TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"Winter Olympics," 6 p.m., NBC. To some figure-skating fans, tonight's Champions Gala is the real highlight. The rules are gone, the fun begins. That's especially important this year when skaters have seemed more mechanical than ever. The new scoring system demands specific moves in specific ways. We sometimes get Stepford skaters and robo-champs. Flair is sacrificed. Tonight, that's no concern. The medalists can just entertain us.

"Traffic" (2000), 6 and 9 p.m., Bravo. Steven Soderbergh is a remarkably diverse director. He went from little art films to such glossy, star films as "Ocean's Eleven" and "Erin Brockovich." And he merged those extremes with "Traffic," a sprawling epic filmed in a gritty style. This film follows efforts to stop drug trafficking. It ranges from a cop (Benicio Del Toro) to a drug czar (Michael Douglas) and his troubled teen daughter (Erika Christensen). There were Oscars for Soderbergh, Del Toro, Stephen Gaghan's script and Stephen Mirrione's editing.

OF NOTE

"Little Ice Age: Big Chill," 6 and 10 p.m., History Channel. Between 1300 and 1850, the typical temperature in and near Europe dropped slightly. That may sound minor, but some historians say the effects were major: The Vikings gave up on colonialism and the Spanish pulled back. Crops failed, economies slumped, people moved to cities, the Black Death spread. It's a fascinating story.

"America's Funniest Home Videos," 7 p.m., ABC. Here's the season's second $100,000 prize.

"24," 7 and 8 p.m., Fox. Here's a chance to catch up on this terrific show. In the first rerun, Jack Bauer goes undercover among the terrorists. In the second, officials order Jack — why do they even try? — to return to headquarters.

"The Ghost Whisperer," 7 p.m., CBS. A rerun. Someone who died from a bee-swarm attack refuses to cross over until he finds his birth mother.

"Close to Home," 8 p.m., CBS. A hit-and-run accident gets a new focus after it's learned that the driver knew the victim.

"Numb3rs," 9 p.m., CBS. Toxic gas erupted in the Los Angeles subway during what was supposed to be a test. Charlie's question: Was it really an accident?