Tonight's TV Hot List: Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010

The Mentalist
10/9c CBS
The team needs Jane for his powers of observation, and he needs them for protection, because it's obvious that if Jane ever carried a gun, he'd probably shoot himself with it. Tonight, the team needs to do it all when Jane is kidnapped. Once they go through his cases, though, it's clear that there are a lot of people who have a reason to hurt Jane. — Bill Ecklund

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It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia10/9c FX Of all the potential careers out there, schoolteacher is not exactly the first one you'd think of for Dee, but that's just what she is tonight, influencing impressionable young minds by taking them to a screening of the gang's movie — Lethal Weapon 5 — at Paddy's. In fairness, Mac, Dennis and Dee do blindside her with it: She thought they were going to show Laurence Oliver's Othello. As for the Lethal Weapon spoof, it's a hoot (especially Frank's sex scene). Dave Foley guests as the principal who doesn't fire her until it's too late. — Paul Droesch
30 Rock8:30/7:30c NBC Jack's back, playing politics yet again. Earlier this season, the suave network big gun stood slyly before Congress in a discussion about NBC's merger with KableTown. He tightens the Beltway again tonight, electing to manipulate a congressional race to benefit a particular candidate (John Slattery of Mad Men), thereby leveraging advantage for his network. In addition to this poll pull, Liz gains confidence via a perfect pair of jeans, and Tracy organizes a Golden Globe event with an assist from Jenna. — Dean Maurer

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NBA Basketball
8/7c TNT
The exalted trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had all of three minutes of preseason playing experience together when they took the floor in Boston on opening night. That's about the best excuse out there for the Heat's 88-80 loss that assured the NBA would not see its first 82-0 regular season. The subsequent stretch of wins are a better indication of Miami's potential to unseat the Eastern Conference-champion Celtics, who bring their (aging) talents to South Beach tonight for an early-season rematch. — Roger Leister

Burn Notice

10/9c USA
Burn Notice is back from its summer hiatus, and Michael is a bit worse for the wear. Though he's recovering from being shot, he still has plenty to keep him occupied, especially when a revenge-crazed lawyer sets his sights on a local gang and hires a paranoid bomb-maker to do his bidding. Michael and company must find a way to stop him before innocent bystanders are caught in the crossfire. — Brie Hearn

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SpongeBob SquarePants8/7c Nickelodeon SpongeBob embarks on an exciting railway adventure aboard the Oceanic Express, but this isn't a vacation for him. Instead, he's on a mission. It all starts when Mr. Krabs locks his secret Krabby Patty recipe in a faraway vault, to keep Plankton from getting to it. But then Mr. Krabs forgets the recipe, so he sends his trusty employee SpongeBob to retrieve it. Unfortunately, SpongeBob loses the key to the vault! He then must track down who has it, before the recipe falls into the wrong hands. — Jennifer SankowskiWartorn 1861-20109/8c HBO Veterans Day marks a time to honor U.S. citizens who have fought for their country, but this 2010 documentary is a stark reminder of the individual battles that rage on after the fighting stops. From the Civil War to the modern conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the film examines the causes and effects of what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder, as soldiers and their families describe, often in graphic detail, the horrors of their combat experiences. James Gandolfini is executive producer. — Joe Friedrich