"Law & Order: Criminal Intent," 8 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: It's great to see Chris Noth back on TV, and back in the fold of "Law & Order"; after all, he and the old-school "Law & Order" crew helped spawn the TV-procedural crime wave we're still experiencing. This season, Noth is alternating with Vincent D'Onofrio as "Criminal Intent's" lead each week; on Sunday, Noth's and D'Onofrio's characters, detectives Mike Logan and Robert Goren, pair up for an engrossing two-hour outing, in which an Iowa teen on a school field trip to New York City goes missing. When a prominent judge's son is implicated in not just her disappearance but other crimes as well, the pressure on the detectives gets really intense. Colm Meaney does a terrific turn as the arrogant judge, and the case allows the "Law & Order" franchise to take a look at why and how missing white women seem to end up getting more attention from the media than missing women of other ethnicities. "Do not confuse my desperation with gratitude," the mother of a missing African-American girl fumes at a cable news personality (obviously modeled on CNN's Nancy Grace) who's finally decided to cover the case of the non-white girl -- once her death is linked to that of the white teen from Iowa.

Not only is the story meaty and provocative, it's a pleasure to see the easy chemistry of Noth and Annabella Sciorra, who plays Logan's partner, Detective Carolyn Barek. Noth's world-weary visage and Sciorra's urban edge give their pairing the upper hand in the "Criminal Intent" realm, though, truth be told, D'Onofrio's odd timing and hulking presence have their appeal, once you get used to them. "I'm an acquired taste," Goren admits to his partner (Kathryn Erbe). But it's one that goes down well in this company.

"Family Guy," 8 p.m. Sunday, WFLD-Ch. 32: Gird yourself for "Family Guy's" most rebellious outing yet. Sick of the FCC interfering with his favorite TV shows, Peter Griffin starts his own television network, PTV, which does everything it can to flout government censors, who eventually show up at the Griffin home to restore order. Expect lots of envelope-pushing jokes about flatulence, the government, body parts, Osama Bin Laden and sex, and, not surprisingly, there's a musical number savaging "the fellows at the freakin' FCC."

"The West Wing," 7 p.m. Sunday, WMAQ-Ch. 5: Following on the heels of similar experiments on "ER" and "Will & Grace," this episode features a live telecast of a scripted debate between Democrat Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Republican Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda). Both characters are running for president on the series this season. To bolster the verisimilitude, real-life MSNBC newsman Forrest Sawyer will moderate. High oratory is likely, but it remains to be seen if there will be any of those legendary debate gaffes, a la Al Gore's supercilious sighs.

"George Carlin: Life Is Worth Losing," 9 p.m. Saturday, HBO: The venerable comic and iconoclast returns for his 13th special, an HBO record. This 75-minute session is a live one from New York's Beacon Theater, touching on such Carlinesque topics as weird American phrases and the possibilities for a cable channel devoted to suicide.

"Category 7: The End of the World," Part 1, 8 p.m. Sunday, WBBM-Ch. 2: Fans of this telefilm's predecessor, wherein Chicago was assaulted by hurricane force winds, will probably enjoy this upped ante of a sequel, though it once again mixes spectacular effects with childish human melodrama. Everybody, from FEMA head Gina Gershon (slightly miscast) to demagogic televangelists James Brolin and Swoosie Kurtz, comes off as a caricature, and the disaster scenario suggests that, when the entire world is endangered, only a handful of fringe scientists are able to deal with the crisis. There's also something a bit tasteless about disaster fluff at a time of so many genuine weather tragedies. Still, for those who liked the original, this time the casualties include the Pyramids and the giant sculptural head of George Washington, which comes tumbling down from Mt. Rushmore. Randy Quaid, as a cowboy tornado chaser, is one of the few joys of this made-for-TV movie, which concludes a week later Nov. 13. Tom Skerritt, Shannen Doherty and Robert Wagner are also in the cast.

"The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross," Part 1, 8 p.m. Sunday, The History Channel: A documentary on the series of wars that most of us have heard about but are vague on the details. This medieval clash between Christians and Muslims has contemporary echoes, of course, and this version, which concludes Monday, offers one of this cable channel's typically accessible, if sometimes rudimentary, narratives, replete with colorful, occasionally hokey dramatizations. Both viewpoints, Christian and Muslim, are represented in the quoted historical accounts (Archbishop William of Tyre and Arab chronicler Ibn Al-Athir, for instance) and in the interviews of modern scholars.

"South of Nowhere," 7:30 p.m. Friday, The N: Stephen from "Laguna Beach" -- watch your back. There's a new dreamy hunk on TV, Aiden Dennison (Matthew Cohen), one of the high schoolers on The N's fine new dramatic series, which follows the fortunes of a family that moves from Ohio to Los Angeles. Dennison's the star player at the L.A. high school attended by the three Carlin siblings; 17-year-old Glen Carlin thinks he can outplay the star point guard, Dennison, and makes waves by trying to do so. Despite having a queen-bee, cheerleader girlfriend, Dennison soon has his eye on Spencer Carlin, who's confused but intrigued by her new surroundings and her dramatic new friend, rich girl Ashley. The lack of either cutesyness or condescension shown by this program is promising; the fact that it doesn't shy away from issues of religion, sexuality and race -- the third Carlin sibling is a studious, adopted 17-year-old African-American young man -- is also commendable. This is a teen show that bears watching -- and not just by teens.

This is cache, read story here