(ALL TIMES ET)

8PM | NBC – 5TH SEASON PREMIERE
Friday Night Lights – Yeah, yeah, those fans with DirecTV have already seen the final – sniffle – season unfold, and, true, it’s already out on DVD, but there’s still nothing like tuning in to watch FNL, one of the all-time great TV dramas, unfold live on a Friday night. Enjoy.

8PM | FOX
Kitchen Nightmares – Can you get good Caribbean food at a cafe in Pasadena? Not the one Gordo makes a visit to tonight, apparently.

8PM | ABC
Shark Tank – Keychains, a lighted sticker and smelly (in a good way) lip gloss are among the projects pitched to the Sharks.

8PM | THE CW
Smallville – The good news is that Papa Kent (John Schneider) is back, but it’s in al-universe, where Clark isn’t Clark Kent, but Clark Luthor.

9PM | TEENNICK
Degrassi – Any guesses as to what Eli’s issue is going to turn out to be when he starts getting all creepy and clingy with Clair?

9PM | FOX
Fringe – The episode: “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.” The plot: The team has precious little time to get William Bell’s consciousness out of Olivia’s body before Olivia is no more.

9PM | THE CW
Supernatural – Fate is ticked off at everyone, namely Balthazar for saving the Titanic. She’s also pretty upset with Sam and Dean, and Castiel tells the bros they’re gonna have to kill her to get any peace.  

10PM | SYFY
Sanctuary – The team’s punishment for trespassing in Praxis: death!

10:30PM | IFC – 5TH SEASON PREMIERE
The Whitest Kids U’ Know – Season premiere skits include a sex phone operator’s obsession with baked beans and “Little Hitler,” which presents a funny hypothesis about the source of the villain’s villainy.

Worth flipping to during commercials:
– It’s Glee meets The Breakfast Club when five high schoolers in detention bond and form a band in the TV flick Lemonade Mouth (8PM, Disney);
– Doctors and scientists try to find, and stop, the source of deadly pathogens like anthrax in the new series Killer Outbreaks (9PM, Animal Planet);
– It’s the second season finale of The Ricky Gervais Show on HBO (9PM);
– Back-to-back episodes of Say Yes to the Dress on TLC (9PM);
– Doug E. Doug guests on Bar Karma (10PM, Current);
– On Outrageous Food (10PM, Food Network), Tom samples turducken burgers.

And the late-night line-up:
– The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35PM, CBS): Tina Fey and Chris Cornell;
– The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35PM, NBC): John Travolta;
– Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05AM, ABC): Norm McDonald (REPEAT);
– Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (12:35AM, NBC): Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper (REPEAT);
– The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (12:37AM, CBS): Robin Wright;
– Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35AM, NBC): Bill Hader (REPEAT).