Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"Two and a Half Men," 7 p.m., CBS. "Men," which shows four reruns tonight, is a hit — erratic, but funny. The casting is perfect. Jon Cryer plays the nervous Alan, with Charlie Sheen as his playboy brother Charlie. Holland Taylor is their mother. When Alan's wife dumped him, he showed up with his son at Charlie's home. From there, we get lots of comedy about the two opposites.

In tonight's first rerun, Charlie is bitter because his brother refuses to name him Jake's guardian in the event of his parents' deaths. In the second, Denise Richards — Sheen's real-life wife — plays the ex-girlfriend he's trying to lure back. In the third, Charlie tries to get a sick Alan healthy, so they can date sisters. The night wraps up with a so-so show: Charlie is eager to meet his ex-girlfriend — who, it turns out, has had a sex change and is played by Chris O'Donnell.

Of Note

"Dora the Explorer," 5 p.m., Nickelodeon. Here's a prime-time outing for this show aimed at preschoolers. Tonight, Dora and Boots go to a fiesta.

"Fear Factor," 7 p.m., NBC. To celebrate that it now has the Miss USA pageant, NBC will have six of the contestants — it won't reveal which ones until show time — on "Fear Factor." They were taped doing yucky or scary things. Let's just hope NBC doesn't do the presidential debates.

Miss USA pageant, 8 p.m., NBC. Amid the elegance of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, we'll watch women compete. That includes one whom we've just seen win $50,000 for doing disgusting or degrading things on "Fear Factor."

"American Experience: Emma Goldman," 9 p.m., PBS. Emma Goldman was 20 when she embraced the Communist movement. She became known as Red Emma, a passionate speaker, writer and publisher. Shewas immortalized in Warren Beatty's "Reds."