A Taste of Romance (8pm, Hallmark) - A movie about a classically trained chef (Teri Polo) who gets competition when a former fireman (James Patrick Stuart) opens a restaurant next door to hers. Though they clash initially, the pair soon strike up a friendship with the help of the man's precocious daughter (Bailee Madison). Check out Adrienne's review.

The Firm (8pm, NBC) - If you missed the two-hour premiere of this new drama last Sunday, and it sounds like a whole lot of you did, you can watch tonight. But just like on Sunday, it's opposite a big NFL game (AFC Divisional game on CBS).

My Cat From  Hell (8pm, Animal Planet) - Jackson Galaxy helps owners of a Bengal cat who disturbs the peace, and a cat who sneaks into an apartment.

Miss America Pageant (9pm, ABC) - Brooke Burke and Chris Harrison host the pageant, which is in its 91st year. Miss North Carolina, Hailey Best of Goldsboro, will be competing. Best is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and currently attends Meredith College, where she is a vocal performance major. Best is also Miss Durham 2011.

Collision Earth (9pm, Syfy) - A solar event puts Mercury on a collision course with Earth, and a discredited scientist's weapon of mass destruction may be the world's only hope.

Saturday Night Live (11:29, NBC) - Daniel Radcliffe hosts and the music guest is Lana Del Rey.

Austin City Limits (Midnight, UNC-TV) - Arcade Fire perform songs from their Grammy-winning album, "The Suburbs."

I know next to nothing about the Miss America pageant, but reports are that Miss North Carolina Adrienne Core is a favorite to win tonight's coveted crown.

Core, a 2010 graduate of N.C. State and a native of Erwin in Harnett County, and also holds the titles of Miss Raleigh and Miss Fayetteville. Core already won the Miss America preliminary talent competition earlier this week with a clog dance routine to "Soul Man."

Core is the daughter of Beverly Core and the late Charles Core, who died of cancer. She works with the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research educating people about the importance of cancer research. (Great profile and interview from NC State.)

Other top contenders tonight are said to be Miss Alabama Ashley Davis, Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier and Miss Rhode Island Deborah Saint-Vil.

The pageant airs tonight at 9pm on ABC. It's hosted by Chris Harrison and Brooke Burke.

Click below to see a photo of Core doing her "Soul Man" routine.

Miss America Pageant (9pm, ABC) - Reality show hosts Brooke Burke and Chris Harrison host the 2011 Miss America Pageant, which is in its 90th year. There are 53 women competing, including Erwin native and NCSU grad Adrienne Core. Core has already won the preliminary talent competition. Judges include Joy Behar, Tony Dovolani, Marc Cherry, and Marc Willis.

Behemoth (9pm, Syfy) - A new Syfy horror film starring Ed Quinn as one in a group of scientists who investigate volcanic activity and discover a giant monster capable of destroying mankind.

Saturday Night Live (11:30, NBC) - Gwyneth Paltrow is the host and Cee Lo Green is the musical guest. No word if the two will duet on Cee Lo's big hit.  

Austin City Limits (Midnight, UNC-TV) - The bands National and Band of Horses perform. National does tracks from the 2010 "High Violet" album and Band of Horses does songs from the 2010 "Infinite Arms" album.

Photo illustration from celebritything.com

Miss America 2010 (8pm, TLC) - Ratings for the Miss America pageant have been in a steady decline for years now. Do we care about this any longer? If you do, this year's pageant is hosted by Mario Lopez and airs live from the Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas. Judges include gymnast Shawn Johnson, actress Vivica A. Fox, and broadcaster Rush Limbaugh.

Lying to be Perfect (9pm, Lifetime) - A dowdy magazine editor (Poppy Montgomery) leads a double life as anonymous online advice columnist. But her secret identity is threatened when her friends want to make a pact to lose weight together, using the advice of her alter ego. Based on the book, "The Cinderella Pact." 

Saturday Night Live (11:30, NBC) - "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm is back to host again, and I'll watch pretty much anything with Jon Hamm. Apparently, he has shaved his beard. Not sure how I feel like that because I was kinda diggin' it. Although, gun to my head, he's probably more handsome without it. Sigh. Musical guest is Michael Buble. 

Austin City Limits (Midnight, UNC-TV) - Steve Earle and Kris Kristofferson. Austin native Earle performs from his 2009 cd "Townes" and Kristofferson plays from his 2009 cd "Closer to the Bone."

Dollhouse (8pm, Fox) - Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" series finale airs with an episode that is meant to conclude a storyline that was introduced in the season one finale. The tricky thing is that episode from season one wasn't widely seen because it was only included in the dvd set. It's a little confusing, so here's more info.

Kitchen Nightmares (9pm, Fox) - The second season opener has chef Gordon Ramsay visiting the Hot Potato Cafe in Philadelphia.

20/20 (10pm, ABC) - Andrew Young discusses his new book about his former boss, John Edwards. You can watch more on "Nightline" at 11:35.

Miss America: Behind the Curtain (10pm, TLC) -  A one-hour special hosted by "What Not to Wear's" Clinton Kelly, who shows you all the stuff leading up to the big pageant (which airs tomorrow night on TLC). 

That's not to say it wasn't exciting.

In fact, it was pretty close, and at more than one point, it could have been anyone's game.

But I suppose the inevitable is called inevitable because it's inevitable.

It's about that time in the Race when the weak teams are falling by the wayside.

And indeed, the last weak team went bye bye last night.

With the Aspergers team, Zev and Justin, out because of the passport debacle, the gay brothers Sam and Dan start out the Race first.

I know some people are questioning "The Amazing Race's" Emmy-winning domination.

But after last night's episode, I can already see Number 8 on the way.

It was 2 hours of fun.

With 12 teams starting, names are insignificant. But some team descriptions stand out; the Harlem Globetrotters (here's hoping we don't hear that whistling theme too often); the Miss America couple (she's black, he's white); the on-and-off dating couple (the man says she's a fiery Colombian), the guy with Asperger's and his friend; the
poker players; the gay brothers; and the yoga couple ("People think we're Zen, but we're like yoga in the hood.")

Sunday at 8 p.m. (or after football and '60 Minutes') the Emmy-winning reality show "The Amazing Race" returns to CBS.

Can you believe it's the 15th edition?

From what I can tell they've pulled together a strong group of racers; it's definitely the most physically fit group.

No one looks even a little pudgy.

When Miss America is crowned tonight, there's a decent change she could have Garner blood in her veins.

Both of the two previous Miss Garners are in contention for the jeweled crown tonight. The current Miss Garner, Amanda Watson (above left), is an opera singer and senior music major at UNC-Chapel Hill. The 2007 Miss Garner, Kendria Perry (above right) will represent Miss Pennsylvania, where she currently attends Carnegie Mellon graduate school.

The contest is live from Las Vegas tonight on TLC and hosted by Mario Lopez. TLC is channel 39 on Time Warner Cable.