TV tonight: 'Inside Combat Rescue,' 'Hawaii Five-0'
Lost
G4, 9 ET/PT
Need a reminder of what the broadcast networks can do when they put their money behind the right people? Then go back to the beginning of Lost with G4, as its run of this ABC classic cycles back to the show's 2004 pilot — one of the best ever aired, which appropriately spawned one of TV's best series. The Big Four broadcasters are going through a dry spell these days, so much so that many seem to think the networks' best days are behind them. Before you accept inevitable decline as fact, remember that people had similar concerns about ABC before Lost arrived in the same revival-sparking season with Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. Times have changed, but this rule still holds: What happened before could happen again. Soon, please?
Inside Combat Rescue
National Geographic, 10 ET/PT
Most reality series are eminently missable, particularly those that purport to follow people around as they go about their daily tasks. But this one might be the rare exception, because the people being followed are Air Force Pararescue Jumpers, or PJs, and their task is to retrieve critically wounded soldiers from battlefields in Afghanistan. Their story is important and dramatic, all on its own, so let's hope the filmmakers tell it straight, without adding any unnecessary reality-show flourishes.
Hawaii Five-0
CBS, 10 ET/PT
Flush from the Super Bowl, CBS is hoping for one more NFL ratings boost, courtesy of a Five-0 plot built around the Pro Bowl game and a guest appearance by Houston Texans running back Arian Foster. True-blue Texans fans are advised to watch. Anyone else, not so much.