A hit that makes you laugh: ?Weeds? is back for a second season of stoned-soul comedy.

This Showtime series centres on the high adventures of Nancy Botwin, a single mother who supports her family (and their good life in a suburb called Agrestic) by dealing marijuana.

As the season begins, the widow Botwin (played by Mary-Louise Parker) is struggling with her latest problem: her new boyfriend happens to be a drug enforcement agent.

Meanwhile, Nancy?s shrewish best friend, Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), decides to run for the city council seat held inattentively by Doug (Kevin Nealon), Nancy?s pot-smoking accountant. And Nancy?s shiftless brother-in-law, Andy (Justin Kirk), makes a desperate effort to gain acceptance to rabbinical school as a ploy to avoid being called for military duty in Iraq.

Although ?Weeds? makes sport of the hypocrisies of a drug culture in a community designed to shield residents from such social taboos, the series lampoons suburban life much more broadly. In fact, ?Weeds? ? with its clashing residents, up-for-grabs moral standards and manicured lawns ? is the show ?Desperate Housewives? tries to be, and falls so short of.

Even more impressively, ?Weeds? does it all in 30-minute episodes. Premiering Monday at 11 p.m., it?s guaranteed to get you off.

When did the 9/11 story begin? The answer is different for different people, and ?Countdown to Ground Zero? is a moment-by-moment retelling of the story from the standpoint of various people who lived through it. For much of America, of course, it started with the ghastly newscasts that Tuesday morning. For the firefighters of Manhattan?s Ladder Six, it began when the roar of a low-flying plane interrupted their morning coffee at the station. But for hijacker Mohammed Atta, it started months earlier, in flight-training school in Florida. And for World Trade Center security director John O?Neill, a 25-year FBI veteran and a foremost terrorist hunter, it reached back to 1993; he had warned of a looming threat since the first World Trade Center bombing. With interviews, dramatic re-creations and archival footage, ?Countdown to Ground Zero? follows these and other story lines converging with the attacks in New York. The History Channel documentary premieres tomorrow at 9 p.m.

Hey, all you fans of ?Sesame Street?, here?s a big number: 37. Public television?s unexcelled kids? show is starting its 37th season on Monday on PBS Kids (check local listings). And the new season brings with it a newcomer to the block: fairy godchild Abby Cadabby, the first new female Muppet to join the program in more than a decade! As always, the season also includes segments featuring celebrity guests and parodies based on pop culture. On Monday?s premiere: Grammy-winning performer John Legend and an original parody, ?Law & Order: Special Letters Unit M?.

Just one meal to go! What began as 12 contestants is down to two, and each of them is now one dinner service away from being crowned the winner of ?Hell?s Kitchen?. After watching Chef-from-hell Gordon Ramsay eliminate their opponents, the final two face the ultimate test: to design and run their own restaurant. From the menu to the decor, each will try to prove worthy to Ramsay. Will it be Virginia, the salad chef from New York City? Or Heather, the sous chef from Port Jefferson, New York? Viewers will find out which contestant survives the pressure cooker and becomes the new head chef at a Las Vegas restaurant on the two-hour season finale of ?Hell?s Kitchen? at 9 p.m. on Monday on Fox.

Ron Popeil has been described as a cross between Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum and Sam Walton. He?s one of the slickest salespeople in the past century, and an infomercial pioneer. Over the past 60 years he?s built an empire on such creations as the ?Set it and Forget it? Showtime Rotisserie, the Veg-o-Matic, the Miracle Broom, the Inside the Eggshell Egg Scrambler, Mr. Microphone ? and wait, there?s also the Pocket Fisherman. He?s an object of admiration, parody and self-parody (he voiced his own character on an episode of the cartoon series ?Futurama?).

Now, for a limited time only, join the Biography Channel for a profile of the mind behind Ronco products when ?Biography: Ron Popeil? premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m.