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The good folks behind FX's "Damages" have apparently never heard of the sophomore slump. Opening with a bang, literally, the third season of this gravity-defying balancing act of a show promises to be the best one yet. Jumping at the chance to fictionalize Bernie Madoff, here thinly disguised as Ponzi-architect Louis Tobin (Len Cariou), creators Todd Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman offer us the mouth-watering opportunity to see what would happen if our gal Patty could get to the bottom of things, all in the name of the defrauded masses: murder and mayhem, of course, presented in the show's signature and still tantalizing time-warped bits and carried out by yet another killer ensemble.

 "The Ultimate Fighter" helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now the reality show that mixes fighting with male drama that rivals "Real Housewives" is being reinvented for the cable network FX by featuring live fights from the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, beginning Friday night. The competition is to feature 32 fighters -- including six from Southern California -- in the 155-pound lightweight division. Twelve hourlong episodes will air Fridays on FX, culminating in a June 1 finale, also at the Palms.

 "The Ultimate Fighter" helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now the reality show that mixes fighting with male drama that rivals "Real Housewives" is being reinvented for the cable network FX by featuring live fights from the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, beginning Friday night. The competition is to feature 32 fighters -- including six from Southern California -- in the 155-pound lightweight division. Twelve hourlong episodes will air Fridays on FX, culminating in a June 1 finale, also at the Palms.

SERIES The Big Bang Theory: Could Leonard and Penny (Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco) be rekindling their romance? Jim Parsons and Simon Helberg also star in this new episode (8 p.m. CBS). 30 Rock: Liz (Tina Fey) scrambles to do damage control after a cellphone video of Tracy (Tracy Morgan) on an offensive rant hits the Internet, and Kenneth and Jenna (Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski) seek Kelsey Grammer's (guest starring as himself) help in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). American Idol: Hopefuls perform for the judges in Pittsburgh (8 p.m. Fox)

From "Gillette's Friday Night Fights" in the 1950s to the birth of pay-per-view and premium cable and the wide world of a thousand channels of sports, television has had a long and fruitful relationship with boxing. But it's rarely been the subject for drama (as it has often been on the big screen): There was Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight," famously, back in the golden age, and Showtime's "Resurrection Blvd.," about three generations of East L.A. boxers, at the turn of this century, and as far as I can work, not much else.

"American Horror Story" (FX) is a big ol' brooding, baffling, ridiculous and occasionally compelling mess of a show. Never big fans of narrative convention, creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have rejected the essential rule of horror — the unseen is more terrifying than the revealed — in favor of the same "more is more" theology that fuels their equally defiant "Glee. " As a result, early episodes seem less concerned with telling a scary story than pelting the viewer with story lines, vignettes, disturbing imagery, psycho-sexual titillation and the odd moment of high camp.

Viewers who have spent any time in the late-night Cartoon Network programming block known as Adult Swim will recognize the aesthetic, spiritual and comedic values in "Archer," a '60s-ish spy spoof cartoon that premieres tonight on FX. It comes by these traits honestly, being the creation of Adam Reed, who, with executive producer Matthew Thompson, also created the CN/Adult Swim series "Sealab 2021," which dementedly re-purposed an animated sci-fi series...

RE "Seeking the Right Rx for FX," by Maria Elena Fernandez, Aug. 22: Killing off a little girl ("The Shield"). Glorifying spousal rape ("Rescue Me"). How surprising that the so-called cutting edge of television translates once again to violence against women and girls. As for Denis Leary's complaints about political correctness clouding the creative use of rape on TV: If he ever becomes the victim of unwanted penetration by a man who outweighs him by 100 pounds, I know he'll use the experience to enhance the creative risk-taking on his show.

