TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE:

Football, 11:30 a.m., Fox; and 3 p.m., CBS. This is a day that TV people dream about. Two teams that are big ratings grabbers each host a pro play-off game. The Seattle Seahawks face the Green Bay Packers on Fox. Then the Jacksonville Jaguars face the New England Patriots on CBS.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005), 7 p.m., Sci Fi. Sure, this film is no match for the brilliance of the book by the late Douglas Adams. Still, it has patches of odd delight. Martin Freeman plays an ordinary chap who, through a quirk, survives the destruction of Earth. Now he's finding new planets and oddities. There are roles for Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich and lots of Henson creatures. Voices are provided by Helen Mirren, Alan Richman and more, with Stephen Fry's droll narration.

OF NOTE

"Boys on the Side" (1995), 4 p.m., CMT digital 587. Here's an entertaining-enough road picture about three women — Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and a superb Mary-Louise Parker — eluding the police. Our questions are: What does this have to do with the title; and what does it have to do with the Country Music Television channel?

"Titanic" (1997), 5 p.m., TNT; or "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957), 3 p.m. TCM, Turner Classic Movies. Separated by 40 years, both films won best-picture Oscars; each has a strong, personal story at the core of a giant epic. James Cameron's "Titanic" has the rich-poor romance of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio; David Lean's "Bridge" has Alec Guinness bringing British discipline to prisoners of war.

"Pearl Harbor" (2001), 7 p.m., ABC. And here's an example of an epic gone wrong. The special effects are fine and the stars — Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Harnett — are pretty. Their story, however, is flat and silly.

"Dateline NBC," 7 p.m., NBC. With all of these strike-created holes in their schedules, the networks occasionally remember to include a news show.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m., NBC. Here's a quick rerun of Tuesday's episode. Erika Christensen (the troubled teen in "Traffic") plays a special agent who has long been tracking a serial killer. She links with Benson — who soon has doubts about her motive.

"Mad TV," 10:45 p.m., Fox. Joey Fatone, who is approximately everywhere, hosts this rerun.