Gannett News Service

Must-see

American Idol, 8 p.m., Channels 19, 45.

Viewers have watched auditions for five hours. They've seen judges wince, insult and (occasionally) praise contestants.

Now things get serious. Tonight, we see an edited version of what happened when about 130 singers reached Los Angeles. On Wednesday, the judges trim that to 32 people. Then the viewers take over.

America Beyond the Color Line, 9 p.m., Channels 48, 16. It concludes Wednesday.

Scanning race relations over 35-plus years, Henry Louis Gates Jr. sees extremes. "The black middle class has quadrupled since that day in '68 when Dr. (Martin Luther) King was killed," he says. "But at the same time, the percentage of black children living at or beneath the poverty line is 40 percent."

Tonight, Gates, a Harvard professor, views the extremes. In the first hour, he looks at progress in the South; in the second, he sees problems in Chicago.

Other shows worth watching

Whoopi, 8 p.m., Channels 5, 22. In a shift that affects Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, NBC has juggled its Tuesday comedies. Now Whoopi leads the night with this new episode. Rita might be pregnant, causing Courtney to get a job and a ring. Nasim has trouble at a truck stop.

Nova: Dogs and More Dogs, 8 p.m., Channels 48, 16. This documentary looks at the evolution of dogs and their relationship with people.

Frasier, 9 p.m., Channels 5, 22. This is the one NBC comedy that keeps its regular Tuesday timeslot. This episode is called "Freudian Sleep."

Tanner '88, 9 p.m., Sundance Channel. Back in 1988, director Robert Altman and writer Garry Trudeau did something rare and difficult: They depicted a fictional candidate in the real presidential primaries, including nonactors - politicos and everyday people - along the way. The result was inconsistent, but had its moments. Sundance is rerunning it with perfect timing. Set in New Hampshire, some of the names - Bush, Gephardt, Gore - are the same as in 2004. There's terrific work from Michael Murphy as Jack Tanner, Pamela Reed as his campaign manager and Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) as his teen daughter. This film captures the chaos of a campaign, then ends with a superb monologue.

Less Than Perfect, 9:30 p.m., Channels 9, 2. In this rerun, Pamela Anderson plays someone who poses a threat when she starts working at the station.

Line of Fire, 10 p.m., Channels 9, 2. This terrific series ends its trial run and NYPD Blue returns next week. Todd, an FBI guy, investigates a politician. Molloy (David Paymer), the mobster, wants to own a baseball team. A prostitute wants Roy, the undercover cop, to kill her father.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 10 p.m., Channels 5, 22. At first, the cops feel they've found a modern version of human sacrifice.