Tonight

Fans of NBC's much-lauded, small-town football drama Friday Night Lights finally get to see the show's third season premiere tonight. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, you might have already seen the 13 episodes of the new season. (The satellite service got first crack, you might recall, because it forked over production money to NBC when the network was waffling on renewing the low-rated series.) If you watched FNL on DirecTV when it debuted Oct. 1 and appreciated the sheer genius of the season, you might be ready to see the episodes again.

The 36th Baltimore Catholic League basketball tournament final will feature an encore tonight at 7:30, as No. 1 Towson Catholic and No. 2 Mount St. Joseph advanced with semifinal victories last night. Towson Catholic (30-4) blew out Cardinal Gibbons, 66-43, and Mount St. Joseph (25-7) routed Archbishop Spalding, 63-35, to set up the rematch tonight at Loyola College's Reitz Arena. The Gaels won last year's final, 62-52, on the way to a record-breaking 38-1 season. Mount St. Joseph went undefeated last season in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and in the BCL, and tonight the Gaels stand in the way of the Owls' attempt to duplicate the feat.

WASHINGTON -- It probably wouldn't have rivaled the Beatles, who played D.C. Stadium in 1966. It might not have matched Princess Diana, who graced a state dinner with President Reagan in 1985. But as far as visits by British celebrities go, soccer glamour boy David Beckham's trip to the nation's capital for a Major League Soccer game tonight against D.C. United was shaping up as an A-list event, the sort that causes Washingtonians to use their connections or their cash to ensure they are included.

For some in the Northeast, a trip to sunny Southern California is just what the doctor ordered at this time of year. However, the doctors for Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese didn't want her anywhere near either the West Coast or a plane that could have taken her there. That's why Frese, who is 25 weeks pregnant, remained at home while the No. 3 Terps played at UC-Santa Barbara and UCLA on Friday and Sunday, respectively, missing games for the first time in her six seasons as Maryland coach.

It was an interruption to his nap at a New York hotel that Nigerian-born boxer Emmanuel Nwodo gladly accepted. Not that he didn't need the sleep. In the past year, he had grown tired of traveling between Sudan, where he now lives, and the United States, preparing for fights that weren't in the foreseeable future. Frustration had set in because Nwodo, 33, had spent nearly a year "resting," unable to find opponents. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon in the middle of a nap, there was a chance to talk about his return to the ring tonight on national television.

Coppin State (3-13, 1-3) Coming up -- at Hampton tonight (7 p.m., ESPNU) Comment -- Tywain McKee, the Eagles' leading scorer, went 0-10 from the field in their latest narrow loss, at Norfolk State. Loyola (9-6, 5-1) Coming up -- Towson at Reitz Arena tonight (7 p.m., MASN); at Saint Peter's on Friday (7 p.m.); at Rider on Sunday (4 p.m.) Comment -- The Greyhounds have won four straight, the past two in overtime. Tonight is for bragging rights on Charles Street; they can avenge their only Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference loss Friday, at Saint Peter's.

The Howard County Board of Education's "Coffee and Conversation" session with the community, originally scheduled tomorrow, is to be held from 7 to 8: 30 tonight in the media center at Gorman Crossing Elementary School, 9999 Winter Sun Road in North Laurel.Information: Patti Caplan, 410-313-6682.

The Arizona Republic wrote in an editorial today:Tonight President Clinton will talk to a nation that has grown weary of the sex scandal undermining his presidency but seems still smitten by the man and his policies.That contradiction is reflected in the surreal scene that is the stage for Bill Clinton's State of the Union address. Already impeached by the House and standing trial in the Senate, Mr. Clinton will address a joint session of lawmakers -- men and women who also happen to be his accusers and his jurors -- as well as a public to whom he has lied.

Francis Scott Key (2-4) at Walkersville (5-1)When: 7 tonightOutlook: The Eagles ended a two-game losing skid last week with a 22-18 win against winless South Hagerstown. Quarterback Russell Tyler and running back Brendan MacDaniel accounted for two touchdowns. Tyler also ran for another, and MacDaniel converted a two-point try. Key's offense most likely will have to do more if the Eagles are to knock off the heavyweight Lions, who are undefeated in the Monocacy Valley Athletic League. Halfback Chad DeWees, a transfer from Catoctin, recorded three touchdowns on a reception, fumble return and interception return to help Walkersville pound Brunswick, 30-17, last week.

Soprano Ludmilla Ilieva will perform her cabaret show, "Hidden Voices," at Goucher College's Merrick Hall at 7 p.m. tonight. Subtitled, "A Show About Hollywood's Unsung Movie Musical Heroines and The Stars They Dubbed For," the evening includes such numbers as "Tonight," from "West Side Story," and "I Could Have Danced All Night," from "My Fair Lady," which were dubbed by Marni Nixon for Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn, respectively.Known as "Milla," Ilieva was a scholarship student at both the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory.

