People can be beastly. Yet nothing brings out our shared humanity like an animal. Animals even bring the most unlikely movie stars together. Who can forget Jason Alexander and Faye Dunaway appearing together in the 1996 orangutan comedy “Dunston Checks In”? Iconic stars including Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan have shared movies and top billing with creatures great and small.

It’s no wonder that shows like “Meerkat Manor” (7 p.m., Animal Planet) and “Dog Whisperer” (7 p.m., National Geographic) have become Friday-night appointment viewing for families. The networks may have abandoned kid-friendly TGIF programming, but cable has picked up the slack with the help of some critters, wild and domesticated.

The trend continues with “Ms. Adventure” (8 p.m., Animal Planet). Host Rachel Reenstra visits zoologists and experts around the world to show how human nature and critter behavior share similar traits.

She gets close to a rather tame mother black bear and her cubs to demonstrate how bears discipline their children, protect them and watch over them rather patiently as they socialize on the bear “playground.” Reenstra also shows us the family dynamics of penguins, bees and koala bears, and discusses their activities with human parents and children during gag-driven “man-in-the-street” interviews.

A comedian by trade, Reenstra keeps the wisecracks flowing. The editing style and visual gags are much closer to “America’s Funniest Home Movies” than traditional nature-documentary fare. Reenstra often tries a tad too hard to be cute and funny. Or to be the next Kelly Ripa. But moms and kids should like her. And dads will find her easy on the eyes. There’s something here for the whole menagerie.

¢ The popular cable comedy “Psych” (9 p.m., USA) enters its second season. James Roday stars as a police consultant so quick and perceptive that people think he’s psychic. Can you blame him for letting them? Dule Hill co-stars as his buttoned-down sidekick.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ With increased security in mind, Ed challenges the staff to a friendly competition on “Las Vegas” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Kevin falls for a soap star on “Brothers & Sisters” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ Things seem fishy when Adrian makes a new friend easily on the season opener of “Monk” (8 p.m., USA).

¢ A teacher and her teen lover go on a crime spree on “Numb3rs” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ An apparent hate crime opens a window to a larger issue on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC).