“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” (9 p.m., Bravo) returns for a second season of contrived red-velvet backstabbing in an amplified echo chamber of grammar-school gossip and banal conversation.

How “Real” is a show where sworn enemies just happen to encounter each other at a party where they all know cameras will be waiting? About as real as Kim’s hair, which she freely admits is a wig. Kim sports some other obvious attributes that seem a tad enhanced, but that’s another story. In this episode, when she’s not being accused of lying behind everybody’s back, the pneumatic Kim schemes to launch a wig line of her own.

So-called housewives Kim and Sheree seem happily unmoored from wife status as this season commences. And the housewives who remain married don’t seem too keen on homemaking. Every house featured on “Atlanta” looks like a model home for a development under construction. Not one room seems lived in or betrays a scintilla of personality. No matter they have so many decorators scurrying around. Even their kids and husbands resemble props.

At least Sheree has an excuse. In the aftermath of an ugly divorce and chronic lack of child support, she’s had to downsize from mansion to mere McMansion. Ever ready to share her brittle wisdom, Sheree teaches us that the best way to face foreclosure is to throw an elaborate party, a celebration of Sheree herself, complete with a Cleopatra theme.

This season introduces Kandi, a single mother and Grammy Award winner, responsible for writing many hits, including “No Scrubs” by TLC. Not to get technical here, but she’s actually had something we might call “a job.” No wonder the other “Housewives” look down on her.

• The 15th annual “X Games” (8 p.m., ESPN) kick off. Look for three days of coverage on various ESPN networks.

• “Great Performances” (7 p.m., PBS, not in all markets, check local listings) presents “Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration from Madison Square Garden.” Taped on May 3, the concert features performances by Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Joan Baez and Dave Matthews among others.

• TCM wraps up its monthlong Thursday-night celebration of 1939, the year many consider the greatest in Hollywood history. Tonight’s hits include “Gone with the Wind” (7 p.m.); “Wuthering Heights” (1 a.m.); and “Love Affair” (4:15 a.m.), the classic tearjerker that inspired both “An Affair to Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle.”

Tonight’s other highlights

• On two episodes of “30 Rock” (NBC), Jack’s rival, played by Will Arnett, returns (7 p.m.), Jack’s maudlin milestone (8:30 p.m.).

• Jim can’t understand the new boss’s jargon on “The Office” (8 p.m., NBC).

• A dull neighborhood becomes a hostage scene on “CSI” (8 p.m., CBS).

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

• Michael and Fiona find it hard to agree on “Burn Notice” (8 p.m., USA).

• Murder in the National Guard on “The Mentalist” (9 p.m., CBS).

• “His and hers” slaying shocks the city on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC).

• Wyatt gets Addison’s attention on “Private Practice” (9 p.m., ABC).

• An artist requires constant attention on “Royal Pains” (9 p.m., USA).