NBC Pioneers Television's Medical-Explosion Genre With Trauma

NBC is no stranger to medical dramas; remember Emergency!, St. Elsewhere, and a little 15-season series called ER? Tonight, though, NBC experiments with a new branch of medical programming that relies heavily on action sequences. Trauma is about a medical-rescue team in San Francisco that rushes to save lives while navigating helicopters through death-defying loop-de-loops, flips and the occasional explosion-starting collision. Thrilling, maybe, but can it beat the neck injury-rattled, dance floor pyrotechnics of ABC's Dancing With the Stars?

Trauma [9 PM, NBC]

On the heels of a new episode of Heroes, Trauma explodes in tonight's NBC line-up. In tonight's pilot, the team deals with a tragedy that affects them directly. The series stars Cliff Curtis, Derek Luke and Anastasia Griffith.

Dancing With the Stars [8 PM, ABC]

DWTS gains some credibility tonight with guest judge Baz Luhrmann. Hopefully the Strictly Ballroom/Moulin Rouge!/Australia writer/director will cut through the celebrity rumbas and gratuitous cutaways to Donny Osmond's extended family to heap some critical analysis the celebrities way' that is refreshingly not steeped in backhanded compliments.

The Big Bang Theory [9:30 PM, CBS]

Angry comedian Lewis Black guest-stars on tonight's episode "The Jiminy Conjecture" as an entomologist called upon to settle a comic book-related bet between Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Howard (Simon Helberg). Meanwhile, Leonard (Movieline interview subject, Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) try to work around their newfound intimacy.

A Love Song for Bobby Long [9:35 PM, IFC]

There is something romantic about the idea of escaping your tragic past by moving to New Orleans to spend lazy days quoting Charles Dickens and drinking yourself to end stage alcoholism. That's exactly what a washed up English professor, played by John Travolta and his loyal colleague (Gabriel Macht). Their routine is disrupted when the headstrong daughter of jazz musician (Scarlett Johansson) moves into the house with her own agenda.