TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"Criminal Minds," 8 p.m., CBS. Tonight, the show moves to its regular spot. Mandy Patinkin stars as an FBI behavioral analyst, back after a nervous breakdown. His team visits an Arizona college hit by an arsonist. The solution is a huge stretch, but still a strong and satisfying story.

"Lost" and "Invasion," 8 and 9 p.m., ABC. In "Lost," it turns out that the hatch holds an underground apartment of someone Jack has met before and who now has Locke at gunpoint; tonight, however, we divert from them to learn what happened to people on the raft. In "Invasion," the hurricane is over but the questions linger. Did lights cascade into the swamp? Why do the doctor and the priest, separately stranded in the swamp, seem so odd?

OF NOTE

"Veronica Mars" season opener, 4 p.m., UPN (KIKU). This hour tells us what happened this summer to Veronica and the other teens, has a case involving disputed drug tests, and introduces Charisma Carpenter ("Angel") as a desperate and sexy housewife, luring the teens. Things are so busy that nothing quite clicks.

"The George Lopez Show" season opener, 7 p.m., ABC. A story line about George's now-homeless mom brings out the dark humor of their relationship.

"Best of the Beatles," 8 p.m., PBS. This gathers the memories of Pete Best, who was briefly the cute Beatles drummer before being replaced by Ringo Starr.

"E-Ring," 8 p.m., NBC. The second episode, like the first, views a taut situation from inside the Pentagon. Benjamin Bratt stars as a Green Beret in a desk job as his old unit is ordered to try a daring extraction.

"CSI: NY" season opener, 9 p.m., CBS. Dr. Hawkes (Hill Harper) moves out of the autopsy room and into the field, in a case involving murder in a high-rise.