A hot August night is as good an excuse as any for some loud music, a few longneck bottles of beer and a chance for dancin’ and romancin’ at a local roadhouse. Singer Trace Adkins is host of “Honky Tonk Sound” (7 p.m., CMT), a two-hour celebration of the rowdy songs that electrified country music.

While no one will confuse “Honky Tonk” sound with a serious documentary, this entertaining collection of performance footage takes a knowing glance at the history and development of the musical genre. Before the 1940s, most country musicians sang about family farms and rural values. World War II drew millions of country folk into the armed forces and industrial factories. The louder, rougher sound of Honky Tonk music reflected this social dislocation with songs about heartache, Saturday nights, straying spouses and the ongoing battle with the bottle. It also showcased the fusion of country music with the amplified twang of the electric guitar.

“Honky Tonk Sound” opens with Willie Nelson’s “Whisky River,” a song that he has used to open concerts for the last 30 years. Unlike most musical surveys that play only short clips, “Honk Tonk Sound” plays entire songs, and great songs at that, including numbers by Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Loretta Lynne, Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams III and Trick Pony.

The special visits sites sacred to Honky Tonk music, including a trio of Texas roadhouses Gruene Hall, the Broken Spoke and the cavernous Billy Bob’s, which claims the distinction of selling 16,000 bottles of beer in a single night.

Trace Adkins does a good job holding this quilt of performance clips together, appearing on location at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge in Nashville. He concludes the program with a plaintive, acoustic version of roadhouse classic “Swingin’ Doors,” by Merle Haggard.

Few associate the Mediterranean Sea with bloody shark attacks. “Prowling Sharks in the Mediterranean” (9 p.m., Discovery, TV-PG) documents the 45 shark species that live in there, and includes rare footage of man-eaters feeding in the Mediterranean. It’s enough to make you cancel your next trip to St. Tropez.

Tonight’s other highlights

Note: Highlights and listings may vary due to local baseball coverage.

Scheduled on “48 Hours” (7 p.m., CBS): the 10-year-old victim who refused to die, and who may have stopped a serial killer.

Scheduled on “Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC): rumors of hidden gold still inspire adventurers to Alaska to search for a plane that crashed in 1948.

The St. Louis Rams meet the Chicago Bears in pre-season NFL action (7 p.m., Fox). Joe Buck and analysts Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman call the game.

Model Cindy Crawford made a rather unimpressive movie debut in the 1995 thriller “Fair Game” (7 p.m., UPN).

Scheduled on “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC): the hunt for Osama Bin Laden; John Miller’s new book, “The Cell.”