Only the strong survive Amateur hour is over. "American Idol" (7 p.m., KMSP, Ch. 9) finally dumps the sorry singers and selects the top 24 finalists in Hollywood. Paula Abdul celebrates the moment by lip-synching her enthusiasm.

Cleaning job I usually don't like watered-down takes of feature films, but I'm willing to make an exception when it comes to 1995's "Seven" (8 p.m., TNT). Fantastic flick, but the gore has kept me from rewatching it in its entirety. The sanitized, basic-cable version will be just fine, thank you very much.

Chasing Amy Fans of "The Wire" have known for some time that Amy Ryan is a brilliant actress. Now, thanks to an Oscar nomination for "Gone Baby Gone," the rest of the world is discovering her. She appears on "The Late Show With David Letterman" (10:35 p.m., WCCO, Ch. 4) along with Martin Short.

NEAL JUSTIN