“Tom Brokaw Reports in the Shadow of the American Dream” (7 p.m., NBC) takes a one-hour glance at the immigration controversy. The former anchor travels to a Rocky Mountain community that has seen an influx of undocumented aliens from Mexico.

The new arrivals have come to work in the area’s booming construction trade. Brokaw spends a good deal of time interviewing a busy builder who simply can’t find enough good workers and who seems to spend a lot of time trying to comply with regulations. He turns away many applicants with obviously faked driver’s licenses and Social Security cards. Later, even some of the firm’s better workers admit on camera to Brokaw that their papers are fabrications.

Despite paying $14 per hour, the firm is desperate for workers. During the time of Brokaw’s study, only one native-born American man applies, and he stops showing up after three days. Legal or illegal, the Mexicans work diligently and have friends and relatives only too willing to work hard as well. The American contractors – who began their careers digging ditches and worked their way up to be owners and managers – seem confounded by their labor troubles.

Brokaw also interviews teachers and parents who express reservations about changes in their town. The only government official interviewed here is local Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who had been a leader in the House’s opposition to an immigration bill passed by the Senate and backed by the White House.

The report fails to mention the recent elections, when Tancredo’s party was relegated to minority status in the House and Senate or what that means for the prospect of immigration reform.

One has the feeling this special report has been sitting on the shelf for some time.

¢ “Nova” celebrates a modern-day Capt. Nemo on “Underwater Dream Machine” (7 p.m., PBS). Peter Robbins, an American millionaire, commissioned a unique submarine with a partially plastic hull that allows for a panoramic underwater view. “Machine” chronicles the construction of the Alicia, the trial-and-error experiments that contribute to its unique attributes as well as the many off-the-shelf and out-of-the-junkyard pieces that helped keep the job within budget.

Robbins doesn’t take his craft 20,000 leagues under the sea, but he does manage an exciting maiden voyage.

¢ Taped on Dec. 3, the “29th Annual Kennedy Center Honors” (8 p.m., CBS) salutes Andrew Lloyd Webber, Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson and Steven Spielberg. Caroline Kennedy hosts for the fourth consecutive year.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ On two episodes of “House” (Fox), a boy’s fantasies are out of this world (7 p.m.), a couple’s secrets may be fatal (8 p.m.).

¢ The voices of Red Skelton and Frank Gorshin animate the 1976 holiday special “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Emily ends up behind bars on “Gilmore Girls” (7 p.m., CW).

¢ False paternity charges can be a killer on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ “REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (9 p.m., HBO) counts down the top-four sports stories of the year.