‘Monty Python’s‘ back in reruns

Tonight’s must-see

“Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” 5 p.m. and 5:40 p.m.; BBC America.

Comedy reached a peak in 1974, when “Python” premiered. Here were young Englishmen with a wondrous touch for nonsense. They could leap in and out of sketches, always finding humans at their silliest.

Now the 45 episodes have been digitally re-mastered and will be shown chronologically on Fridays, starting tonight.

Tonight’s must-see II

“Numb3rs,” 9 and 10 p.m., CBS.

Both reruns nudge the guys into the sports world. First, a baseball player has died after taking a steroid injection. Charlie works with a fantasy baseball fan who feels statistics can trace the player’s steroid use. Then a mixed-martial-arts fighter has died.

Other choices include

“Ghost Whisperer,” 8 p.m., CBS. A spirit wants his body moved to the correct grave. Melinda doesn’t like the guy, because he reminds her of the dad who abandoned her.

“National Spelling Bee,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. Here are finals, with young people (ages 8-15) spelling impossible words.

“Little Black Book” (2004), 8-10 p.m., Fox. Brittany Murphy plays a woman who spies on her boyfriend’s life, contacting the women listed in his electronic organizer.

“Forrest Gump” (1994, TNT), “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003, USA Network); “Chicken Little” (2005, Disney Channel) or “Mean Girls” (2004, ABC Family); all 8 p.m. It’s a movie night for families. “Gump” is an Oscar-winning fable; “Pirates” is a light swashbuckler with great work from Johnny Depp; “Chicken” is animated; “Mean Girls” is a Lindsay Lohan/Tina Fey comedy.

“That Mitchell and Webb Look,” 9:20 p.m., BBC America. After the “Python” reruns, try some more British humor.

“Doctor Who,” 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., Sci Fi Channel. Here’s a British show to tape and watch after “Python.” In the first episode, the Sontarans are altering the Earth’s atmosphere; in the second, war breaks out in 1913.