"My Name is Earl," 7:30 p.m., NBC. Saturdays have become a "Second-Chance Theater." NBC and ABC use it to provide immediate reruns of their best new shows. In the case of "Earl," that's a treat. This is a distinctive comedy in both style (filmed without a studio audience) and in the perverse nature of its main character. That's Earl (Jason Lee). In the excellent pilot episode (rerunning at 7:30 p.m. today), he wins the lottery and decides to make up for all his misdeeds, and there are plenty to choose from. In the second episode, someone spent two years in prison for Earl's crime. Meanwhile, Earl is also trying to stop smoking. In the third episode, which just ran this week, Earl tries to get his brother back into high school, to make up for his lost chance to be a football hero.

OF NOTE

"Lost," 7 p.m., ABC. A rerun of Wed-nesday's episode. The three raft survivors are held captive by strangers.

"Invasion," 8 p.m., ABC. In this rerun, the doctor's teenage son is attacked by something in the water.

"Desperate Housewives," 9 p.m., ABC. A rerun: Susan seethes when she finds out about Edie and Karl (Richard Burgi), and Lynette begins her new job.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m., NBC. When a 15-year-old is killed, police learn she was in porn films and was HIV-positive.

"Saturday Night Live," 10:30 p.m., NBC. This show likes to poke fun at the quirks of live TV. Last week, it had Kanye West, fresh from his controversial attack (during a live NBC special) on the federal flood relief effort. Tonight, it has Ashlee Simpson, whose previous appearance was a lip-sync debacle. Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite," "Just Like Heaven") hosts.