The 24th Hour

The process of figuring out what to watch every night is largely speculative, but for once, we have seen a show in advance. That would be the two-hour season finale of 24 which answers many of the running questions from Season 7 but also makes us question what we missed by not watching from 2 PM - 3 AM. Probably some hot, wet waterboarding action.

24 [8 PM, Fox]

Let's say you miss this double episode and don't have a DVR or friends with DVRs or enough room on your hard drive to bittorrent this bad boy -- never fear, the Season 7 DVD and Blu-ray will be out on Tuesday, so your only worry should be seeing a Facebook status update spoiler. Many threads are tied up as the president (Cherry Jones) makes a difficult decision and Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) confronts his own death, some enemies and a loudly beeping clock.

The Bachelorette [9 PM, ABC]

Hopefully, this will be the last mention of The Bachelorette in this daily column, as we are wholly unexcited about this summer's prospects on both sides of the rose podium. The second runner-up from last season's Bachelor, Jillian Harris, is the new object of affection. First runner-up Melissa cashed in her fame tokens for a spot on Dancing with the Stars and now everyone's favorite Canadian restaurant designer who was dumped by Jason Mesnick looks for love among 25 -- wait, there's a telegraphed twist! -- 30 dudes who had to go to a whole bunch of regional and national casting sessions. One-third will be eliminated by show's end, setting up a "This season on The Bachelorette" montage that will be better than the season itself.

Ax Men [9 PM, History Channel]

This is another Thom Beers (Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers) joint about real men doing jobs that plunder nature's bounty, and it really rounds out the Nazi-centric programming on the History Channel. Not to be confused with Extreme Loggers on Discovery, tonight's episode catches up with the cutters during the last week of the logging season and one logger receives a pink slip.

Rookie of the Year [8 PM, AMC]

Thomas Ian Nicholas and Gary Busey star in this sports fable about a boy named Henry (Nicholas) who breaks his arm and opts not to sue the doctors for malpractice after they ratchet up the tension in his elbow by about a million PSI's. Luckily, his arm-cannon is discovered by the Chicago Cubs, who then sign the youngster to a contract. Alongside his has-been, grizzled hero Chet "Rocket" Steadman (Busey), Henry tries to lead the Cubs to the World Series while watching his mom fall for Steadman. If it's hard to envision any woman falling for Busey, it's even less reasonable to imagine the Cubs getting deep in the playoffs on the success of their pitching.