In the new reality/documentary series “Black. White.” (9 p.m., FX), two families, one white and one black, submit to extensive special effects to pass as members of another race. The families share a single house and help each other understand the experience.

Brian Sparks, a black man, finds life changes quickly when he becomes white. His wife, Renee, laughs in his face and tells him she no longer finds him remotely attractive. Brian goes to a golf club/driving range, where he finds white duffers much more friendly. He’s really surprised when a shoe-store salesman gets down on his knees and slips Brian’s foot into a shoe and laces it up. No one had ever done that for him when he was black.

Bruno and his wife, Carmen, take their transformation into blackness with an earnest righteousness that proves immediately and continually annoying. Despite his “black is beautiful” attitude, Bruno contends that race doesn’t really matter and he accuses Brian of looking for, or imagining, racial slights.

When Bruno and Brian go shopping at a posh boutique, Bruno believes that the shop attendants hover around him because they are polite. Brian tells him they are suspicious because they think he is black. The men spar frequently about these perceptions. Carmen and Renee never get along. At least the teens, Rose (white) and Nick (Black), seem more open to the transformation.

Despite its profundity, the series can’t help remind viewers of comedy bits, including Eddie Murphy’s classic “SNL” sketch as an undercover white man, or Dave Chappelle’s incendiary skit about being a blind black man in a white hate group.

“Black. White.” would probably work better as a 90-minute film than a multipart reality show. For obvious reasons, none of the participants seems entirely comfortable in his or her new skin, and the burden of being part of an experiment grows wearisome for all, audience included.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ The remaining men warble on “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Tyra Banks hosts a new incarnation of “America’s Next Top Model” (7 p.m., UPN).

¢ Kate and Sawyer tangle over a briefcase on a repeat “Lost” (8 p.m., ABC) from last season.

¢ Something strange in the water on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Mariel comes clean on “Invasion” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ “Great Performances” (9 p.m., PBS) presents “Color Me Barbra” a 1966 Barbra Streisand TV special.

¢ The new 13-part series “NASCAR Driven to Win” (9 p.m., Biography) profiles young racers.