All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– So, that Rescue Me season finale … who thinks you-know-who lives through it? Speaking of, TVGuide.com has a list of the 13 most-shocking TV deaths ever.

– Charles Gibson is leaving the ABC World News desk at the end of the year. Diane Sawyer will take over next year.

– Saturday Night Live is adding a pair of new female cast members for its 35th season, which premieres on Sept. 26 with host Megan Fox.

– HBO is back in the mob biz: The network has ordered 11 episodes of the Martin Scorsese-produced drama Boardwalk Empire, about a 1920s Atlantic City politician/gangster. Steve Buscemi will play the lead character, Nucky Thompson, while Dabney Coleman and Michael Pitt also star. The show is adapted from the book of the same name, a non-fiction history of Atlantic City penned by New Jersey attorney Nelson Johnson.

– No surprise here: Mad Men has been renewed for a fourth season.

– Jerry Springer is hosting a live Vegas show version of America’s Got Talent.

– Sony is planning to make 3D TVs available globally by the end of 2010.

– Whitney Houston‘s Good Morning America concert had fans lining up the night before to see her, but her voice wasn’t quite up to the performance.

– The biggest success story of the summer in TV land: USA Network.

– Add Avril Lavigne to the list of American Idol guest judges.

– Pam’s mom on The Office this season: She was also Fonzie’s girlfriend. It’s Matlock‘s Linda Purl.

– Who could not love puppies dressed as cats and the accompanying theme song on The Tonight Show?

– About TLC’s Duggars and the announcement that they are expecting their 19th (whut?) kid: There’s a memorable episode of Little House on the Prairie in which the, ahem, fertile, Caroline and Charles announce they’re expecting yet another child, to which the Rev. Alden tells Charles (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Charles, you know, when the Good Lord said ‘Go forth and populate,’ He didn’t mean you had to do it all yourself.” Just sayin’ …

– And tonight in primetime:

– So You Think You Can Dance: Top 15 Dances‘(8PM ET, Fox) is a look back at the show’s most memorable performances
– New Wipeout at 8PM on ABC
– Have you ridden any of the amusement park coasters featured on the Travel Channel’s Extreme Terror Rides special (8PM)?
– If you missed the Glee pilot last spring, catch it again tonight (8:59PM, Fox)
– New Leverage on TNT (9PM)
– Bear meets a diamondback rattlesnake on Man vs. Wild (9PM, Discovery)
– The Hoff, and Kermit and Miss Piggy, perform on America’s Got Talent (9PM, NBC)
– Adam‘s heading to Durham for some artery-cloggin’ fare on Man vs. Food (10PM, Travel Channel)
– The contestants are whipping up some vittles for Air Force pilots on Top Chef: Las Vegas (10PM, Bravo)
– It’s the penultimate Real World: Cancun of the season on MTV (10PM)
– Oscar threatens to quit because of Freddie on Black Gold (10PM, truTV)
– On Criss Angel: Mindfreak (10PM, A&E): Criss tries to drop and catch a 250 pound object, before it ever touches the ground
– On Dinner: Impossible (10PM, Food Network), Chef Robert has to cook dinner for 500 people, based on the diets of the animals in the Philadelphia Zoo
– Ty’s got family problems on Dark Blue (TNT, 10PM)
– It’s sister vs. sister vs. sister on Toddlers & Tiaras (10PM, TLC)