8-8:30PM The Simpsons (Fox, TV-PG-LV) In a repeat of last season's holiday special, Homer suddenly discovers the Christmas spirit when Burns unwittingly gives him a priceless baseball card. It's like I always say: Nothing spreads holiday cheer like swindling the elderly out of their valuables.
5:30-6PM What I Like About You (The WB, TV-PG) Last season's finale when Holly stressed over Vince and Henry, then came back from Europe with Ben. Which proves that Holly's either really shallow or really lucky. Oh, or both. (R)
MRS. CUNNINGHAM ALERT! 7-7:30PM King of the Hill (Fox, TV-PG) Hank welcomes holiday guest Marion Ross, who decides she wants to die in his house. Which will mark the second time she's kicked it on the Fox network. Mama's got a death wish.
7:30-10PM The Wizard of Oz (The WB, TV-G) While I realize it's an allegory about the Free Silver Movement of the 1870s, I still think the monkeys are scary.
8-9PM Cold Case (CBS) Rush tries again to solve a lawyer's murder. She might want to file the guy's shady cases under Stuff I Should Have Checked the First Time.
SEASON FINALE 9-10PM The Wire (HBO, TV-MA) Will Hamsterdam survive? If it lowered the crime rate 14 percent, wouldn't interspecies bigamy be legal? Still, it's iffy.
9-10:01PM Desperate Housewives (ABC) Meanie supermom Sharon Lawrence somehow gets entangled with Bree. Look, I have to ask: Why don't these people just move?
10-11PM Young, Sexy & . . . Busted (WE, TV-PG-D) Featuring Natasha Lyonne, Eddie Furlong, and Jenna Bush. I suppose it would be rude to quibble over ''sexy.''
10-11PM Crossing Jordan (NBC, TV-14) We're back in Jordan's Electra Complex. Run! (R)
10:01-11PM Boston Legal (ABC) Brad and Lori defend a woman who murdered her husband and his mistress. Because the only real crime is not needing lawyers, or not paying them.
SEASON FINALE 11:30-11:45PM Tom Goes to the Mayor (Cartoon Network, TV-PG) Tom designs a holiday T-shirt that says ''Rat's off, to ya.'' Weird. But still better than ''Mrs. Federline.''
9-11PM Unlocking Da Vinci's Code: The Full Story (National Geographic Channel, TV-PG) Dan Brown, what have you done? The debates ignited in Brown's The Da Vinci Code are some of the most intense in recent memory. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married? Did they found a lineage kept safe by a French secret society? Did artist Leonardo da Vinci leave clues in works like the Mona Lisa? These questions are largely unanswerable, but darned if host Elizabeth Vargas isn't willing to dart from the Middle East to Europe asking scholars (and Brown, himself) to weigh in. For every opinion, there's an equal and adamant opposition. But when the history is this rich, the art this compelling, and the scenery this inviting, it's fun to go along for the ride. B
