Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"24," 8 p.m., Fox. This show vanished for a month, nudged aside by an expanded "American Idol." We're glad to have "Idol," which has been terrific this year. Still, it's a shame that "24" — a true original, quirks and all — had to step aside. When we left it, some of a dangerous virus had been released in a hotel. Now officials must forcibly keep the building quarantined while tracking down the rest of the virus.

Of Note

"American Idol," 7 p.m., Fox. Last week's show dumped Matt Rogers, a massive and immensely likable guy with a reasonably good voice. Now "Idol" is down to its final 10, including Hawai'i favorites Jasmine Trias and Camile Velasco.

"Whoopi," 7 p.m., NBC. Celeste Holm plays an eccentric resident of the hotel. Mavis can't wait to get her into a retirement home — then has second thoughts when the woman's granddaughter turns the room into a party place.

"Venom ER" debut, 7 p.m., Animal Planet. This hour is set at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, in an area where California expansion has created problems between man and snake. The opening hour, a gruesome one, has a man-made problem: A guy kept a pet rattlesnake, which got loose and bit him.

"Frasier," 8 p.m., NBC. Talented actresses guest star, with Laura Linney as Frasier's matchmaker, Rachel Dratch as his bad date, and Ann Magnuson preparing Daphne and Niles for childbirth.

"The New Americans," 9 p.m., PBS. In the midsection of this three-parter, we meet Pedro Flores, who has been separated from his Mexican family for 13 years so he can work in Kansas. We also continue to follow two Dominican baseball players in Montana, a young Palestinian woman getting her first American job, and a Nigerian woman juggling three tough jobs.