birdman of alcatraz

And all the attention to Obama's 100th day in office takes away from the night's other century milestone: the 100th episode of "Lost" (ABC, 9 p.m.), which, after a one week break for a summary, returns with some story to burn. Tonight, it comes mostly from the mouth of the most fascinating recent addition to the cast, Jeremy Davies, as the brainy Daniel Faraday.

Though he's been instrumental in all the crazy time traveling throughout this season and last, tonight's episode, "The Variable," will be the first that will feature his backstory through flashbacks - that is to say, flashbacks not of his own making.

Also on tonight, it's the season finale for both "Ghost Hunters" (Sci Fi, 9 p.m.) and "The Exterminators" (A&E, 10:30 p.m.), each a reality show about guys who are sort of in the same business. In the former, the guys find themselves in an abandoned psychiatric hospital in Newark, which is scary on so many levels. In the latter, they've got much more tangible targets: mice and a skunk.

Ed Asner guest stars on "CSI: NY" (CBS, 10 p.m.).

Tashera Simmons, Alana Wyatt and Liza Rios are among those profiled on "Rapper Wives: The E! True Hollywood Story" (E!, 10 p.m.) for being married to DMX, Mos Def and Big Pun respectively. At least they're not all separate reality series.
Remember the quickly canceled Roy Liotta series "Smith" (DirecTV, Channel 101)? It's back on, on satellite.

"Time Warp" (Discovery, 8 p.m.), the series dedicated to slowing down footage of just about everything, just for the beauty of it, tonight slows down Metallica.
Billy Mays and company look into a hands-free cell phone device on "Pitchmen" (Discovery, 10 p.m.).

Good thing it's not avian flu pandemic. Tonight's fare on Turner Classic Movies are all about birds: "Birdman of Alcatraz" (8 p.m.), "The Birds" (10:45 p.m.), "Bye Bye Birdie" (1 a.m.) and "Thunderbirds are Go" (3 a.m.).

Wonder if Somalia has tarnished the fun in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End" (Starz, 7:11 p.m.)?

In baseball, it's the Marlins at Mets (SNY, 1 p.m.), Yankees at Tigers (ESPN, YES, 7 p.m.) and Red Sox at Indians (NESN, 7 p.m.). In the NBA playoffs, it's Heat at Hawks (TNT, 8 p.m.) and Hornets at Nuggets (TNT, 10:30 p.m.).

Jerry Cabrera of Vernon plays "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (WTIC, Channel 61, 1 p.m.).
Daytime TalkRegis and Kelly: Matthew McConaughey, cast of "Rock of Ages." The View: Harold Perrineau. Bonnie Hunt: Kristin Chenoweth, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Ellen DeGeneres: Michael Douglas, Faryl Smith. Mike and Juliet: Kim Kardashian, Collin Raye, Steven Pasquale, Chuck Nice, Patrick Meagher..

Late TalkDavid Letterman: Jennifer Garner, Elon Musk, Manchester Orchestra. Jay Leno: Jimmy Fallon, Chris Matthews, Zac Brown Band. Jimmy Kimmel: Dominic Monaghan, J.J. Abrams, Bang Camaro. Jimmy Fallon: Glenn Close, Kristen Wiig, Gomez (rerun). Craig Ferguson: Kenneth Branagh, Antony and the Johnsons. Carson Daly: Jack and Kelly Osbourne, Ben Harper & Relentless 7 (rerun). Jon Stewart: Doris Kearns Goodwin. Stephen Colbert: David Kessler