Time Warner Cable and Walt Disney Co. agreed to keep ABC, ESPN and other channels on the air as the two companies continued negotiations past a midnight deadline.

The media companies are trying to reach a new contract and avoid blackouts for Time Warner Cable customers, but haven't come to terms on a new deal. Their existing contract expired at midnight.

"We continue to negotiate - there should be no programming interruption while the negotiations continue," Time Warner Cable spokesman Keith Poston wrote in an e-mail this morning. "Stay tuned."

It almost seems like a fever dream now, but 17 years ago Michael Jordan quit the Chicago Bulls after three championships and embarked on a career in baseball.

On Tuesday night at 8 on ESPN, "Bull Durham" director Ron Shelton explores that time in the fine documentary "Jordan Rides the Bus," as part of ESPN's stellar "30 for 30" series. (To celebrate the network's 30th anniversary, well-known filmmakers have made documentaries examining key moments in the last 30 years of sports.)

There's been some mystery around Jordan's decision, mostly of the swarmy kind. What's true is that Jordan made the decision after his father's murder in Robeson County (a crime now caught up in the SBI lab scandal); Jordan said then that playing baseball was a dream he and his father shared.

Rookie Blue (9pm, ABC) - The entire division gets involved in the search for an abducted 9-year-old girl. I've really gotten into this show.

Burn Notice (9pm, USA) - Michael helps the victim of a womanizer's scam, which depleted her life's savings.

Road Trip to Cooperstown (9pm, ESPN) - An inside look at the Baseball Hall of Fame on induction weekend. Features new inductees Andre Dawson and Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith.

Nightline Prime: Secrets of Your Mind (10pm, ABC) - The first in a four-part series exploring the human brain. The show looks at brain injuries and abnormalities as well as advances in neuroscience. Features neurosurgeon Julian Bailes of the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center and his patients. Tonight's topic is love -- how brain injuries affect feelings of love and a condition that can cause a body to shut down when experiencing love.

Jersey Shore (10pm, MTV) - The girls feel badly about keeping Sammi in the dark regarding Ronnie's bad behavior, so they decide to write her an anonymous letter telling her the whole truth. What could go wrong!?

ESPN announced this morning plans to broadcast in 3-D a trio of early-season nonconference football games involving ACC teams.

The three games will be the first ones televised with 3-D technology by the sports cable network, according to a news release issued by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

This is so funny. On last night's ESPY Show, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd did a spoof of the LeBron James "Decision" show from ESPN last week.

Please watch. Thank me later.

America's Got Talent (9pm, NBC) - Four people are chosen for the Top 24 group.

ESPY Awards (9pm, ESPN) -  Tonight's ESPY Awards show, honoring the past year's top sports performers and performances, is hosted by SNL's Seth Meyers. This year's Arthur Ashe Courage Award goes to the Ed Thomas family of Parkersburg, Iowa, who forgave the player who murdered Thomas, the town's longtime, beloved football coach.

Psych (10pm, USA) - In the opener to Season 5, Shawn and Gus look for the missing daughter of a Chinese crime boss, whose organization is feuding with another Triad.

Hot in Cleveland (10pm, TV Land) - A neighbor (Wayne Knight) gets the wrong idea about Melanie when she throws a party, and Elka (Betty White) gets a makeover for her senior prom date with Max (Carl Reiner).

Work of Art (10pm, Bravo) - The artists must work together to create a large outdoor installation piece in just two days. Yvonne Force Villareal is the guest judge. Love this show.

The ACC ended its spring meetings on Wednesday in Amelia Island, Fla., without announcing a new basic television contract to follow the various deals that will expire at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

Even so, the end game almost certainly will include a pact with ESPN to be
the ACC's primary carrier.

Blue Planet: Seas of Life (7pm, Animal Planet) - A marathon of underwater exploration with the episodes "Ocean's World," "Deep," "Open Ocean," and "Frozen Seas."

Raising the Bar (8pm, TNT) - This legal drama has been canceled, but TNT is burning off the final three new episodes tonight. So if you're a fan, this is your last chance.

SportsCenter Special: Decade in Review (9:30pm, ESPN2) - The top sports newsmakers, moments and events from 2000-2009.

Most of the TV action today is Christmas-related, so check out our complete guide to holiday viewing at What to Watch: Santa Edition.

The Thursday night football game UNC hosted last month went well enough that the university expects to do it again.

The Oct. 22 game against Florida State was the first Thursday night game ever held on the UNC campus. For years,  officials had opposed the idea due to fears of congestion and other campus disruption.

But this year's game was held over Fall break, and athletics director Dick Baddour and others were pleased with how things went.

For the story, check out our higher education blog.

There will be more Thursday night football in Chapel Hill.

UNC's Oct. 22 game with Florida State went smoothly enough - aside from a loss for the home team - that campus officials now say they want to host another mid-week home game.

"It was a trial balloon and we were really pleased with what we found out," said Dick Baddour, UNC's athletics director. "We will do it again."

The Oct. 22 game was the first Thursday night game ever held at UNC. Kenan Stadium is squarely in the middle of a congested campus, and planners had long feared the gridlock that might accompany such a large event on a workday.

The UNC hospitals complex, which employs thousands, sits just south of the stadium and many workers get out around the same time as many fans would head into campus.

But this year's game was held during Fall break, which meant fewer students would be in town. And employees were dismissed at 3 p.m. that day, an attempt to alleviate traffic congestion.

UNC lost the game, 30 to 27. The following Thursday, they won a big, national TV game at Virginia Tech. So which brings the bigger payoff?

Said Baddour: " [At UNC] They're looking at the Carolina blue. They're looking at your fans. They're looking at, I think, the magnificence of your stadium, and your university is being talked about more. So I think there's a difference. If you ask me how you measure winning away vs. losing at home, I don't know. It's always good when you win. Maybe the difference is that your home crowd, your university, enjoys more exposure and you get a better sense, if you're John Q Public, of the university, the program, when you host at home. But there's no question that victory up at Virginia Tech speaks volumes as well."

Read more on this issue in Saturday's News & Observer.