They’re back! Fewer than two months after the nonsurprise of their break-up, the stars of “Jon & Kate Plus 8” (8 p.m., TLC) return.

The awkward split provided fodder for a tsunami of tabloid frenzy, a media phenomenon interrupted only briefly for the maudlin over-coverage of Michael Jackson’s death.

The pre-hiatus episode of “Jon & Kate” was watched by roughly 10 million viewers, a gargantuan audience for a basic cable show that began its life on the Discovery Health Channel. Heck, it’s a huge audience for any show featuring a plug for crooked houses and the sight of two uninteresting people offering grim monologues while sitting next to a giant pillow.

And tonight’s awkward “reunion” may generate another sizable demographic of emotional rubberneckers.

But you have to wonder about the long-term interest in the series. “Jon & Kate” used to offer a dependable fix for cuteness junkies, an audience for whom the sight of six toddlers attacking a birthday cake provided a vicarious sugar rush.

Will the same folks who loved the show when it was a convention of Hummel figurines or a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life stick around now that we’ve moved from lollipops and love to lawyers and loathing?

• The word “heartbreaking” doesn’t do justice to the documentary “Boy Interrupted” (8 p.m., HBO). After their 15-year-old son Evan committed suicide in 2005, married filmmakers Dana and Hart Perry began to look for solace and for answers. “Boy” presents a collection of interviews and intimate home videos of Evan, who began to show signs of mental illness at a very early age.

The film demonstrates how even the most innocuous home movie can provide some insight in a tragic context, and it makes you wonder how the nature of biography has changed in a world where virtually every moment can be documented. But it also challenges the audience to accompany the grieving parents on a very private voyage, an invitation many viewers may simply decline.

Tonight’s other highlights

• “Sugarland: Live on the Inside” (7 p.m., ABC) presents a concert from Lexington, Ky.

• The legacy of an Airstream caravan on “History Detectives” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).

• A father’s testimony comes under scrutiny on “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT).

Cult choice

A fallen missionary (Hilary Swank) helps a backwoods town withstand 10 biblical plagues in the 2007 shocker “The Reaping” (7:15 p.m., Cinemax). While Swank escaped critical wrath, the film received gruesome reviews.

Series notes

Familiarity inspires anecdotes on “How I Met Your Mother” (7 p.m., CBS) … Families beat the desert heat on “Great American Road Trip” (7 p.m., NBC) … A patient puts her faith in a fortune-telling cat on “House” (7 p.m., Fox) … Julian asks Brooke to make a major move on “One Tree Hill” (7 p.m., CW) … Too many couples on “Rules of Engagement” (7:30 p.m., CBS) … A delicate eviction on “Two and a Half Men” (8 p.m., CBS) … A killer follows a political agenda on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (8 p.m., NBC) … Lightman uncovers a construction cover-up on “Lie to Me” (8 p.m., Fox) … Out of sight and out of their minds on two hours of “Dating in the Dark” (8 p.m., ABC) … Sixteen sleazy candles on “Gossip Girl” (9 p.m., CW) … Sheldon goes behind the wheel on “The Big Bang Theory” (8:30 p.m., CBS) … Pirates strike on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).