Is reality TV the product of an intelligent design or a reflection of a Darwinian struggle for ratings? In either case, we’ve seen the evolution – or the devolution, if you will – of shows from “Survivor” to “Kid Nation” and now “Orangutan Island” (8 p.m., Animal Planet).

Much like “Meerkat Manor,” that other critter-character-driven drama, “Orangutan” follows nonhumans with funny names and definite and amusing personality quirks. But while “Meerkat” follows desert creatures in their own environment, “Island” reflects a radical departure in the primate’s life arising out of deforestation and loss of habitat.

Primate expert Lone Droscher-Nielsen founded the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation to study and rescue the primates displaced by forest clear-cutting. In a sad scene, one of her baby orangutans desperately clutches the logs from the forest that used to be her home.

In the wild, adult orangutans lead a solitary and nomadic life. With their forests disappearing, Lone hopes that “Orangutan Island” offers a welcoming oasis and experiment in survival. She’s betting that the orphaned orangutans that she has raised from infancy will form a “society” on their island refuge.

Some of the young ones don’t seem in any hurry to leave. An affectionate orangutan named Cha Cha hugs Lone and every human in sight. She clearly misses her mother, a yearning particularly strong in orangutans. Close physical contact between young orangutans and their mothers can last up to nine years.

While “Meerkat Manor” wrapped up its second season with the tragic loss of two main characters, “Orangutan Island” kicks off with a far more profound sadness. They may be funny creatures with silly names, but the islanders are essentially orphans and refugees from an interspecies battle they little understand.

¢ The new cartoon “Chowder” (6:30 p.m., Cartoon Network) places the action in the kitchen. The title character is a young and not entirely competent boy serving as apprentice to a master chef named Mung Daal in a strange and magical kingdom.

The mystical atmosphere, vaguely Indian references and color palate of “Chowder” seem to hearken back to the sugar-soaked psychedelic aesthetic of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” movie. “Chowder” seems set in Pepperland by way of “Sesame Street.” It includes those quick-cut flashy collages that “advertised” numbers and letters during that educational series’ early, trippy heyday.

Like many a Saturday-morning cartoon character, Chowder has talents for both chaos and creativity. This suits both his kitchen and its magical ingredients, which includes a “no” fruit that morphs into any concoction, sing beans that can really keep a tune and other stuff that go into the making of a thousand-pound cake baked for a man who lives on the head of a giant. Most scenes in “Chowder” are loud and frantic. But no one scene lasts very long.

¢ “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) returns to its old time, swapping its place in the schedule with “Men in Trees” (7 p.m.). On tonight’s “20/20,” Barbara Walters interviews Terri Irwin, the widow of the celebrated “Crocodile Hunter” series.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Ed McMahon (“The Tonight Show”) needs help with his terrier on “The Dog Whisperer” (7 p.m., National Geographic).

¢ Originally broadcast in 2004, “The Office Special” (7 p.m., BBC America), starring Ricky Gervais, wraps up the loose ends of the British series that inspired the NBC series “The Office.”

¢ Rocket Dog tries to take charge on “Meerkat Manor” (7:30 p.m., Animal Planet).

¢ An old undead pal of Josef drops by on “Moonlight” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Taylor’s return is no panacea for the Panthers on “Friday Night Lights” (8 p.m., NBC).