‘Toughest Jobs’ deserves pink slip for poor execution

Television success breeds imitation, glut and overexposure. It’s been that way since the medium was overrun with Westerns back in the “Death Valley Days” of the 1950s. But it’s rare and sad to see creative producers desecrate their own successful brand.

Produced by the folks behind “Ice Road Truckers” and “Deadliest Catch,” the extreme competition series “America’s Toughest Jobs” (8 p.m., NBC) allows 13 men and women to try their uncalloused hands at dangerous and demanding work. In other words, it’s “Survivor” or “The Amazing Race” meets “Deadliest Catch.”

It’s a very dumb idea.

Audiences love “Deadliest Catch” and its many imitators because they depart from the manufactured drama and nonsense of reality television. Those documentary-style programs feature real characters doing real jobs and faced with real consequences.

“America’s Toughest Jobs” is just the opposite. It’s a game. These folks are pretending to work at these jobs for the express purpose of getting on television. The stakes couldn’t be lower.

And, as if to prove that reality TV archetypes infect everything they touch, a contestant named Amy decides to act like a weak and spoiled princess in the middle of the frozen waters of the Bering Sea.

You’ll be rooting for the real fishermen to throw her overboard for chum.

¢ “Secret Access: Air Force One” (7 p.m., History) gives viewers a tour of the flying White House, a modified Boeing 747 that, at 230 feet in length, is actually longer than the White House itself. “Access” looks at the painstaking efforts to protect the plane and its passengers, from treating every flight like a secret military mission to testing and securing the jet’s fuel supply. And just in case of malfunction, there are two Air Force Ones, the president’s plane and an identical twin jet, always there to serve as backup.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Coverage of the Democratic National Convention (5 p.m., CNN; 6 p.m., MSNBC; 7 p.m., PBS; 8:45 p.m., Fox News; 9 p.m., ABC, CBS, NBC) begins.

¢ Michael leads a breakout on a two-hour episode of “Prison Break” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ A car and driver and a marathon runner compete during London’s rush hour on “Top Gear” (7 p.m., BBC America).

¢ Ancient TV theme songs must be mastered on “High School Musical: Get in the Picture” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ The squad unites to find who shot Sanchez’s brother on “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT).

¢ Aspiring business leaders from across the pond compete on “The Apprentice U.K.” (8 p.m., CNBC).

¢ “The Black List: Vol. 1” (8 p.m., HBO) offers profiles of prominent African-Americans.

¢ An anti-immigration stunt has fatal consequences on “Saving Grace” (9 p.m., TNT).

¢ “Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein” (9 p.m., Discovery) looks at the story of Noah’s Ark.

Cult choice

A 24-hour salute to Ingrid Bergman’s movies includes many gems, including “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (3 p.m., TCM), “Casablanca” (5 p.m.), “Notorious” (7 p.m.) and “Spellbound” (9 p.m.).