TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"The Bob & Tom Comedy Tour," 6 p.m., Comedy Central. One of life's surprising pleasures is "The Bob & Tom Show," weekday mornings on 150 radio stations nationwide. Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold have some clever scripted bits; more importantly, they get the best out of visits by stand-up comedians. Here's their first cable special. We haven't seen it but the comics — Bob Zany, Drew Hastings, Greg Hahn, ex-cop Mike Armstrong and Roy Wood Jr. — are terrific talents. The plan is to briefly show each doing conversational humor with the hosts. Then we cut to a slice of their stage routines.

"Mad TV" season-opener, 10:35 p.m., and "Talkshow With Spike Feresten" debut, midnight; both Fox. First, "Mad" starts its 12th season. Then comes a new show from Feresten, a former writer for David Letterman. There are some good moments here. The opening bit takes a funny, fictional look at Fox's late shows. Other moments sputter. Feresten likes to mock some of TV's weaker moments; alas, it's tough to get people to laugh at the fact that something isn't funny.

OF NOTE

"Cake" and "Dance Revolution" debut, 7 and 7:30 a.m., CBS. The first of these non-cartoons is a comedy about a girl with her own making-stuff cable show; the humor is lame, but the kids are likable. The second is a rip-off dance competition. In the episode we saw the crowd screamed maniacally and the judges simply gave an 8 or a 9 to everyone.

"Handy Manny" debut, 10 and 10:30 a.m., Disney Channel (will also air at 9 a.m. weekdays). Somehow, "Bob the Builder" has managed to find success while sticking to construction-related stories. Don't expect that to happen again, though. This show — about a handyman and his talking tools — is deadly dull. Even the world's greatest dramatists couldn't get much excitement out of fixing a stuck door or a broken trophy.

"Pulp Fiction," (1994), 5 p.m., Bravo. Quentin Tarantino's nonlinear masterpiece, which netted seven of Oscar nominations (and won best screenplay), stars Bruce Willis as a boxer on the run from a mobster (Ving Rhames) who is married to a drug addict (Uma Thurman). Aside from a great script and a terrific performance by Samuel L. Jackson as a hit man, "Fiction" is best known as John Travolta's comeback. He plays Jackson's colleague.

"Kill Bill: Vol. 2," (2004), 5 p.m. TNT. Can't get enough of Tarantino? In this sequel, Uma Thurman's "Bride" gets revenge on the folks responsible for her child's disappearance and the murder of her wedding party. A treat for martial arts and thriller fans.

"Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles Pt. 1," 7 p.m., HBO. At first, the only thing clear in this stand-up comedy special will break all records for use of some very profane words. Little wit is involved. Stick around, though; after the first 10 minutes, Williams has some sharp and funny material. His take on Michael Jackson is cruel and reckless, but nonetheless hilarious.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971), 8, 10 p.m., ABC Family. This is a great night for movies. Gene Wilder plays a candy factory owner in this sweet (no pun intended), family comedy about the perils of being a brat.

"Saturday Night Live," 10:30 p.m., NBC. Tom Hanks hosts, with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.