At its best and worst, television takes us to places we would never go. It’s in this spirit that I approach the second-season opener of “The Ultimate Fighter” (10 p.m., Spike). For the uninitiated, ultimate fighting incorporates elements of Asian martial arts and Western wrestling and boxing.

Although the television presentation of the sport does owe something to professional wrestling and reality television, “Ultimate” puts the emphasis on loud music and oozing testosterone. Drenched in camp, drag and soap opera, professional wrestling presents pure spectacle. In contrast, “Ultimate” offers fighting in every brutal way possible. As one thick-necked participant observes, “I see my opponent as a pinata, and I keep smashing it until the candy comes out.” Don’t try this at home, kids.

This season will follow a 38-day competition that whittles down a field of 18 fighters until the last man takes the Ultimate Fighter crown in his particular weight class.

¢ Jamie Gertz (“Square Pegs,” “Still Standing”) shifts gear from comedy to drama in the title role of “Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story” (8 p.m., Lifetime). This original TV movie profiles a Texas parole officer who quits her job to help the children of parents spending their adult lives in and out of prison. Helped by her parole board colleague Perry Beasley (Ernie Hudson), Marilyn fights bureaucracy and lack of funding to establish an effective program in one of Houston’s toughest school systems.

¢ “Inside 9/11” (8 p.m., National Geographic) concludes with a minute-by-minute chronology of the terrorists’ movements as they hijacked jetliners and flew them into their targets. The documentary also shows how local, state and federal authorities responded to the attacks, as well as documenting the actions and heroism of ordinary citizens.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Seattle is host to Dallas in preseason action on “Monday Night Football” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ A foreign businessman on a terror watch is found murdered on “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT).

¢ Gang war invades an emergency room on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).