Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

• "Biography Close-Up: Saturday Night Live," 9 p.m., A&E. This special juggles two stories and both are fascinating. One is the history of "Saturday Night Live." We see a ragged show leap into the national spotlight in 1975, self-destruct horribly in 1980 then periodically revive. The other lets us take a peek at what might be a typical week.

It's a bizarrely random process where the SNL writers and actors work in one sleep-deprived night creating sketches for the show. Then most of those sketches are thrown out as the week progresses. That process seems to lead to familiar ideas and chaos as they prepare for the live show. All of this is accompanied by quick comments. Chevy Chase regrets leaving the show for a romance that failed anyway. Will Farrell expects to leave sometime. "I don't want to be the one guy still hanging out in the parking lot two years after high school," he says.

• "Masterpiece Theatre: The Way We Live Now" conclusion, 9 p.m., PBS. In the era of Enron, it's always fun to see a financial scoundrel get his due. Here's the finale to a terrific, four-hour series, based on Anthony Trollope's 1875 novel. There are plenty of romances to untangle tonight. There is also David Suchet's wonderful portrayal of a crumbling schemer.

Of Note

• "Baby Bob," 7:30 p.m., CBS. This silly talking-baby show inexplicably gets good actors. Tonight, Kristin Chenoweth plays an offbeat celebrity who's scheduled to appear at a mental-health banquet.

• "Everybody Loves Raymond," 8 p.m., CBS. Ray's sense of competition is stirred in this terrific rerun. His goal is to top his daughter's pushy troop leader in the sale of cookies.

• "Crossing Jordan," 9 p.m., NBC. In a rerun, Jordan examines a man who said he was a saint.