TV’s best bets: Children’s fables on ‘Great Performances’

Tonight’s might-see

PBS’ “Great Performances,” with “Peter and the Wolf” at 7 p.m. and “Hansel and Gretel” at 8 on KSPS, 8 and 9 p.m. on KCDT.

Life can be tough on kids in the woods, what with wolves and witches trying to eat them. Here’s an English-language “Hansel and Gretel,” sung by Metropolitan Opera adults.

Preceding that is the film that has just won an Oscar as best animated short.

Many people think it’s terrific, but we’re lukewarm. The stop-motion animation and the puppetry provide artistic depth; still, they also make this seem cold and distant.

Tonight’s might-see II

“Men in Trees,” 10 p.m., ABC.

Marin’s men continue to have deep trouble.

She learns that Cash (Scott Elrod) is in the hospital. His kidney troubles are worse,

Also, Jack (James Tupper) remains haunted by his sea tragedy. He visits Julia (Kelli Williams), who survived with him.

Other choices include:

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. Here’s one rerun with each team. First, Goren and Eames probe the death of a dentist and his patient; then Logan and Falacci face a complex one: A writer went to bed with two women; when he woke up, the blonde was dead and the brunette was missing.

“American Idol,” 9 p.m., Fox. The field is trimmed to nine and fans have every reason to worry; few people are safe. Last week, Kristy Lee Cook was in the final three as usual, but powerhouse singers Carly Smithson and Amanda Overmyer were with her. Overmyer was ousted, hurting the show.

“CSI: NY,” 10 p.m., CBS. To investigate a murder in this rerun, Mac plunges into a virtual world. He wants to learn who is the killer there and in real life.

“Law & Order,” 10 p.m., NBC. When two teens, a white boy and a black girl, are killed near a playground, it causes a probe of racial tensions, with Ally Walker (“Profiler”) as an intense mother.

“Root of All Evil,” 10:30 p.m., Comedy Central. This sometimes-hilarious show faces a classic question: Which is more evil, beer or pot?