Want proof that they don’t make cartoons like they used to? Check out the new series “Tak and the Power of Juju” (7 p.m., Nickelodeon). If “Tak” looks like your standard-issue video game, that’s because it is based on one. Apparently, the fact that “Tak” is already played by millions of kids convinced the cartoon’s creators that they could dispense with the niceties of character development and other details.

From what I could gather, Tak (the voice of Hal Sparks, “Talk Soup”) is some kind of jungle boy blessed with supernatural powers, called Juju. Just what makes Tak tick and the origins and explanations of Juju remain mysterious.

The writers chose instead to crowd “Tak” with wisecracking and cowardly adult figures, including a tribal tough guy named Lok (Patrick Warburton). As in many computer-generated cartoons, the animation is both striking and oddly cold. The hyper-jokey script seems a desperate effort to compensate for its off-putting, machine-made look.

In the first episode, Tak and his sister, Keeko, decide to protect their village from giant, stomping wood monsters. After much contrived and noisy mayhem, Tak uses his magic powers and saves the day. I get the feeling he’s going to make a habit of that.

OK, maybe I’m asking too much in wondering just who Tak is, where he came from and how he became a master of Juju. After all, I never remember getting a decent explanation as to Popeye’s penchant for spinach, or how that canned, leafy vegetable gave him superstrength. And as anyone who has ever watched those ponderous “Airbender: The Last Avatar” cartoons knows, sometimes the explanation of a character’s mythology can be dull. But that still doesn’t excuse the skimpy excuse for a plot in “Tak.” I get the sense that this is more of a marketing campaign than a cartoon, and that it’s a lot more fun to play “Tak” than it is to watch it.

¢ To mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, WE kicks off a weekend of retrospectives, documentaries and movies, including “Diana Revealed” (7 p.m., WE), “Diana: The Night She Died” (8 p.m.) and “Who Killed Diana?” (9 p.m.).

Other Diana-themed programming includes “Diana’s Last Day” (8 p.m., E), “Diana: Memories of a Princess” (8 p.m., TV Guide) and “The Murder of Princess Diana” (8 p.m., Lifetime).

¢ Taped before a live audience in Nashville, artists Jack Ingram and Miranda Lampert perform their individual hits and share songs and stories about their careers on “Cross Country” (9 p.m., CMT).

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ U.S. Open tennis coverage (6 p.m., USA).

¢ Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo star in the 2004 comedy “13 Going on 30” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ One less Starsky on “Meerkat Manor” (7:30 p.m., Animal Planet).

¢ “Expose” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) looks at the safety of America’s oil tankers.

¢ Jake and Hawkins unearth a dangerous plot on “Jericho” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ A mummy vanishes on “Las Vegas” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Les explores South Africa’s plains on “SurvivorMan” (8 p.m., Discovery).

¢ A corporate jet crash in a forest puzzles Charlie and Don on “Numb3rs” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ A visual clue leads to a professional predator on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Scheduled on “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC): a divorce turns deadly.

¢ Arianna Huffington and Sinead O’Connor appear on “The Henry Rollins Show” (10 p.m., IFC).

Cult choice

The 1965 musical “The Sound of Music” (6 p.m., Family) has everything: a love triangle, gorgeous scenery, cute kids, a cynical agent, memorable songs, feisty nuns and teenage Nazis. No wonder it has been a favorite for decades.