TV critic Mike Hughes suggests you catch some Earth Day programming today, but offers an alternative.

TODAY'S MUST-SEE

Earth Day specials, everywhere.

This is becoming a TV holiday for all ages.

Kids get the fun part, with cartoons (some of them quite good) this morning and afternoon. Tweens get a couple comedies tonight. Grown-ups get documentaries -- most of them serious and one ("Garbage Moguls" at 3 and 6 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel) great fun. Also, there will be brief snippets alongside shows on Fox, NBC and NBC's cable channels.

TONIGHT'S ALTERNATIVE

"American Idol," 8 p.m., Fox.

Here's one of the tougher eliminations: The seven remaining contestants are all talented, but two of them must go.

That's because judges invoked the reprieve rule last week, saving the person (Matt Giraud) who finished last in viewer votes.

That rule can only be used once per season and carries a flip side: The following week, two people must be dumped.