So now it’s down to three on “The Bachelorette” (8 p.m., ABC). Meredith has not exactly breathed fire into this franchise. But last week, a real character emerged from left field. Lanny’s overbearing mom, Jeannie, single-handedly destroyed her son’s chances with the statuesque Oregonian.

Jeannie made it painfully obvious that Meredith would have to wait on Lanny and anticipate his every need. But Jeannie’s in-your-face faith really sealed the deal. You could see Lanny do some hard chewing as his mother told the awkwardly polite Meredith, “It’s very important to me to know that my grandchildren would be raised in a Christian house.” At that point, the poor cowpoke knew he didn’t have a prayer.

Now it’s down to Ian, the preppy-looking New Yorker; Matthew, the Texan; and Chad, whose status as an unemployed guy who lives with his mother should make him easy to eliminate.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes II” (7 p.m., CBS): fraudulent mutual funds; how one family raises 25 children.
• The Bard hits his creative stride in part three of the four-hour series “In Search of Shakespeare” (7 p.m., PBS).
• Scheduled on “48 Hours Investigates” (9 p.m., CBS): Diane Keaton, Jude Law, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman discuss the Oscars.
• An angry veteran becomes a suspect after a confrontational anti-war activist is found murdered on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC).
• The mole is revealed on “Celebrity Mole Yucatan” (9 p.m., ABC). And nobody cares.

Late night

Ashley Judd and Ben Harper appear on “Late Show with David Letterman” (10:35 p.m., CBS) … Jay Leno welcomes Jennifer Love Hewitt and Bill O’Reilly on “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC).

Omar Epps is scheduled on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … John Cleese and Portia de Rossi are scheduled on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn” (11:37 p.m., CBS).