Tonight's TV Hot List for Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009

Daytona 500
2 pm/ET FOX
Gentlemen, start your season. The struggling economy forced a few race teams to trim cars or merge, but the starting field is still 43-drivers strong for the 51st Great American Race in Daytona Beach. After Florida governor Charlie Crist gives the starting command, look for usual suspects like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and three-time series champ Jimmie Johnson near the front. Sentimental fans may prefer to follow veterans Mark Martin (now in the No. 5 car) and Tony Stewart (now in No. 14) as they debut new rides while chasing their long-sought first trip to NASCAR's ultimate Victory Lane. —Roger Leister
Amazing Race 14
8 pm/ET CBS
The 14th edition of the Emmy-winning reality series begins at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Calif., where 11 teams, including stuntmen brothers, a pair of former NFL cheerleaders, and a Denver mom and her 23-year-old deaf son, learn their first destination: Switzerland. Sounds great, huh? What they don't know is that, once there, they must bungee jump off the Verzasca Dam, like James Bond did in GoldenEye. Yikes! —Tim Holland
Desperate Housewives
9 pm/ET ABC
As it has everywhere else, the recession has hit Wisteria Lane, and its fallout will continue to bedevil the Scavos and Susan tonight. (Susan's situation leads to another fight with Katherine.) And while the Hodge-Van De Kamps might be in the money, they'll learn just how much happiness it buys. Meanwhile, Gaby's being Gaby again, and that could make the suddenly recession-proof Solises even richer. There's also a noneconomic development of note: It involves Dave, and it's not likely to be pretty. —Paul Droesch
Eastbound & Down
10:30 pm/ET HBO
This weekend, pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, but Kenny Powers was not among them. If you've never heard of him, that's because he's the fictional subject of this new comedy series. Danny McBride stars as Powers, a 'roided-out, mullet-haired fireballer who returns to his North Carolina hometown after a famous flameout in the majors and becomes a substitute teacher at his old middle school. Will Ferrell is an executive producer, and also shows up next week as a shifty car salesman. —Joe Friedrich
Masterpiece Classic
9 pm/ET PBS (check local listings)
For anyone who has seen the Oscar-winning musical Oliver! it may take a few minutes to adjust to this adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist, a gritty two-parter that concludes next week. No one bursts into song  — just fits of rage and violence. That aside, newcomer William Miller more than holds his own as the orphaned lad who falls in with a band of boy thieves, and the rest of the cast  — led by Timothy Spall as crusty Fagin, Tom Hardy as malevolent Bill Sikes and Sophie Okonedo as caring Nancy  — is even better. —Jeff Gemmill