Tonight's TV Hot List: Monday, Nov. 15, 2010

Chuck
8/7c NBC
Season 4 has sorely tested Chuck and Sarah's romance. Sarah's initial reluctance to move in with him, a marked lack of agreement about having children, communication breakdowns and their first official fight have threatened to undo them. Worried his relationship with Sarah is splintering, Chuck tries to prove his worth tonight and springs into a daunting assignment with a too-ambitious agent (Rob Riggle). Back at Buy More, Nerd Herd staffers delve into the true identity of Greta (Summer Glau), triggering Morgan and Casey's speedy interference. Richard Chamberlain guest stars. — Dean Maurer
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House
8/7c Fox
Do you think that the House-Cuddy thing will make it through its first sweeps month? After last week's lie it's a very open question, but there isn't much time for that tonight-: A smallpox scare has locked down the hospital. (You'll be amused, but not surprised at how House goes about getting a 200-year-old Dutch captain's log that could provide life-saving clues translated in the middle of the night.) Locked down with everyone else is Wilson's girlfriend, Sam (Cynthia Watros), who'll get to know a 6-year-old cancer patient. She'll also get to know herself a little better. — Paul Droesch
How I Met Your Mother
8/7c CBS
If her friends have their way, Robin will never outlive her past as Canadian teen star Robin Sparkles, eh. Tonight they encourage her to get together with her former costar, Jessica Glitter, played by the Pussycat Dolls' singer Nicole Scherzinger. Alan Thicke also makes an appearance. — Bill Ecklund

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Monday Night Football8:30/7:30c ESPN In a slice of made-for-TV irony, who does Washington QB Donovan McNabb face in his return from two weeks of national media scrutiny but the division-rival Eagles, for whom he spent 11 hot-and-cold seasons without the humiliation of being benched in a critical late-game situation, as happened in Detroit two weeks ago. The knee-jerk move by coach Mike Shanahan has been awkwardly explained and loudly debated for a fortnight, and may leave McNabb even more juiced than he was in beating Philly 17-12 in his Oct. 3 homecoming. Meanwhile, an in-form Michael Vick (remember him?) gets the start at QB for Philly in his own homecoming of sorts, as a Virginia native, in Washington. — Roger LeisterWeeds10/9c ShowtimeThe pot-com wraps up Season 6 with a smoking episode. The Botwins head to the airport for a flight out of the country, but they hit a few speed bumps along the way. Escape Plans A and B have been compromised by the arrival of Esteban and Guillermo, so Plan C goes into effect, and it's a doozy. This wowing cliff-hanger works because it's laced with comedy that is edgy and sharp, and sprinkled with a dash of drama that's intense and unnerving. Viewers should be stoked about next season. — Ray Stackhouse

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Hawaii Five-010/9c CBS A deadly female assassin targets a visiting dictator when he visits Hawaii to attend an Aid Summit. Five-0 is assigned to protect the ruthless general, but the assassin gets closer to her target by murdering a security guard who apparently knew details of the planned hit. No foreign dignitary has ever been killed in the U.S., and McGarrett isn't about to let the first one happen on his watch. — Tim HollandCastle10:01/9:01c ABC As the show continues to veer off into cases that are more and more out there, Castle keeps postulating increasingly absurd theories to explain them. Case in point: The murder of an astrophysicist has Rick looking to the vacuum of space as the culprit. Research into the victim's life, however, keeps pointing towards alien abduction. With Lance Henriksen — a man known for having spent some time with Alien types — as this week's guest star, maybe, this time, Castle is really on to something. — Rhoda Charles