More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. We finish up the series by talking about some of the news events that defined the decade, and how TV covered them.

It seems odd to call the news events of the 00's a "best" list. As we started the 21st century, America seemed to have a different tragedy happening at every twist and turn. There was the Year 2000 bug followed by 9/11 followed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by Hurricane Katrina followed by the worst recession since the Great Depression. We've also had various celebrity deaths recently including the iconic and controversial Michael Jackson.

The tragedies of the decade were accompanied by revolutionary change. America elected its first African-American President. New forms of media such as social networking arose like a phoenix from the ashes of the old media.

The decade was filled with many ups and downs, possibly more downs. The full repercussions of the events won't likely be acknowledged or analyzed for years or decades to come. Wherever we end up, it will have been one hell of a ride.

Director Johnatan Demme obtained over 200 hours of footage of the Katrina aftermath, and the resulting documentary, Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward will air for five consecutive nights on Tavis Smiley's PBS show beginning this evening. You can check for times in your area by clicking here. The series concludes on June 1.

• At 7, USA has U.S. Open coverage, with Andre Agassi playing. USA has coverage for the next two weeks, from 11am to 5pm, then a dinner break, then 7:30pm to late night.
• At 8pm, FOX has a new Prison Break, followed by a new Vanished.
• NBC has a new special at 8, Katrina: The Long Road Back.
• There's a new Kyle XY at 8 on ABC Family.
• At 9, TNT has a new episode of The Closer, followed by a new episode of Saved.
• Lifetime has a new mystery movie at 9, Circle of Friends.
• If you missed the Emmys last night, Bravo reruns it at 9.
• BBC America has a new Life On Mars at 10.

By the way, if you're wondering when the new season starts for all the shows, check out Rich's list here.

Did you enjoy the American Idol auditions last night, from Austin, Texas? Here's some odd news for you:

They weren't filmed in Austin, Texas!

That's right. Seacrest did his intros, etc from Austin, but actual audtions took place in San Francisco, because Hurricane Katrina/Rita evacuees were in Austin at the time. So they flew the contestants to San Francisco and had them audition for the judges there.

Now, this isn't a big deal, but why not say it during the telecast?