Michael Jackson’s still making news, this time ensuring that his death was a tragedy. The official report out of the LA coroner’s office was that Jackson’s death was a homicide, brought on by the mixture of drugs he was being prescribed for his sleep disorder. So he very well may not have been too frail for those London concerts … but we’ll never know.

• In related news, A&E is going forward with the Jackson family reality show. Exploitation or honor? You decide!
• The passing of Ted Kennedy brought all kinds of specials honoring this last of the dynasty.
• VH1 is in full spin mode. After the murder-suicide of one of their reality losers, Ryan Jenkins. VH1’s programming model is to air crappy reality “love” shows, then spin contestants out of those into more crappy shows and on an one. So now they have to cancel two of them (Megan Wants a Millionaire & I Love Money 3) because Ryan Jenkins was in them. It’s a huge embarassment for the network, so now they have to pretend they hardly know how any of this happened, they can’t figure out how their network became the go-to places for sleazy reality shows, and vow to change their ways. Ain’t plausible deniability great.
• Dollhouse started lining up guest stars in an attempt to get more peepers on those hot bodies. Look for Summer Glau, Keith Carradine, Jamie Bamber, Alexis Denisof, Michael Hogan and more!
• Good news for 30 Rock fans, as Alec Baldwin has clarified that he won’t be challenging Joe Lieberman for his Senate seat in 2012. As a show of appreciation, Lieberman will not try to take Baldwin’s job on television.
• The UK has a hit on their hands with Skins, a very dark look at young life. MTV is bringing the original Skins creator stateside to do it all over again, only with fewer teen boobies because we still fear their power in the US.
• The official reveal of the Dancing With the Stars pairings came out. So why does ABC do this in two lumps a week apart? Is the extra publicity that necessary?
• While first season winner Richard Hatch rots in jail, CBS announced the 20 contestants competing in the 19th cycle of Survivor.
• Paula Abdul found work. It’s not as high profile as American Idol, but it does feature two former winners: Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Abdul has been tapped to host the revival of Vh1 Divas.
• Back on Idol, the guest judge roulette wheel keeps spinning, landing on Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth.
• Not to be left out, The View offered guest slots to Kate Gosselin and LaToya Jackson.
• Chris Brown is trying to salvage his career, starting with an interview with Larry King. I suspect it’s over for him, though.
• You’re excited about the new fall season, fast approaching? That’s big news for the weeks ahead. To keep up with when it’s all coming down, be sure and keep CliqueClack’s guide to the fall season handy.
• The television landscape is a-changing. The networks failed to produce a single hit, with low ratings. At the same time, cable networks set ratings highs all over the place elevating the summer of 2009 to the most watched summer ever.
• Meanwhile, the median age of television viewers is at or near 50 for the big four networks. All while advertisers still target the 18-49 group. So what are the kids doing these days? Have they really abandoned television? DVR viewership median age is considerably lower. As someone who watches nothing live, I can attest to that. So much better to schedule TV around my time. The industry needs to figure these changes out.
• Oh, and A&E bought Lifetime, but I really have no thoughts about that. None at all.

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