Immigration becomes topic

On a special two-part episode of “My Name is Earl” (8 p.m., NBC), Earl and Randy go on a mission to save Catalina (Nadine Velazquez) from deportation and find themselves in some hot water south of the border. John Leguizamo guest-stars in the second half-hour.

One of the more startling things about “Earl” and its relative success is its darkly comic treatment of Catalina’s plight. She’s smart and gorgeous but works two fairly grim jobs, scouring toilets at Earl’s squalid motel court and working as an exotic dancer at Club Chubby.

Catalina is not in this country for its economic opportunities. She was brutalized in her homeland.

In the show’s over-the-top fashion, she rattles off tales of torture, assassination, execution and dismemberment. This is absurd, of course, and brutal.

It also provides Catalina with an alluring mystery. She’s aware of a world that her American cohorts can perceive only dimly.

“Earl” is hardly the only prime time show to deal with immigration. On tonight’s “Smallville” (8 p.m., CW), Clark learns that a neighbor is holding migrant workers captive.

The Super Boy also asks his mother (Annette O’Toole) to help him keep two young neighbors from being deported. Their plight reminds Clark of his own status as an illegal alien from another planet.

And ABC airs the pilot of “Ugly Betty” (8 p.m., ABC), starring America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, a plain Jane from a Hispanic family whose can-do attitude upends the snobby poseurs at a fashion magazine. As fans of “Betty” already have learned, our heroine is in for a shock when, in a later episode, she discovers that her father (Tony Plana) is an illegal alien and has been using a fake Social Security number.

So we have three shows – two comedies and a fantasy – all airing at the very same hour of television’s most competitive evening, presenting three different takes on the immigration question.

Other highlights

A killer leaves tiny facsimiles behind on “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS). Danny Bonaduce guest-stars.

A socialite stands accused of killing his mistress on “Shark” (10 p.m., CBS).

Paul Davies dons a Santa suit on “The Kinks Christmas Concert.” (7 and 10 p.m., VH1 Classic).

A figure from Jack’s past returns on “Men in Trees” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).