The annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony remains a weird animal in the television music show game.

One thing, however, remains constant. This year’s edition, which airs Saturday, 8-11 p.m. ET on HBO, will be of interest in direct proportion to how much you care about the artists being inducted.

That would be Bon Jovi, The Cars, The Moody Blues, Nina Simone, and Dire Straits, with Sister Rosetta Tharpe as an “early influence.”

The rock bands all perform except for Dire Straits, whose frontman and primary engine, Mark Knopfler, decided not to attend. Without him, the others wisely opted to give a short speech and return to their table.

This was good news only to the other bands who got more airtime to share. It feels like there’s a lot of Moody Blues here, not to mention quite a bit of Bon Jovi.

Bon Jovi closes the show, which makes them the de facto headliners, which is interesting because Bon Jovi fans have fumed for years that their band never got inducted. Now they're the main attraction?

They do have a lot of fans. More relevant for the Hall of Fame induction telecast, one of them is Howard Stern, and Stern trucked out to Cleveland to induct his long-time pals.

Stern doesn’t give the most musicological induction speech. He definitely gives the raunchiest.

Even Stern, though, is a supporting act. Since the annual dinner has been telecast, the game plan has been to sell it as a rock concert, a sampler of famous bands that, in many cases, don’t play together much anymore.

Exhibit A for the reunion gambit this year is The Cars who, except for one brief 2011 tour, haven’t played together in almost 30 years. Very likely they won’t do it again.

That sets their performance apart, and they help matters by playing well. Ric Ocasek’s vocals are as stylized as ever, underscoring the way the songs are both quirky and good.

Still, playing four or five songs after a series of speeches isn’t standard rock ‘n’ roll protocol, and the fact these artists are playing here to an audience that’s partial to tuxedos makes it clear we are not at Coachella anymore, Toto.

With its menu of speeches and music, the Rock Hall occasionally echoes the Grammys. With its emphasis on vintage acts – by definition – it can feel at times like one of those PBS fund-raiser specials.  

But more often it takes its own path, partly because there’s often an unavoidable disconnect between the inductees and the blowup pictures of their younger selves, located on a large screen directly behind them. Sometimes it almost feels like different people.

Still, most fans, in the end, don’t sit around analyzing the show. They cherry-pick the acts they care about.

If you think it’s cool that the Hall recognized a left-field artist like Simone, you’ll savor the presentation of her music, with a strong emphasis on her sense of social awareness.

If you just think it’s about time “Nights in White Satin” gets canonized, you’ll love 20 minutes of Moody Blues guitars and keyboards.

And if you think none of this stuff is as good as it got in the early days, you will be pleased to know that after Bon Jovi take their last grand bow, the final credits roll to the tune of Jackie Brenston’s 1951 recording of “Rocket 88.”