TONIGHT'S MUST-SEE

"Everybody Loves Raymond," 7:30 p.m., CBS. In its final season, "Raymond" perfected the art of leaping from long laughs to short spurts of drama. Here's a prime example. Robert raves about his therapist, so the women order his father and brother to go there, too. Soon, the three men are misbehaving. In humor, this rerun is only so-so. But it makes up for that in a rare emotional connection between father and sons.

"Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story," 6 p.m., Lifetime. Jami Gertz spotted a news report about Marilyn Gambrell, a Houston parole officer who was tired of seeing crime spread to new generations. In a high school, Gambrell created "No More Victims," a class for the children of convicts. Now Gertz portrays Gambrell, with Ernie Hudson as her partner in the class. The film, alas, quickly goes wrong. The script is done with sledgehammer subtlety. It piles on the melodramatic moments. Some good performances by the young actors are often washed out by the film's excess.

OF NOTE

"Growing Up Gotti" season opener, 6 and 6:30 p.m., A&E. Despite all its pretty people and famous names, this is still a difficult show to like. At the core is Victoria Gotti, both beautiful and distant. She says her own family (including her late father, convicted mob chief John Gotti) squashed her dream of going away to college. Now she hopes to do the same thing by keeping her son John from going away. The first episode has his lush high school graduation party as she scrambles for a way to keep him from going to college in Boston. The second has her preparing for their trip to the family roots in Italy.

"The Closer," 6 p.m., TNT. Brenda fumes when the FBI wants her case, which involves the murder of a suspected terrorist.

"Fear Factor," 7 p.m., NBC. This reruns the show's third trip to Las Vegas. This time, four duos compete. Among other things, they must walk a tightrope connecting the 36th stories of two hotels.

"Las Vegas," 8 p.m., NBC. When a mobster turns to extortion, Ed brings in an old friend, played by Sylvester Stallone. Meanwhile, Danny and Mike race to find $100,000 taken by a clever thief.