TONIGHT'S MUST-SEES

"Lost," 8 p.m., ABC, preceded by rerun at 7. With guns nudging at him, Daniel Faraday regroups. "Take it easy," he says. "I can explain myself a little better." A little, maybe, but not much. Right now, "Lost" is bouncing around a 50-year time span; it defies explanation. Back on the mainland, there's an effort to have the survivors return to the island, bringing dead Locke with. On the island, Locke is very much alive and trying to determine what year he's in. On the mainland, Penny Widmore is reluctant to have her lover Desmond confront her arrogant father, mogul Charles Widmore. And on the island ... well, that part gets pretty weird. Much of this is baffling. And yet, it is so brilliantly executed that we remain fascinated. So just relax and enjoy the ride. And remember that the producers have promised it will all be explained by May of 2010. Really.

"Make 'em Laugh," 8 p.m., PBS. This well-made documentary series has its final two hours. The first hour views "wise guys" — the malcontents whom Americans love. Groucho Marx and W.C. Fields turned that into an art form; generations later, they range from the in-your-face comedy of Eddie Murphy to the social stumbles of Larry David. The second hour eyes "satire and parody," but mostly just eyes sketch comedy. There are satiric strikes from Jon Stewart and such, but we mainly see the light-hearted fun of "Laugh-in" or "Saturday Night Live."

OF NOTE

"On Board Air Force One," 6 p.m., National Geographic. If you missed this interesting documentary Sunday, here's a quick rerun. It profiles the president's plane (and its twin) and gets stories from George Bush's eight years, including two with high drama -- after the Sept. 11 attacks and during a secret Thanksgiving trip to Iraq.

"American Idol," 7 p.m., Fox. The audition episodes continue. They'll conclude Thursday, with the Hollywood round starting next week.

"The New Adventures of Old Christine," 7 p.m., CBS. This reruns the episode in which Christine keeps Barb in the country by pretending to marry her. The story strains believability, but does get laughs.

"Lie to Me," 8 p.m., Fox. Last week's episode introduced the intriguing notion of studying a person's twitches, to spot a lie. Tonight, the experts (played by Tim Roth and Kelli Williams) face a pair of interesting cases. In one, military rape charges seem encased in lies; in another, a star athlete has risked what seems to be a big-money future.

"Damages," 8 p.m., FX. Last week, we saw that Patti's client (William Hurt) is an angry guy — and is the father of her teen son. Tonight, she tries to build a defense, while Ellen and Tom investigate in West Virginia.

"Life on Mars," 9:02 p.m., ABC. Once we're accustomed to the time leaps of "Lost," this show will be easy to follow. We must merely accept that a nowadays cop has bounced back to the 1970s, where he tries to fit in. Tonight, two squads are fiercely competitive about solving a case; a 9-year-old witness stands between them.