With a title that should resonate with every viewer, “The Principal’s Office” (8 p.m., Tru TV) documents the daily struggles of high school principals from very different districts. A principal from Arkansas plays up his country roots and wields a paddle to administer corporal punishment. Other administrators appear to negotiate and tailor their discipline to the student’s record and home situation.

The “stars” of these scenarios are the teenagers, who appear oblivious to the camera and rather clueless about just about everything. Apparently, sneaking cigarettes on school grounds is an infraction common to schools east and west, poor and rich. From divas and show-offs to dumb kids who sneak out of class to eat a sandwich, everybody seems to think they can talk themselves out of any situation, and mostly, they fail.

¢ Unruly kids seem to need a British “Supernanny” to keep them in line. Failing restaurants enlist the foul-mouthed Gordon Ramsay to browbeat them into profitability. Now “Taba-tha’s Salon Makeover” (9 p.m., Bravo) enters the fray.

No-nonsense Tabatha Coffey (“Shear Genius”) arrives with a severe hairdo, frightening eyebrows and an icy attitude to match.

Her mission is to save failing and mismanaged hair salons from doom. But why do I get the feeling that the cure may be more painful than the disease?

¢ Very much like “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” “The Cho Show” (10 p.m., VH1) follows a foul-mouthed shock comic as she hangs out with her entourage and shares private and professional secrets with her parents.

Cho’s Korean-born parents try to be good sports and go along with her crude antics, but they just can’t help themselves. During a shopping trip with Cho’s diminutive sidekick, Selene Luna, Margaret’s parents buy her baby clothes, “just in case” she ever decides to make them grandparents.

Moments like these explain a lot. In addition to being ridiculously unoriginal, “The Cho Show” is frequently unfunny and in fact, a little sad.

¢ A&E, home to “Parking Wars,” now presents “Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force” (9 p.m., A&E), a 13-part reality series following a gadget-equipped New Jersey task force dedicated to fighting carjacking and organized auto theft.

Tonight’s other highlights

Note: Local listings may vary because of preseason NFL coverage.

¢ Murdered showgirls pile up on “CSI” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Summer Olympics (7 p.m., NBC) events include track and field, diving and (more) beach volleyball.

¢ The Bears host the 49ers in preseason NFL action (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A boy confronts his abusive father on “Flashpoint” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ A panel of style experts looks at celebrities and their fashions and finds them wanting on “Glam God with Vivica A. Fox” (9 p.m., VH1).

¢ Michael meets with pirates on “Burn Notice” (9 p.m., USA).

Cult choice

When I was little, the movie that frightened me the most was the 1959 drama “On The Beach” (9 p.m., TCM), about a U.S. submarine crew stationed in Australia awaiting the arrival of radioactive winds after a nuclear war has destroyed human life on every other continent. A stellar cast includes Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins.