Good grief. On Saturday night when Yash Johar breathed his last, the TV channels had a blast. Without keeping in mind the solemnity of the occasion Aaj Tak parked its crew in front of Leelavati hospital in Mumbai, recording the comings and goings of celebrities much in the same way that news channels did in the hotel lobby for Mr Bachchan’s 60th birthday bash two years ago.

There’s a time and place for the paparazzi. Death is a very private occasion. Aaj Tak should have showed some grace in the face of grief. Instead the excited female correspondent chirped as though she was at an awards function. "Oh, here comes Salman! He might speak to us."

Salman simply glared into the camera, got into his car and drove away. No one was willing to speak. So the Hindi channels got more ambitious. Aaj Tak asked Jackie Shroff and Sahara Samay got Sanjay Khan to speak (with a cellphone showing on screen in case we miss the point). The Aaj Tak correspodent parroted the line about Mr Johar’s `swach` (clean) films all evening. Clean commentary?

I’m not very sure if Sanjay Khan and Jackie Shroff were in any way connected to Mr Johar, or whether it makes sense to have people comment on the dead.

The other `big story` last week was the stay -order on the rapist and murderer Dhananjay’s hanging in Kolkata. Just like a lady called Georgina who two weeks ago made herself visibly famous on the news channels by playing the gay activist vis a vis Girlfriend, there was a human-rights activist Poornima protesting against the death sentence for rape and murder of a 14-year old girl.

I saw her speaking to Barkha Dutta on NDTV’s Big Story and then participating on a heated debate on NDTV’s Muqabla on the same evening.

Hats off to the lady for standing before a heated congregation of outraged citizens and admitting she wanted reprieve for the culprit although as a mother she knew the pain of losing a child under such circumstances.

"If we go for an eye for an eye we’ll all be blind," an elderly gentlemen, who was seen having trouble focussing properly, argued.

Eye see... The best television debate I’ve seen in recent times was Jassi Versus Tulsi on NDTV India’s Hum Log. Except for the fact that the basic premise of the debate was faulty (Jassi, for all its initial enthusiasm couldn’t sustain its popularity) for once the arguments were not only logical but also absorbing.

‘Jassi’ herself spoke on the video monitor to the studio audience. She giggled coyly and tried to sound as apolitical as possible when the moderator Pachauri asked her if she wanted to join politics. She also told the sharp congregation of television analysts, actors and housewives that she doesn’t care about her looks at all. To this a bright young lady retorted, "Anyone who says she doesn’t care about her looks is lying. Because there’s not a girl in the world who doesn’t want to look good."

Bravo! To call a spade a spade isn’t easy when it’s fashionable to go against being fashionable. I also loved the views of the television critic who had the guts to say `Jassi` and not `Tulsi` is regressive. "And who says looking after the household is regressive anyway?"

Hats off to this lady for pointing out that shows like Kagaar and Kadam on Sahara which deal with women in a pragmatic and liberated way have no TRPs.

Added another woman, "We crib about the stories on the `Saas-Bahu` serials not going anywhere. But we still switch on religiously every night at 10 p.m."

Frankly I haven’t come across a better more stimulating tv debate in a long time. But the very same night I was brought back to earth with a sound resembling a thud when I switched on to Zee for something called Tamanna Party.

What can we say about this new sitcom without sounding distinctly rude and dismissive? Jas Arora (remember him as Kajol’s boyfriend in Dushman?) and Ruby Bhatia (she’s the lady who interviews `huge` stars on B4U like Sharad Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana and Diya Mirza) play hosts at a party where the freakiest of guests arrive in all their finery.

There’s a maidservant dressed in a shimmering red sari that Sadhana probably wore in Inteqaam and forgot to take home. There’s a hit-man who behaves like `Circuit` in Munnabhai and washes his leg in the basin …. Please note, these characters are supposed to be funny. If you or I don’t agree then we can switch to another channel.

I do want to tell Zee one thing. If the channel wants to destroy itself there are far simpler ways of doing so. Their USP for now is Kittie Party which is getting so event-fixated that even the tinkle of a phone is made to sound like the roar of a canon.

A blatantly lurid element has now been introduced into the soap with Kunika pimping her screen-daughter to anyone who cares to ‘have’ the girl. Last week Kiran Kumar instead of his wife (Kavita Kapoor) was poisoned and the incriminating bottle with the lethal potion was put into the resident stud Ranveer’s pocket.

To add to the feeling of a 1960s’ espionage drama, all the characters were dressed as Qawwalli singers at a fancy-dress party.

Fancy-dress? Who needs masquerade to heighten the sheer theatrics of a soap that has long ago given up on subtlety?

In must say Sony’s good old CID continues to be one of the most watchable prime timers. Even after so many years of airplay `Shivaji Satam` as the wizened crimebuster brings a freshness to each investigation.

Refreshingly CID is the only serial that ‘s shot outdoors often on crowded streets and in public places. Last week a young killer was chased into a Chinese restaurant and then into a posh multiplex where he was caught while Yuva played on screen.

This is a very high level of commitment for a Indian television. I wish the makers of Sony’s Crime Petrol would go easy on the realism. In getting more ‘professional’ real-life crime has begun to loook like a well-mounted soap. On Friday I saw the boy who played Tabu’s son in Chandni Bar playing a wastrel who wants to strike rich.

The boy doesn’t, but Crime Petrol sure does strike rich. Who says crime doesn’t pay???