretend to be experts on offensive tackles from East Central Utah Tech, who they will never think about again after this day. Nevertheless, watching Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr., and the rest of the posse kick around the picks is great fun for many.

Sunday: Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA, 9 p.m.): Instead of replacing Chris Noth with a male detective that would serve as a similar no-nonsense contrast to veteran weirdo Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), Criminal Intent decided to cast the equally eccentric Jeff Goldblum as Zach Nichols, who teams with Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) to solve the murder of an artist.

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