“American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox) is back! Paula’s gone, replaced by Ellen DeGeneres. We’ll see.

Last year, I wrote that Kara DioGuardi’s addition to the group was not a bad thing. But that was before she saddled the finalists with her own dreadful number (“No Boundaries”) and before she accompanied that doleful tune with an awkward and uncalled for striptease. She’s got some fences to mend.

Like many “Idol” viewers and fans, I greet the new season with both anticipation and dread. Of course there will be moments of discovery, great performances and fodder for water-cooler chatter. But oh, the expanse of time-wasting and banality that also awaits us.

It’s now Jan. 12. The top 24 won’t be revealed until Feb. 17. Voting won’t begin till Feb. 23. The top 12 will be revealed on March 11 and won’t start performing as such until March 16. Yes, “Idol” is back, but it won’t really get under way for another two months!

• Fans of “Idol,” and especially “Glee,” should not miss the documentary “YoungHeart” on “Independent Lens” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).

“Young” spends seven weeks with the Young at Heart chorus, a group of elderly singers from Northampton, Mass., with an average age of about 80. They perform surprising variations on rock songs of the past four decades, with a special emphasis on punk rock.

The film begins with a performance of the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and includes rehearsals and music-video versions of the Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere,” David Bowie’s “Golden Years” and the Ramones’ “I Want to be Sedated.”

We’re introduced to the group, a spirited, tightknit collection of grandparents and nursing-home residents, as they struggle through choral director Bob Cilman’s edgy repertoire. But under his leadership, they turn a difficult song such as Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia” into something beautiful.

Health crises among the members provide a discordant note but only add special meaning when a duet performance of Coldplay’s “Fix You” is reduced to a moving solo.

When the group performs Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” for a prison audience, quite a few inmates choke up. But you don’t have to be doing hard time to be softhearted about this delightful and inspiring film. I rarely use the word “poignant” in my reviews. This film is poignant.

Tonight’s highlights

• On two episodes of “Scrubs” (ABC), hard lessons (7 p.m.), parenthood looms (8 p.m.).

• On two episodes of “Better Off Ted” (ABC), inappropriate language (7:30 p.m.), Ted takes competition in stride (8:30 p.m.).

• Domestic woes distract Alicia on “The Good Wife” (9 p.m., CBS).