"The Riches" has gone bankrupt. The FX series, which starred Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard as hustling grifters who assume the identity of a dead suburban couple, has been canceled, executives said Tuesday. The drama has been on shaky ground since it was interrupted by the writers strike, facing the same dilemma as another canceled FX series, "Dirt." The shortened second season ended with a cliffhanger that apparently will not be resolved. But FX has picked up a 13-episode second season of its freshman biker drama "Sons of Anarchy."

An open letter to Fox Network or Fox Sports Net, or whatever your name is this week. I still recognize you are the organization that literally forced local cable carriers to buy Fox Sports West 2 when you moved the Dodger telecasts because "you needed more room!" Now tell the audience you are not pulling to same stunt with UCLA football on something called FX! My cable company doesn't even know who FX is!! Tell me you need more time, especially when you are televising women's volleyball, and Oklahoma State football during the second-ranked Bruins' football game.

"Justified" fans who still mourn the loss of Mags Bennett, last season's wonderfully treacherous antagonist, can rest uneasily. When the show's third season premieres Tuesday, they will find themselves in some very capable new hands. Deranged, perhaps, but capable. Welcome back to Harlan County, Kentucky, whose hills and hollers are riddled with varmints. They may be driving Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (star Timothy Olyphant) crazy, but they're hoping to give the audience a nasty good time.

He plays Jax Teller, the golden-boy heir apparent to a violent, arms-dealing, drug-smuggling California biker gang. The tattooed Jax has killed for the club and served time in prison, but the outlaws are a tight brotherhood who will do anything to protect each other, their families and their lovely small town, Charming. He's haunted by letters from his late father - who wanted the club to go legit. But now, with a girlfriend and two young sons, the loyal Jax wants out of the club, even though it's the only family he has ever known.

With three days to go before their current agreement expires, DirecTV and News Corp. are still far apart on a deal to keep more than 25 networks on the satellite broadcaster's programming service. Among the News Corp.-owned channels DirecTV is prepared to drop Tuesday are the popular FX network and 19 regional sports channels, including Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles. Not part of the dispute are Fox's broadcast television stations and Fox News. DirecTV said News Corp.'s Fox Cable unit was demanding a 40% fee increase to keep carrying the channels.

'American Horror Story' Where: FX When: 10 p.m. Wednesday Rating: TV-MA-LSV (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17 with advisories for coarse language, sex and violence)

When John Landgraf joined FX as head of entertainment, he smugly figured he'd landed in the catbird seat. After all, the News Corp.-owned cable network had two hit dramas on the air and a hot prospect about to premiere. It quickly dawned on him that he could easily fall on his face. "I'm the schmuck who's supposed to replace 'The Shield,' 'Nip/Tuck' and 'Rescue Me,'" Landgraf recalled thinking when he was hired in January 2004. Not only was Landgraf going to have to develop FX's next set of hits, he was also going to have to find a way to make money from them.

Fox Sports no longer is pulling any punches with Ultimate Fighting Championship, announcing a seven-year deal that brings mixed martial arts fights to the Fox broadcast network and Friday night events to the company's FX cable channel. Fox declined to disclose financial terms, but Sports Business Daily reported the multiyear package was worth as much as $90 million. The deal, announced Thursday, is significant because it elevates the sport of mixed martial arts to the television mainstream.

Most popular prime-time shows aren't run by a producer and star who has to finish shooting by 6 p.m. to rush to a night job waiting tables. Then again, most shows aren't like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. " The irreverent comedy — created by Rob McElhenney, 33, who six years ago was making ends meet by working at a restaurant — revolves around a clutch of morally challenged misfits who own a dingy bar in South Philadelphia. McElhenney and two buddies write and star in the series, which this month began its sixth season on the FX cable channel.

The FX channel is going to be the TV destination for "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Kung Fu Panda" and other DreamWorks animated movies. FX struck a licensing agreement with DreamWorks Animation SKG distributor Paramount Pictures that gives the cable channel the TV rights to releases from 2008 to 2012. Also included in the deal are "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," "Shrek Goes Fourth" and the sequel to "Kung Fu Panda."