TONIGHT'S MUST-SEES

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," 7 p.m., Fox. Here is a fierce bullet-train of a season opener. The action is relentless; the dialogue is sparse. That works because gifted actors, who need few words, inhabit well-formed characters. John Conner (Thomas Dekker) will lead the future rebellion — unless androids from the future kill him now. Guarding him are his mom (Lena Headey) and Cameron (Summer Glau), an android disguised as a cute teen. Last season ended with a car bomb shattering Cameron. Will she come back? In what condition? It's a sensational start.

"CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock," 8-10 p.m., ABC. ABC obsesses on youth, with three hosts — Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler, Julianne Hough — with an average age of 20. The veterans also get their turn. The lineup includes Alan Jackson, Faith Hill and Dwight Yoakam.

OF NOTE

Syndicated debuts. These are the shows that stations buy and scatter around their schedules, usually in the daytime. Today's debuts include a light chat show ("The Bonnie Hunt Show," KITV, 10 a.m.), a serious health show ("The Doctors," KHNL, 4 p.m.) and new judges, including Karen Mills-Francis, KFVE, 3 p.m.

Syndicated season openers. Many key shows start their seasons today, including "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "Jeopardy" and "Judge David Young."

"Deal or No Deal," syndicated (KGMB, 4 p.m.) and 7 p.m., NBC. The overworked game show continues its prime-time run (with NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson boosting tonight's contestant), while starting a separate, five-day-a-week version for stations.

"Gossip Girl," 6 p.m., CW (Oceanic Digital Channel 93). Last week, Blair learned her fake boyfriend is the son of a British duke. Tonight, that leads to bigger complications. There are some fun moments, despite the show's one-note nature.

"The Closer," 9 p.m., TNT. An FBI informant is the prime suspect when two Tijuana cops are killed. That happens just as the reporter who has been shadowing Brenda writes a negative story about her team.

"Raising the Bar," 7 p.m., TNT. Last week's opener had two risky sexual relationships — Jerry the public defender and Michelle the prosecutor, Judge Kessler and her aide Charlie, who is secretly gay. Tonight, both reach crises, in the midst of a murder trial. It's a fairly good episode, but tries too hard.