So You Think America's Got Talented Idols?

The reality talent competition show tour must be a grind on average American families, having to decompress from American Idol in time to find new favorites on So You Think You Can Dance and now America's Got Talent. It takes a lot out of children and parents to create and sever new emotional attachments to performers every few months and it's even more grueling when you consider the large number of hours spent watching judges ruin the dreams of semi-talented contestants. God bless America.

America's Got Talent [9 PM, NBC]

In Las Vegas, the judges whittle down the acts to an even 40, and hope to discover the next Susan Boyle. The problem with America is that we hate the elderly because they remind us of our encroaching mortality, so hopefully the golden-voiced songbird is an underprivileged girl from the slums and not an octogenarian from the sticks.

Gordon Ramsay's F Word [9 PM, BBC]

This is our new favorite food show mainly due to the brisk editing. Gordon condenses recipes that would usually talk thirty minutes into about four, just noting the ingredients over quick cuts and driving rock music ("Chives...bacon...saffron") rather than going into an anecdote about every little thing. Tonight, Ramsay makes fish cakes with British politician John Prescott and vegetarian risotto with pop star Dannii Minogue.

Real World [10 PM, MTV]

Big Brother isn't on tonight so this is the closest reality alternative. Now in Cancun (it seems like just yesterday they were in Brooklyn), there is no shortage of drama as Jonna's boyfriend visits tonight. As usual, some roommate's behavior is causing problems and threatening their ability to live in the house, but at least they have unlimited access to tropical drinks.

Platoon [8 PM, IFC]

Easily the best third of Oliver Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, this is steadily creeping up AFI's list of the 100 best films of all time and with good reason. While many of Stone's films can alienate a casual viewer with overwhelming ideology, the political messages were a result of strong characters and real situations, not extreme adventures in monologues and montages. You could go into the individual performances from Sheen, Dafoe, and especially John C. McGinley, but the ensemble succeeds across the board.