Tonight's TV Hot List: Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sons of Tucson
9:30/8:30c Fox
Three young brothers hire a dead-ender to play fill-in father (theirs is in jail) to keep from being placed in foster care in this entertaining new series. The kids are sassily, sitcomically cute and wise for their ages, but it's the goofily engaging Tyler Labine who drives the show as rent-a-dad Ron Snuffkin. In the opener, after doing everything he can to avoid his clerk work at a sporting-goods store, Ron heads to school to sign up the boys for class. He's also trying to dodge a thug to whom he owes money. — Ray Stackhouse
The Pacific
9/8c HBO
Comparisons with the 2001 WWII masterpiece Band of Brothers, about GIs in Europe, are inevitable, but, frankly, unfair. Sure, it's the same war, from the same producers, including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, but this 10-part miniseries jumps between the stories of three U.S. marines rather than follows a single unit's ordeal. What it does have in common is the horror of war as they fight the Japanese on the other side of the world in campaigns such as Guadalcanal (in tonight's premiere), Iwo Jima and Okinawa. — Joe Friedrich
Celebrity Apprentice
9/8c NBC
Donald "You're Fired!" Trump's celeb-based reality series gets down to business in the Season 9 opener. Fourteen new celebrities — who are swiftly divided into men-versus-women teams — test their entrepreneurial acumen in a series of challenges. In the first battle of the sexes, the stars must manage a New York City diner, but there's plenty of dishin' when egos invariably collide. Alas, one celeb will be the first to get the Trump bump of Season 9. Contestants include Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, Darryl Strawberry, Rod Blagojevich and Sinbad. — Dean Maurer
Desperate Housewives
9/8c ABC
There's a coming-out party of sorts for Katherine, a coming-home party for the newly mustachioed Preston Scavo (and that's not his only surprise) and a surprise as well for Andrew Van De Kamp, one that he's not going to like. But the biggest deal involves Gaby and Angie, who are in New York to look for Ana and Danny. They'll find them, and Gaby will find something out about herself — something she won't like. Heidi Klum and Paulina Porizkova have cameos as themselves. — Paul Droesch
Summit on the Summit
9/8c MTV
Each year, more children die from drinking contaminated water than from HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined. To bring awareness to the global clean-water crisis, Ethiopian-born singer Kenna assembled a group of his celeb pals for a grueling trek to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Climbers include actors Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch and Isabel Lucas, and musicians Lupe Fiasco and Santigold. This inspiring 90-minute documentary chronicles their journey. — Karen Andzejewicz
NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show
6/5c CBS
Conference champs are waiting to see where they are seeded and who they are playing. Players for teams on the bubble are crossing their fingers in hopes of making the field. And March Madness is just getting underway, as the selection committee announces 65 teams and matchups for the tournament that ends on April 5 in Indianapolis. There will be a few days of "who should have made it" and "who has the easiest road to Indy," but all you really need to remember is this: The tourney starts on Thursday, March 18. — Dave Roeder