If somebody were to write a true-life rock ‘n’ roll fairy tale, Ahmet Ertegun would surely be its prince. Ertegun, profiled on “American Masters: Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings), was a foreign diplomat’s son raised in splendor who embraced an outcast art form and spun it into gold.

As the child of a Turkish diplomat, Ertegun grew up in embassies and was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he and his brother fell in love with American jazz. Ertegun, seen here in numerous interviews, explains how as a seventh-grader he ran off to a Harlem nightclub and ended up at a party with Sidney Bechet. His parents were mortified.

Ertegun explains how as a young man he convinced his dentist to lend him money to start Atlantic Records so he and his colleague Herb Abramson could distribute the kind of black music that major record labels had ignored.

In the coming decade, the “Atlantic Sound” would define American rhythm and blues, as the record company released hits by Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner and the Drifters. Some, including Abramson, thought Ertegun was betraying his R&B roots by producing hit records by white teenage heartthrob Bobby Darin and adding strings to the arrangements of songs by Ben E. King and the Drifters.

Ertegun’s place in music history has been well-documented in recent Hollywood fare. An actor playing the bespectacled producer has shown up in the Ray Charles biography “Ray” (Curtis Armstong) and “Beyond the Sea” (Tayfun Bademsoy), Kevin Spacey’s homage to Darin.

Ertegun and Atlantic continued to thrive even as R&B’s popularity faded. British rockers who educated themselves in American blues flocked to Ertegun’s company, and Atlantic would become the home to Cream, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and the Rolling Stones. And it hardly stops there. Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, John Coltrane and many more were released by Atlantic and Atlantic affiliates, including Stax.

This informative and affectionate film was in production when Ertegun died Dec. 14, 2006, at age 83. He never recovered from injuries suffered after a backstage fall at a private Rolling Stones concert in October 2006. All fairy tales have to end, and Ertegun’s exit could not have been better scripted.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ The mayor wonders whether to stand and fight or submit on “Jericho” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ A grisly find with an out-of-this-world explanation on “Bones” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ The two-part documentary “Brando” (7 p.m., TCM) concludes.

¢ A grim discovery in Idaho on “Criminal Minds” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ The morgue receives the recently deceased body of a woman presumed dead six months earlier on “Crossing Jordan” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ “American Idol” (8 p.m., Fox) ends for two contestants.

¢ On two episodes of “Lost” (ABC), news for Sun (8 p.m.), Locke conspires with Sawyer (9 p.m.).

¢ Stella discovers a personal connection to a murder case on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Neve Campbell joins the cast for three episodes as Alison’s new friend Debra on “Medium” (9 p.m., NBC).