Filmmaker Melanie Perkins was 9 years old in the summer of 1976, when her friend and would-be sweetheart Andy Puglisi disappeared while on his way home from a public pool in Lawrence, Mass. Twenty-two years later, Perkins returned to her hometown to begin making “Have You Seen Andy?” (6 p.m., Cinemax), a moving film about her friend, a heinous crime and the neighborhood and tight-knit community where she grew up.

Along the way, Perkins got the Lawrence police interested in the very cold case and helped focus attention on some shady characters who had avoided detection back in 1976.

“Andy” looks at an era before Amber Alerts and nationwide attention to the problem of missing and abducted kids. The boy’s single mother was essentially left to her own devices after a five-day search.

It also gives viewers a shocking glimpse into an underworld of predators and pedophiles, some who lived and worked within walking distance of the Lawrence pool and the crowded playgrounds where Andy was last seen.

¢ The series “Critical Situation” (8 p.m., National Geographic) glances back at recent events and harrowing situations where split-second decision-making carried the day.

Tonight’s “Critical” recalls a shoot-out on Feb. 28, 1997, in a Hollywood, Calif., bank. Although the police anticipated a bank robbery, the gang of burglars was equipped with body armor and military style AK-47 machine guns.

The police were completely outgunned during the incident. More than 1,100 rounds of ammunition were fired, striking nine officers in street combat captured by news cameras.

Future episodes of “Critical” will look at the crisis on Apollo 13 and the anatomy of a Sydney-to-Hobart yacht-race disaster.

Today’s other highlights

¢ A reporter (Kirk Douglas) turns a minor accident into a killer story in director Billy Wilder’s dark 1951 satire “Ace in the Hole” (3:15 p.m., TCM).

¢ Budding filmmakers compete on “On the Lot” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A couple approach their big day on “I Propose” (7 p.m., Style), the beginning of 21 days of wedding-themed programming.

¢ The one with the cotillion on “Gilmore Girls” (7 p.m., CW).

¢ Cleveland hosts San Antonio in Game 3 of the NBA playoffs (7:30 p.m., ABC).

¢ Molly and Jonas uncover some domestic troubles on “The Unit” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ A coma patient comes to after a decade on “House” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Plane crash survivors confront an evil stranger in the 2007 drama “A Family Lost” (8 p.m., Lifetime).

¢ A tempting but dangerous opportunity on “Deadliest Catch” (8 p.m., Discovery).

¢ “Miami Ink” (9 p.m., TLC), a reality series set in a tattoo parlor, enters its third season.

¢ Women compete in the ring in the eight-episode “Fight Girls” (9:30 p.m., Oxygen).