Tonight’s “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC) doesn’t just tear its story from the headlines — it tears into a disgraced headline maker. After a nightclub shooting, Briscoe and Green discover that the intended murder victim was a journalist recently expelled from Iraq for disclosing information that put troops in danger. And ballistic reports quickly link the shooting to soldiers formerly “embedded” with the chatty newshound.

This story is clearly inspired by Geraldo Rivera’s recent travails. The Fox News correspondent was kicked out of Iraq last April for spilling key secrets. At the time, Rivera responded with bombast and paranoia, blaming “rats at my former network” (NBC) for his woes. It looks like the rats are shooting back, Geraldo.

• Die-hard fans of “The Bachelor” (8 p.m., ABC) will have to sit through two hours of orchestrated tension as Bob decides between the spunky Kelly Jo, the gal from Kalamazoo and Estella, the Beverly Hills real estate agent.

For masochist fans who just can’t get enough, ABC will milk another hour out of Bob on the special “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” tomorrow night.

• While there have been many documentary specials about the national media and the Kennedy assassination, the fascinating film “JFK: Breaking the News” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) looks at the event from the perspective of the local Dallas reporters who scrambled to make sense of a news story that changed from a friendly presidential visit to a national tragedy in the space of only a few seconds.

“Breaking” includes many rarely shown clips of Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest and an interview with home-movie photographer Abraham Zapruder only hours after the assassination.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes II” (7 p.m., CBS): the use and abuse of human growth hormones; an interview with Gen. Wesley Clark.
• Burt Reynolds and Blair Brown guest star on “Ed” (7 p.m., NBC).
• A budget impasse results in a government shutdown on “The West Wing” (8 p.m., NBC) — a story torn from the headlines … of 1995.
• Seth faces a Thanksgiving dilemma on “The O.C.” (8 p.m., Fox,).
• Models walk around in their underwear on “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” (9 p.m., CBS).

Late night

Cyndi Lauper appears on “Late Show with David Letterman” (10:35 p.m., CBS) … Jay Leno hosts Ron Howard, Spencer Breslin and OutKast on “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC).