David Boreanaz

Art imitates life on ’Bones’

Ten years after her still-unsolved murder, JonBenet Ramsey continues to touch a cultural nerve. Tonight’s episode of "Bones" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14, D, L, V) concerns the grim discovery of the decomposed body of a former child-pageant star. The investigation includes interviews with her divorced parents, whose marriage disintegrated because of the father’s revulsion at his wife’s pageant obsession. A visit to the dead girl’s dance class and interviews with other pageant mothers reveal a world of hyper-competition and the extreme manipulation of body image in children only 9 and 10 years old.

The subject is almost too perfect for "Bones," a show whose main character, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), is gorgeous but completely indifferent to her looks. The ultimate anti-girly-girl, she’s a compulsive brain with limited social skills. This reaches ridiculous heights when she sits down with a group of grade-school pageant girls and talks with them as if she were in a postgraduate anthropology seminar. "So yours’ is a highly hierarchical society," she observes to the kids’ obvious confusion.

David Boreanaz seems to be having fun as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, a down-to-earth meat-and-potatoes cop who never has a clue what all of the lab geeks are talking about. He’s Shaggy in a "Scooby Doo" gang where everyone else is Velma."Bones" plays up its "Revenge of the Nerds" quotient to the point of farce. It often walks very close to the edge of being a complete parody of the "CSI" formula. And there’s something strangely enjoyable about that.

# "The Rich List" (9 p.m., Fox), the second new imported game show of the TV season, debuts tonight. Like the recently launched "1 vs. 100" on NBC, "List" offers contestants the chance to win a staggering sum but also threatens to leave them with nothing after one false move. On "List," strangers collaborate to complete a list of random items, including movies starring Tom Hanks, states along the Eastern Seaboard and hit songs by Abba. Eamonn Holmes, described by Fox as a "British TV personality," hosts. # "Big Brother, Big Business" (9 p.m., CNBC) examines the rise of surveillance technology and the emergence of "data-mining" firms that compile dossiers on individuals and invade and endanger privacy.

"Big" begins with tiny devices that can be used to track one’s every movement, from GPS systems to the "black box" attached to car air-bag systems. People’s movements can be monitored in ways that would have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago.

"Big" also explains how devices including digital cameras, CD burners and color printers all have secret encoding devices that link them to their owner and user. Data-mining firms compile files on people’s buying patterns, credit histories, traffic tickets and other infractions. But, as "Big" explains, sometimes these firms make mistakes, with dire consequences. They are also subject to theft by hackers.

Ironically, the government is specifically prohibited from performing the tasks undertaken by data-mining firms. In this case, Big Brother is a subcontractor. Highlights tonight

# After all it’s been through, the town still plans for Halloween on "Jericho" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14). # Kenneth butters up the new talent on "30 Rock" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14). # Eko has his own private day of the dead on "Lost" (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14). # Scheduled on "Dateline" (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14): an interview with Madonna. # Frannie learns Lizzie’s secret on "The Nine" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).

Series notes

# Tom Bergeron hosts on "Dancing With the Stars" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) ... Tyra Banks hosts "America’s Next Top Model" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14, L) ... Jeffrey’s ex returns on "20 Good Years" (8:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14) ... Three coeds vanish on "Criminal Minds" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG, L, V) ... Caroline Rhea hosts "The Biggest Loser" (9 p.m., NBC) ... A harsh morning after on "One Tree Hill" (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-14) ... Murder in a minor key on "CSI: NY" (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).