Critic's picks: Wednesday

Last update: October 27, 2009 - 4:03 PM

A new game plan

For the fourth season of "Friday Night Lights" (8 p.m., DIRECTV), Eric Taylor must coach for a new team -- and it's terrible. Blessedly, the series is not. In fact, it remains one of TV's finest hours, reinventing itself just when the plot could have run itself ragged. Taylor's new underdog position sets up a blitz of new story lines and gives stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton brand new reasons to gripe about being ignored by the Emmys. Those short on money and long on time should be reminded that the pay-per-view season is scheduled to run on NBC next year.

Lost in space

This past weekend's big-screen release of "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank, might trigger interest in the 2000 documentary "Final Hours: Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" (9 p.m., KTCA, Ch. 2), an in-depth look at the 1937 disappearance of her plane in the South Pacific. We're no experts, but we have a gut feeling that it dropped around the same place Swank buried her appearances on "Beverly Hills, 90210."

NEAL JUSTIN

Monster smash

The lives of animated superstars never rest. "Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space" (7 & 7:30 p.m., KARE, Ch. 11) can be seen as either a bonus from the original movie or an incentive to get excited about the inevitable sequel. In either case, Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan and Rainn Wilson reprise their voices.