The new paramedic drama “Saved” (9 p.m., TNT) begins at a poker table. What better place to demonstrate the complications of its main character, Wyatt Cole (Tom Everett Scott)? When not getting into fistfights with fellow card players, Cole’s fighting with the snooty doctors who look down on him, his partner, Sack (Omari Hardwick), and other mere ambulance jockeys.

Wyatt has authority issues. His father is a famous surgeon. In fact, Wyatt was two years into medical school when he chucked it all. Did he do it to tick off the old man? Or because his fellow medical-student girlfriend Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) dumped him? He has commitment issues, too.

Not to mention debt issues. Gambling issues. Loan-shark issues.

But he makes the most of a busy day. During the course of the 42-minute pilot, he moons over his ex-girlfriend, fights with Dad, has a run-in with mob enforcers, attends his partner’s son’s pathetic birthday party and still has time to attend to a half-dozen medical traumas, a three-alarm blaze and fill out an application for his return to medical school. Just in case things get boring, he does most of his driving, fretting and lifesaving to a classic-rock soundtrack that includes Nirvana, Hendrix and disco hits of the 1970s. The folks on “Emergency” were slackers by comparison.

¢ Speaking of Nirvana and Hendrix, the four-part series “The Drug Years” (8 p.m., VH1) examines the influence of widespread drug use on the music, culture and politics of several generations during the past half-century. Co-produced with the Sundance Channel, this documentary is a happy departure from the glib, simpleminded VH1 fare. Don’t go looking for “We Love the Drug Years.”

“Years” combines a wealth of period footage – including antidrug filmstrips, TV news documentaries and health-class films – with archival interviews with Paul McCartney, Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary and other influential figures both living and dead.

Part one covers the “mind-blowing” years between the late 1950s and 1967, when casual use of pot and acid spawned the so-called “Summer of Love.”

“The Drug Years” airs every night through Thursday, covering the mainstreaming of drug use in the 1970s and the “Just Say No” reaction of the Reagan years. The series repeats on the Sundance Channel on Friday and Saturday.

¢ Jesse James rides off into the sunset on the two-hour season finale of “Monster Garage” (7 p.m., Discovery), the series that launched the auto-shop reality genre.

¢ The documentary “Paralyzed and Pregnant” (7 p.m., Discovery Health) follows an accident victim’s efforts to start a family. The first of a series of “Baby Week” features on this network.

¢ Kyra Sedgwick returns as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, as the second season of “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT) commences.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Edmonton plays host to Carolina in game four of the Stanley Cup finals (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A dozen would-be chefs face the wrath of Britain’s celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay on the second-season premiere of “Hell’s Kitchen” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ “Look Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman” (7 p.m., A&E) traces the evolution of the superhero character from page to screen.

¢ A soggy cadaver points to a homicidal husband on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Four young women hunt for an elusive Mr. Right on the new series “How to Get the Guy” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ Aggressive California real-estate agents compete to close a big deal on the six-part reality series “Million Dollar Listing” (9 p.m., Bravo).