Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
Last month, it was the PBS Nature series that devoted an entire episode to raccoons that have taken to invading neighborhoods and individual homes. Tonight, it’s time for Raising Hope, with a plot about a raccoon that’s taken up residence under the house, to take a stab at it. And speaking of taking a stab at it – if I had merely murdered, instead of hired someone to catch and release, the three dozen raccoons who have invaded my home the past five years, my upcoming European vacation would be paid for. And I’d also have the profit from 35 brand new, Davy Crockett-style coonskin caps. (I’d have to keep one for myself.) But don’t worry, animal lovers. All the raccoons that broke into my house are now free. It’s finding them new homes that was expensive.
Science Channel, 8:00 p.m. ET
Folllowing this two-hour documentary about the possibility of life on other planets, a new episode of Alien Encounters listens closely to what it hopes is a message from space. “CTA-102, we’re over here receiving you!” No, wait – that’s a song by The Byrds, written and recorded the first time we paid attention to potentially intelligent signals from beyond. But that was during the Sixties, when lots of people could hear and see unexpected things just about everywhere they looked. Or listened.
NBC, 9:30 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This is not a recommendation. But you have to give NBC credit, in advance, for three things. One, ripping off as much as legally possible of the Project Runway format. Two, finding a way to cram even more product placement into each show, while making the results themselves a giant commercial – the buyers claiming the winning design get to sell it, in stores, the very next day. And three, any reality competition series that finds room for Elle Macpherson, Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson (pictured) in the same show has a leg up on the competition. Maybe as many as six of them.
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) gets called into the office to ask if he has anything on Quarles (Neal McDonough) that will bring him behind bars instantly. Since Quarles has been making life miserable of late for Raylan and those around him, Raylan bristles at the very question. Then, once he can’t answer it in the affirmative, sets out to do something about that, pronto.
TNT, 10:00 p.m. ET
Coincidentally, both Justified and this series feature subplots tonight about a prostitute who needs a different sort of protection -- the law-and-order sort. And March isn’t even a sweeps month… But on both these shows, the way the plots are handled, and the scripts are acted, makes them well worth watching. Which, of course, is why they’re both being mentioned here.