The Orioles ended their nine-game homestand with one of their most exhilarating victories of the season. Trailing by a run in the ninth inning, the Orioles scored twice off All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez to deal the New York Mets a 5-4 loss before an announced 23,009 on Thursday night at Camden Yards. For the second game in a row, Aubrey Huff connected for the game-winning hit, delivering a one-out single to right field that scored Nolan Reimold from third and sent the Orioles sprinting out of the dugout to pile on Huff near first base.

1 Playin' play-in: We're not supposed to call Alabama State-Morehead State (7:30 p.m., ESPN) the NCAA play-in game. It's the "opening round." What ... ever. 2 NIT pick: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU are combining for six NIT games tonight. Best picks? Stephen Curry and Davidson vs. South Carolina at 7 on ESPN2. 3 Coach, chill: Maybe Jerry Sloan won't get ejected in the first quarter - as on Sunday - when his Jazz hosts the Wizards (9 p.m., Comcast SportsNet-Plus). 4 Thin ice: Wow, three hockey games are on TV tonight (7:30 on Comcast SportsNet and Versus, 10 on CN8)

1 Irish's turn?: On Saturday, Georgetown helped its flagging NCAA hopes with a victory over Villanova. Tonight (7, ESPN), Notre Dame (left) tries to do the same. 2 High school: March madness: The boys state basketball tournament continues with regional quarterfinals at various sites (weather permitting). 3 Braves': new world: MLB Network (8 p.m.) lets all you TBS watchers out there know how the Braves will do this year. 4 Geography helps: If the Hawks (at Wizards, 7 p.m., Comcast Sports- Net)

Franz Ferdinand [Domino] *** Franz Ferdinand might be the only rock band going that can make a tawdry little pickup line like "Kiss me where your eye won't meet me" into a recurring lyric that shows up in a wan acoustic ballad. The tension between eager warehouse-party groping and front man Alex Kapranos' cold shoulders is Franz Ferdinand's bread and butter, but it's never been more clear than on Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, the Scottish quartet's third LP. Tonight is the band's danciest record yet, but it's the kind of dancing you do after running into an ex at a club and need to prove you're having fun. "No You Girls," the band's best song since "Take Me Out," gets huge mileage from its swaggering chorus call of "You girls never know how you make a boy feel," and lead single "Ulysses" uses some nasty Moog stones to underscore walk-of-shame sentiments.

Two specials on the real world premiere tonight, and they both have Maryland ties. There's a cheap motel in Laurel, according to author James Bamford, where some of the Sept. 11 hijackers stayed. You can almost see it from the headquarters of the National Security Agency. And that's the point of "The Spy Factory," a Nova report tonight on PBS. The NSA knew about the men who would hijack the planes, but couldn't - or wouldn't - release the information to the FBI. Some of the charges and revelations have appeared before.

Fringe returns to Fox TV tonight with a big, shiny lead-in from American Idol, which will presumably deliver more than a few new viewers to the show, which has been hovering around the 9 million viewer mark with most of its new episodes. People who are already fans, though, won't have to sit through a reintroduction of the series. The series boasts one of Hollywood's most creative producers in J.J. Abrams and a strong leading lady in Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent tracking paranormal cases.

Fans of NBC's much-lauded, small-town football drama Friday Night Lights finally get to see the show's third season premiere tonight. If you're a DirecTV subscriber, you might have already seen the 13 episodes of the new season. (The satellite service got first crack, you might recall, because it forked over production money to NBC when the network was waffling on renewing the low-rated series.) If you watched FNL on DirecTV when it debuted Oct. 1 and appreciated the sheer genius of the season, you might be ready to see the episodes again.

The Beast is a new drama series starring Patrick Swayze as a maverick FBI veteran who gets teamed with a rookie (Travis Fimmel). But with that rather conventional premise, can it ever be a beast in the ratings? It's pretty much impossible to describe The Beast - which debuts tonight - without getting tangled in the underbrush of potboiler cliche. Hard, unorthodox veteran who breaches the bureau's code of ethics to get the job done. Clear-eyed kid who worships the grizzled vet. And so on. But do you honestly think anyone will pan Swayze's performance - especially after the five-hankie interview with Barbara Walters about his battle with pancreatic cancer?

Kyle XY, the sleeper hit about a mysterious bio-engineered boy and his human family, returns for a third season tonight. Growing up is difficult even for those without special powers. But it's especially challenging for Kyle (Matt Dallas), who's starting to realize that he's being called upon to use those powers in ways that may jeopardize his personal relationships. In tonight's episode, Kyle tries to locate true-love Amanda (Kirsten Prout), while Lori, Declan, Josh and Andy (April Matson, Chris Olivero, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Magda Apanowicz)

Tonight, Howie Mandel, the eccentric host of Deal or No Deal, leaves the babes and briefcases behind (for a little while at least) to take the helm of a new hidden camera show, Howie Do It. But those looking for impromptu hilarity should look elsewhere. Howie Do It is nothing but a Candid Camera knock-off with lame jokes. Just like Candid, Mandel targets real people, and these people are put in odd and embarrassing situations while cameras roll. There is one slight twist though: Mandel - well-known for being a germaphobe and being averse to handshaking - bases some of the material on his battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder.