TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"A Lincoln Center Special: 30 Years of Live From Lincoln Center," 8 p.m., PBS. For three decades, "Live From Lincoln Center" has given stunning performances, beautifully televised. Here's a quick sampling. We get light moments: A young Itzhak Perlman nimbly chats with the audience while a colleague rushes to fix Perlman's broken violin string. And we get serious ones: An older Perlman plays John Williams' heart-breaking theme to the "Schindler's List" movie. In response to the New Orleans flooding, Wynton Marsalis leads a vibrant, strutting jazz number. In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, an orchestral requiem is performed and the audience is asked not to applaud. The silence is powerful. There are moments from the greats of opera, dance and music. The only quibble we have is that PBS rarely finds a way to take advantage of its awesome past. With one-third of this material, some people would be racing to launch extra cable channels. PBS, however, keeps its treasures locked away for decades.

OF NOTE

"Favela Rising" (2005), 4 p.m., Cinemax. Beautifully filmed, this documentary captures the frustrations of a Brazilian ghetto — and the heroics of a man who used African and reggae music to make changes.

"So You Think You Can Dance" season opener, 7 p.m., Fox. Fresh from its "American Idol" success, Fox hopes to get something from this competition show, which did moderately well last summer. Tonight, we see dance auditions in New York and Chicago.

"Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" (2003), 7 p.m., ABC. Here's the sequel to the remake featuring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as action heroes. This time, Demi Moore is the villain.

"My Name is Earl," 7 and 8 p.m., NBC. For a moment, NBC planned to have "Will & Grace" and "Four Kings" at 8 and 8:30. Then, as it often does, it changed plans. This first rerun has Earl trying to pay way-overdue taxes to a government that's not interested. The second has him doing a Mother's Day favor by undoing a terrible wrong to his dad.

"The Office," 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. In the first rerun, it's Halloween and Michael has to fire someone. In the second, we meet his friend — who's even more obnoxious than Michael.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," 8 p.m., CBS. Faye Dunaway plays a former showgirl; someone is killed at her party.

"ER," 9 p.m., NBC. Neela is excited about Gallant's homecoming until a phone call changes things. Meanwhile, Kovac and Clemente disagree about a patient.

TONIGHT ON KHNL NEWS 8

The lights go down, the music pulsates and the crowds flock to their domain—the clubs, the hangouts, the rendezvous. KHNL News 8 gives you a look deep inside and behind the scenes of where Honolulu goes after dark. It's a special report every Thursday in May, Tonight on KHNL News 8 at 10.