Orange Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC. The national championship is at stake for Oklahoma and Florida State. Also at stake is a quarterback match. At 28, Florida’s Chris Weinke won the Heisman Trophy; Oklahoma’s Josh Heupel finished second.

"Bette" (7 p.m.) and "The First Wives Club," 8 p.m. Both on CBS. Bette Midler is the network’s star tonight. In her sitcom she learns not to lie on "The View." In the 1996 comedy movie, she joins Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton for revenge on ex-husbands.

"Junkyard Wars," 9 p.m., the Learning Channel. Two teams must build a hot rod in 10 hours using only things they find in a junkyard. The Chicago team goes for raw horsepower while the Texas team (surprisingly) thinks small and light.

"Masterpiece Theatre’s American Collection presents: ‘The American,’" 9 p.m., PBS; repeats Sunday. Here’s the second film in PBS’ ambitious project to break away from Europe’s dominance on Masterpiece Theatre. Ironically this is thoroughly European. Only the author (Henry James) and the central character are American. Matthew Modine plays a newly rich guy from California visiting Paris who falls for a free-spirited artist and a repressed widow. Alas, the widow has dark secrets and a dour mother (Diana Rigg).

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