Tonight in HD: March 12

SoHo Highlight: Luck (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) After learning that Pint of Plain, Gus’ Irish horse, has been tentatively scheduled to race the next day, Ace forces Escalante to swap out Leon for a more experienced jockey, to Joey’s chagrin; Marcus fears for his health and wonders why he’s so attached to Jerry, while Kagle, who’s been fired from the racetrack, returns from a bender looking for a handout. “HBO’s Luck is improving, and it’s a result of more polished characters with deeper stories than in the first four episodes,” Paste Magazine said of the fifth. New York magazine observed “though much was made of the tension between David Milch and Michael Mann on the set of Luck — a battle of the gargantuans that ended with Milch controlling the script and Mann controlling everything else — by the first season’s midpoint the show is feeling very much like a David Milch production. The emphasis on community and the never fully resolved intimations of supernatural forces are very Milchian.”  ✮✮✮✮

Sky Movies Premiere: Operation: Endgame (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) Said the New York Times: "Mildly amusing for the first 30 minutes, Operation: Endgame is a foul-mouthed spoof of secret-agent silliness. Set on the day of President Obama’s inauguration, the movie descends into a sterile, fluorescent-lit bunker to observe two rival teams of government assassins, all named for Tarot cards and all seriously disturbed." The cast includes The Hangover's Zack Galifianakis, Nikita's Maggie Q and Ellen Barkin. (2010) ✮✮

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) John tries to get some of the money he lost back from Dennis; Harvey makes Roo reapply for the position she quit; Tyler causes more trouble for Casey. ✮✮

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Ross is suspicious about Rachel’s possible job offer from a good-looking stranger; a drunk Chandler kisses one of Joey’s sisters – but he can’t remember which one. ✮✮✮✮

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Chris comes to the rescue; Bella smartens up; Bree sabotages the wrong person. ✮✮✮

Piha Rescue (TV One, 7.30) Rookie surfers in a massive swell cause mayhem for lifeguards; an upturned kayak is without a passenger; an elderly walking party takes a wrong turn. ✮✮

Last Man Standing (TV3, 7.30, 5.1) Mike must decide which way he will vote when the all-male Outdoor Man’s softball team gets a mandate to allow females to play. ✮✮

Rapid Response (TV One, 8.00) A hit-and-run leaves parents fearing for their child’s life; an out-of-control car plunges down a steep bank on a family’s day out. ✮✮

Modern Family (TV3, 8.00, 5.1) An encounter with an annoying city councillor on the campaign trail gets Claire thinking about running for office. ✮✮✮✮

Criminal Minds (TV One, 8.30) The BAU team investigates the apparent mass suicide of a small group of youths at a military academy; Hotch and Morgan butt heads when a team member could be in jeopardy. ✮✮

Desperate Housewives (TV2, 8.30) Susan must decide if she will comply with her art teacher’s request for all of his students to show up nude to class to create from a point of honesty; Lynette is pushed back into the dating game. ✮✮

Person of Interest (TV One, 9.30) Reese and Finch’s game of cat and mouse with Detective Carter becomes infinitely more complicated when The Machine declares that she is their latest person of interest. ✮✮

Revenge (TV2, 9.30) Daniel decides to make a major life change; Charlotte and Declan find themselves in a predicament together; Victoria is racked with feelings of guilt after a lifetime of bad decisions. ✮✮

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV3, 9.40, 5.1) The CSIs search for a hijacked helicopter that’s carrying Brody as a passenger. ✮✮

Saving Grace (TV3, 11.20, 5.1) Grace investigates the vanishing of a troubled young man who shares a past tragedy with her. ✮✮

Hank (TV2, 12.00, R) ✮✮

Homeland (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) Brody confronts the lone survivor among the insurgents that held him, leading Carrie to believe she may be proved right about Brody. Said The TV Obsessed: “Blind Spot takes a greater focus on the intelligence world than the previous episodes, which maintained healthy splits between the Brody family and the intelligence, and it’s thrilling from beginning to end.” HitFix’s Alan Sepinwall said it “gives us the larger picture of Saul’s life, and it’s not dramatically healthier than Carrie or Brody’s.” Agreed the AV Club: “This is by far the most time we’ve gotten with Saul, who’s been a compelling figure before this point but hasn’t come under the microscope quite like this.” ✮✮✮✮