HDTV Listings for January 17, 2006

What we're watching:

We're trying not to play favorites with Fox, but after four episodes of the gritty and intense "24", we could use a good laugh. The comedy starts at 8 p.m. on Fox with a two hour season five premiere of "American Idol" from Chicago in 720p. If you have a home theater capable of Dolby Digital Surround Sound, you might want to turn it off until later in the season; these auditions typically represent both the best and the very worst there is.

The fun ends just in time to watch Tom "My name is not Ed" Cavanaugh in the series opener of "Love Monkey." You can catch Ed Tom on CBS at 10 p.m. in 1080i.

After the jump is our traditional listing of HD programs throughout the night.

Here are some other HDTV programs showing on selected networks today. All times are Eastern and reruns are in italics:

ABC (720p): According to Jim (8 p.m.), Rodney (8:30 p.m.), Commander in Chief (9 p.m.), Boston Legal (10 p.m.)

CBS (1080i): NCIS (8 p.m.), CSI (9 p.m.), Love Monkey (10 p.m.), The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 p.m.)

NBC (1080i): Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (10 p.m.), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35 p.m.)

Fox (720p): American Idol (8 p.m.)

UPN (1080i): South Beach (8 & 9 p.m.)

WB (1080i): Gilmore Girls (8 p.m.), Supernatural (9 p.m.)

Discovery-HD (1080i): Rousch Racing: Driver X (6 p.m.), Desert Speaks (8, 8:30, 11 & 11:30 p.m.), Fantastic Festivals of the World (10 p.m.)

ESPN-HD (720p): Sportscenter (6 & 11 p.m.), College Basketball: Illinois at Indiana (7 p.m.), College Basketball: Kentucky at Georgia (9 p.m.)

HBO-HD (1080i): Addams Family Values (5:45 p.m.), The Phantom of the Opera (7:30 p.m.), The Peacemaker (11 p.m.)

HDNet Movies (1080i): The Untouchables (5 p.m.), The Tailor of Panama (7:05 p.m.), After Dark, My Sweet (9 p.m.), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (11 p.m.)

INHD (1080i): Airtime: Burton US Open Snowboarding Champ 2 (8 p.m.), NBA TV: Suns @ Kings (9 p.m.)

INHD2 (1080i): Twilight Zone #1 (7 p.m.),Go! Exclusive Luxury Yachts (8 p.m.), In Theaters (8:30 p.m.), Mystery of the Maya [IMAX] (9 p.m.)

Showtime-HD (1080i): Uptown Girls (6:35 p.m.), Saw (8:15 p.m.), Sleeper Cell (10 p.m.), The L Word (11p.m.)

TNT-HD (1080i): Charmed (6 p.m.), Law & Order (7, 8 & 9 p.m.), The Closer (10 p.m.), Cold Case (11 p.m.)