ABC kicks off Oscars at 5 p.m.

After a year off, Jon Stewart returns as host of the 80th annual Academy Awards ceremony, which airs today at 5:30 p.m. on ABC (KXLY-4 in Spokane).

That will be preceded at 5 p.m. by an arrivals/interview show, “Oscar’s Red Carpet 2008,” and followed by Barbara Walters’ annual Oscar special, scheduled to start at 8:30; a post-show, “Evening at the Academy Awards: The Winners,” slated to begin at 9:30; and “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards” at 11:35.

On other networks:

•The E! entertainment cable channel begins its Oscar coverage starting at noon with a six-hour “Countdown to the Red Carpet,” followed at 6 p.m. by a “Live From the Red Carpet” interview show with Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic, then an “After Party” at midnight (cable channel 64 in Spokane, 53 in Coeur d’Alene; airtimes are three hours earlier in Coeur d’Alene).

•The TV Guide Network airs an “Academy Awards Preview Special With Joey Fatone” at 11 a.m., “Countdown to the Academy Awards” from noon to 3 p.m., and “Live at the Academy Awards” with Lisa Rinna and Fatone from 3 to 5 p.m., repeating at 11 p.m. (cable channel 99 in Spokane, 20 in Coeur d’Alene).