Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

• TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE: "That's Life" (CBS) or "Dark Angel" (Fox), both 8 p.m. Suddenly, watching TV on a Friday night can be a joy. Fridays have often been a dumping ground. Now here are two new dramas featuring the kind of woman Hollywood prefers: strong, outspoken, attractive. The difference is only in the method of attack. In "That's Life," Lydia (Heather Paige Kent) uses words; in "Dark Angel" Max (Jessica Alba) gets the added effect of fierce kicks and punches. Lydia is a bartender who shocked everyone by going to college at age 32. Max is a genetically altered warrior prototype who shocked everyone by escaping, then blending into city life, while evil forces search for her. On "Angel," a higher-up arrives to confront Lydecker (John Savage). On "That's Life," Lydia feels the strain of job, school and volunteer work.

• "Mysteries and Scandals," 5 and 5:30 p.m., cable channel E! This focuses on F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda.

• "The Other Mother," 9-11 p.m., Lifetime. Frances Fisher and Cameron Bancroft are excellent in the story of a woman seeking the son she gave up 18 years earlier.

• "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m., NBC. A rape victim can't remember what happened.