Four decades ago this very week, the eyes of the world were turned toward the moon as the crew of Apollo 11 approached their rendezvous with history. To commemorate that event and take some stock of the space-exploration efforts of the past 40 years, Discovery presents “Are We Alone?” (8 p.m., Discovery), a look at the search for intelligent life in the universe.

The venture spends as much time on planet Earth as it does in space. Divided between discussions of discoveries on Venus, Mars and the far-flung moons of Saturn and Jupiter, “Alone” also takes us to some of the most inhospitable spots in the world to show how life survives and thrives under hostile circumstances.

A quick glance at conditions on foreign planets would seem to rule out any chance for life. But “Alone” reminds us that life emerged on Earth billions of years ago, when the planet was just cooling from rampant volcanic activity. It was no day, or eon, at the beach.

Scientists venture to hot springs, caves and peculiar volcanic lakes to show how very different forms of life adapt to toxic conditions. One breed of microbes thrives in an all-arsenic environment. So it’s possible that we may someday encounter life on other worlds that has adapted to gases like methane and evolved in ways we find hard to fathom.

8 Creatures great and small, furtive and ferocious, will do anything to survive and maintain dominance. No, I’m not talking about the repeat season 1 finale of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” (7 p.m., Bravo), but “Yellowstone: Battle For Life” (7 p.m., Animal Planet), a yearlong look at life-and-death struggles in the national park.

• VH1 offers a double helping of the 1992 comedy “Wayne’s World” (7 p.m. and 9 p.m., VH1) a movie-length elaboration on the Mike Myers-Dana Carvey “SNL” comedy sketch set on a fictional public-access TV show.

• wonder how many viewers born in the 17 years since this film premiered know what public access television is, or was? The goofy and anarchic tone, sloppy production values and self-referential content that “Wayne’s World” spoofed has found much more fertile ground on YouTube and similar sites. Think of the YouTube retrospectives and parodies we will look back on in the year 2026.

Tonight’s other highlights

• On two episodes of “30 Rock” (NBC), an all-nighter (7 p.m.), Liz craves motherhood (8:30 p.m.).

• A car dealer’s corpse surprises two bungee-jumping honeymooners on “Bones” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Elizabeth Vargas profiles the author of the Harry Potter novels on “J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life” (7 p.m., ABC).

• On two episodes of “The Office” (NBC), an incentive backfires (7:30 p.m.), new management (8 p.m.).

• The Netherlands and the United States face off in the World Cup Women’s Softball competition (7 p.m., ESPN).

• Two eliminations on “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox).

• Michael makes an unscheduled trip on “Burn Notice” (8 p.m., USA).

• Jane suspects a so-called “psychic of homicide” on “The Mentalist” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Toby encounters a woman similarly gifted, or cursed, on “The Listener” (9 p.m., NBC).

• An epidemic threat forces Hank to quarantine partygoers on “Royal Pains” (9 p.m., USA).