Tonight's TV Hot List: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009

NCIS: Los Angeles
9/8c CBS
This drama has the distinction of being a spin-off from a spin-off (NCIS, which had its start in JAG), but that's not the only intriguing thing about it. Topping the list would be the pairing of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell, who team up as undercover agents with the NCIS Office of Special Projects in Los Angeles. In the two-part NCIS episode that introduced the characters, agent G. Callen (O'Donnell) was shot at the end. In the series opener, he returns to work four months later and joins the team on a kidnapping case. — Bill Ecklund
The Good Wife
10/9c CBS
Julianna Margulies is excellent as Alicia Florrick, the wife of a disgraced politician, in a top-drawer drama that also boasts a first-rate supporting cast, which includes Chris Noth, Christine Baranski and Josh Charles. In tonight's stellar pilot, Alicia's philandering husband (Noth) is jailed for corruption, which forces her to resume her career as a defense attorney in order to support her family. But it's been 13 years since Alicia last tried a case, and her first one back is a doozy. It's a retrial of a woman accused of murdering her husband. — Tim Holland
Warehouse 13
9/8c Syfy
Considering the power — and problems — linked to items stored in Warehouse 13, it's a bit scary to imagine what would happen to those oddities if they ended up for bid. Roger Rees, who is ingrained in our pop-culture psyche as Sam Malone's nemesis on Cheers and a British ambassador in The West Wing, returns as James MacPherson, an antagonist-turned-auctioneer in the first-season finale. — Michael Chant
The Forgotten
10/9c ABC
Christian Slater fans will no doubt hope this series is more memorable to viewers than his short-lived stint on My Own Worst Enemy. Slater, who achieved fame as Winona Ryder's psychotic boyfriend in Heathers, returns to TV to head up a network of volunteers who try to ID victims of unsolved murders. In the crime drama's debut, the group tries to put a name on remains recovered from the woods. — Michael Chant
Hell's Kitchen
8/7c Fox
The seven remaining contenders took last week off (Suzanne, in particular, needed a break after her near-death experience at the Sept. 22 elimination), but they're likely to make up for it in this two-hour episode, when the red and blue teams merge.They get a virtual tour of the Whistler, B.C., resort that will host Winter Olympics fans next year. Guest judges include Winter Olympic medalists Sasha Cohen and Jonny Moseley. After all of tonight's judging, the field will be down to five. — Paul Droesch