“The Black Donnellys” (9 p.m., NBC) are a large Irish brood. There’s Kevin (Billy Lush), the gambler; the troubled Jimmy (Thomas Guiry); Sean (Michael Stahl-David), the babe magnet; and Tommy (Jonathan Tucker), the talented and seemingly levelheaded one who ends up trying to fix things up for his brothers and ends up in the biggest jam of all.

Their story unfolds in a series of self-evidently dubious flashbacks told by a close friend named Joey Ice Cream (Keith Nobbs). If that nickname sounds familiar, it’s because “Donnellys” leans so heavily on Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” for style and substance.

Much like “The Brotherhood,” a Showtime series also set in an Irish-American urban-criminal milieu, “Donnellys” has been art-directed to death. The action takes place in an urban never-never land where the cars are of recent vintage but the interiors of bars, clubs, homes and restaurants seem stuck in the first half of the 20th century. They could have been lifted from the Coen brothers’ 1990 movie “Miller’s Crossing,” a superior mythic meditation on the Irish mob experience.

It’s a strange New York without donut shops, drugstores or Korean delis. Come to think of it, there aren’t any Koreans, either, or anyone of any extraction except Irish or Italian. It’s a hyperstylized dream. And as phony as a bowl full of Lucky Charms.

Like “The Brotherhood,” it’s a largely humorless affair, and that’s deadly. Take it from me: An Irish-Catholic without a sense of humor is a bore — and probably an angry bore at that. For proof of this ethnic axiom, check out “The O’Reilly Factor” (8 p.m., Fox News).

“The Black Donnellys” is not without its merits. Given all of its blarney, the performances are believable. The drama unfolds like a tightly directed film, and the flashback technique is both clever and unobtrusive. But at the end of the day, it’s a story about doomed, dreary characters who kill people, cut up their bodies and cram them into oil drums. It may make some viewers pine for the badly acted, sun-drenched sadism of “CSI: Miami.”

¢ A daytime talk-show host establishes a school for girls in South Africa on “Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy” (9 p.m., ABC).

The big question: Will she try to sell her students on “The Secret”? Oprah’s daytime chat fest has been a showcase for a $30 DVD movie of “The Secret,” shot through with New Age promises of riches, abundance and life-changing miracles.

Can Winfrey call herself an advocate for education and self-help and then tempt gullible viewers with this spiritual Thighmaster? Perhaps it’s time for “Oprah” fans to empower their inner “off” button and do something productive with their afternoons.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Children between 7 and 12 document their activities on “My Life as a Child” (6 p.m., TLC).

¢ Michael, Lincoln and Sara find what they need on “Prison Break” (7 p.m., Fox.

¢ A chain snatcher thwarted on “Everybody Hates Chris” (7 p.m., CW).

¢ A stepmother suspects that a child’s invisible friend is really a ghost in the 2006 made-for-TV shocker “Imaginary Playmate” (7 p.m., Lifetime Movie Network).

¢ Marshall’s beloved car expires on “How I Met Your Mother” (7 p.m., CBS)

¢ Howie Mandel hosts “Deal or No Deal” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ Opposites clash on “Wife Swap” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Nicole feels torn on “The Class” (7:30 p.m., CBS).

¢ Sparks fly at a reunion on “All of Us” (7:30 p.m., CW).

¢ Claire’s life changes on “Heroes” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ A familiar, if bearded, face returns on “24” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Female prisoners await their fate on “Women on Death Row 2” (8 p.m., WE).

¢ An intrepid chef scours the world’s dishes on “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” (8 p.m., Travel). You want flies with that?

¢ Jake Gyllenhaal and Brand New appear on “Late Show with David Letterman” (10:35 p.m., CBS).

¢ Jay Leno hosts Courtney Cox, Richard Roeper and Gym Class Heroes on “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC).