TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9, NBC. The story starts quietly enough with a phone call to "911." The caller says she's 9 and a hostage; Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) starts talking to her. From there, things build into taut TV drama. Police are baffled about how to find the girl. Is it all just a dark hoax? Or is her captor an electronics genius? Benson persists; so will viewers. This is drama at its best, written with intelligence and performed by Hargitay with Emmy-worthy perfection.

"Close to Home" debut, 9 p.m., CBS. Jennifer Finnigan has been terrific in drama ("Crossing Jordan") and comedy ("Committed"). Now she's on the serious side, as a prosecutor dealing with seemingly safe and antiseptic neighborhoods. This is from producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("CSI," "Cold Case"), with his usual slick production values. Still, the supporting characters are stiff cliches and this first episode falls into some overused plot lines.

OF NOTE

"Sex, Love & Secrets," 5 p.m., UPN (KIKU). After last week's disappointing opener, this show improves considerably. That's partly because tonight's hour focuses on the only interesting character, Rose (Lauren German).

"NCIS," 7 p.m., CBS. Gibbs has one last chance to interrogate a serial killer to try to learn where he buried his victims.

"Rodney," 7:30 p.m., ABC. Rodney is inspired by a preacher.

"Nova: Sinking the Supership," 8 p.m., PBS. Shortly after World War II began, the Japanese launched the awesome Yamato. Twice as large as American ships, it had guns that could shoot 25 miles. This hour tells the story via people on both sides.

TONIGHT ON KHNL NEWS 8

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