Digital Satellite - Directv - Dish Network - Star Choice

Smallville 8:00 pm ET

An "It's a Wonderful Life" episode -- and it isn't even Christmastime. Clark (Tom Welling) gets wind of some messages from the past saying Brainiac (James Marsters) wanted to kill Kal-El as a baby. That has him wondering what life in Smallville would be like if he'd never existed. Jor-El plays "Clarence the angel" and shows him, and the answer will surprise you -- repeatedly -- in "Apocalypse."

The Color Purple 8:00 pm ET

It was remade as a Broadway musical, but the original movie -- whose big-time loss at the Academy Awards had a lot of folks seeing the color red -- remains a great "watch" 23 years later. That's due in large part to Whoopi Goldberg's portrayal of an abused wife who finds love from an unlikely source -- her husband's mistress -- and hope from her sister's incredible journey. Oprah Winfrey gives a gut-wrenching supporting performance.

Flubber 9:00 pm ET

Robin Williams brings his wacky energy to the Fred MacMurray role in this 1997 remake of Disney's "The Absent Minded Professor." His character, Philip Brainard, inadvertently invents a miraculous substance that bounces, flies, looks like a prop left over from "Ghostbusters" and may save his struggling school from financial ruin. Marcia Gay Harden plays the college president, who also happens to be Brainard's girlfriend.

I Witness 8:00 pm ET

Shouldn't there be a comma in that title, a la "I, Robot"? Nah, it wouldn't help. A lukewarm direct-to-video drama from 2003, it stars Jeff Daniels as a human rights investigator who stumbles upon 27 dead bodies near a U.S.-owned factory near the U.S.-Mexican border. Could this be the work of drug gangs? A cover-up by the evil American corporation? Does anyone care? Sadly, in a better-made movie, you might.

The Big Country 8:00 pm ET

Although better known for his singing, Burl Ives won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance in director William Wyler's sprawling 1958 Western epic about two ranching families feuding over water rights. Gregory Peck plays the sea captain who gets caught in the middle of the feud when he comes west to marry into one of the families. Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors also star.

Ugly Betty 8:00 pm ET

Remember Gina, the Suarezes' former neighbor and nemesis? She's back, married to a doctor and eager to torment Hilda (Ana Ortiz) with her wonderful new life. Betty (America Ferrera) faces another difficult woman at work: Renee (Gabrielle Union), who's convinced Betty is trying to steal Daniel (Eric Mabius) from her. Ava Gaudet returns as Gina in "Burning Questions."

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 9:00 pm ET

Um, so what exactly was he training for? In this episode, a washed-up boxer turns up dead at the brothel where he'd been living and training. None of the working girls were exactly fans of his, and he had a number of close calls in a single night ... but which was the fatal one? James Whitmore, Wendy Makkena and Peter Stormare guest star in "Ending Happy."

Grey's Anatomy 9:00 pm ET

Who says you can't go home again? In "Piece of My Heart," Addison (Kate Walsh) is back at Seattle Grace as a guest surgeon, and she's amazed to see how her ex-colleagues' lives have changed. Also back in the picture is Rebecca, aka Ava (Elizabeth Reaser), the amnesia patient, who has a surprise for Alex (Justin Chambers). Meredith and Derek (Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey) get their first clinical trial patient.

Supernatural 9:00 pm ET

It's not nice to take things from people who are still using them, Doc. An alleged zombie case brings Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles) to Pennsylvania, where they encounter not a zombie but a doctor (Billy Drago) who has stayed alive since the 19th century by stealing other people's vital organs. Sam deals with him while Dean heads off to confront Bela (Lauren Cohan) in "Time Is on My Side."

Tabatha's Salon Takeover 11:00 pm ET

Its name means "heavenly," but Tabatha Coffey finds it closer to the other place. Let's just say the owner of the De Cielo Spa and Salon in Burbank, Calif., could stand a few lessons in keeping his establishment clean. And he doesn't exactly take that news graciously. Tabatha enlists the help of his staff to clean up the place and attempt to adjust his attitude in this new episode.