Tonight's TV Hot List: Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009

Wipeout
8/7 CT ABC
A romp through the extreme obstacle course may not be a day at the beach, but they're both good summertime family fun. Tonight some fan-favorite Wipeout contestants, including Ariel Tweto, Jesse Duran, Keith Biondi and Stu Yasutake, return to face such obstacles as Bucking Bull, Trampoline Hurtles and Spiked Fenders. — Fred Mitchell
America's Got Talent
9/8 CT NBC
The summer series sizzles in the wake of the five-week preliminary auditions and last week's "Vegas Verdicts." Now comes the Top 40, a colorfully eclectic assemblage that features singers, dancers and comics — not to mention basketball dunkers, break-dancing roller skaters and dog variety acts. The first 10 acts of this fightin' 40 performed last night, and tension mounts when five of those acts are selected for the Top 20 in tonight's results edition. Pumping up the proceedings is a performance by Mariah Carey (host Nick Cannon's wife) and a routine by ventriloquist and Season 2 winner Terry Fator. — Dean Maurer
How'd You Get So Rich?
10/9 CT TV Land
The "can we talk?" diva returns with a reality series that once again gets people talking — about their wealth! Using the directness she so famously employed on the red carpet, Joan Rivers approaches the fabulously well-to-do to find out how they got that way, and their answers are sometimes surprising and usually entertaining. In the series premiere, Rivers chats with a former janitor and an ex-retail employee to find out how these once-average Joes achieved financial security and then some. — Mary Kate Weber
CSI: NY
10/9 CT CBS
It's a bittersweet world for Ashlee Simpson-Wentz's seedy motel housekeeper in this emotionally stunning repeat from March. She stumbles upon a murder victim, and also upon a huge stash of heroin, which she steals. She and her husband (Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz) just have to sell it and they'll be on easy street. Of course, nothing goes as planned. As fun as it is to see Mr. and Mrs. Wentz together in their limited scenes, the hour's real power is watching the team unravel the mystery behind the murder. The victim is a former colleague's wife, and the missing heroin is made from human bodies. — Tim Holland
Make My Day
10:30/9:30 CT TV Land
Producer Michael Davies, whose best-known show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, returns to prime time Sunday, is also behind this hidden-camera series. And while the folks you'll see on it won't get rich, they are likely to be pleasantly surprised by what happens to them. Tonight's subject, a fan of the New York Giants, The Sopranos and Eric Clapton, "accidentally" runs into longtime Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer and goes bowling with Vincent Pastore. He might also become a guitar hero. — Paul Droesch