Critic's corner

8 p.m., Channel 56
They're back.

11 a.m., Channel 5
They're back for season 12.

10 p.m., FX
Mackey's back for his last round.

8 p.m., Channel 25
Fox is airing last season's two-hour finale, to prepare us for the new season that starts in two weeks. The first hour of the finale shows precisely why "House" is much more than a formula medical series, in addition to the great acting by Hugh Laurie. As the injured House tries to dredge memories from his subconscious to make sense of the bus accident, his hallucinogenic state of mind is brilliantly recreated.

9 p.m., Channel 5
Tom Green jusges. And you though "Freddie Got Fingered" would lead nowhere.

8 p.m., Channel 5
Human pinball. Don't flip out.

1/2 Comcast, Encore
Pedro Almodovar's 14th picture, a melodrama loosely about two sisters and the return of their long-dead mother. It's not as great as the director's greatest, but what the movie lacks in formal ambition it more than makes up for in pure romanticism. As one of the sisters, Penelope Cruz has an emotional force that's nothing short of a miracle. (PG-13; runs through Sept. 4) - Wesley Morris