Since there is no official patent on the emotional ambush, ABC brazenly borrows from the WE Network series “The Locator” to present “Find My Family” (8:30 p.m., ABC).

Hosts Tim Green and Lisa Joyner meet with distraught parents who had given up children for adoption decades ago as well as children searching for their birth parents, or siblings separated by adoption or divorce. Old photos and tearful interviews give way to a weepy reunion in a stark landscape, under a leafless “family tree.” The phrase “emotional journey” gets a real workout here.

To call this heavy-handed and manipulative is to miss the point. ABC will introduce this five-hanky weep-fest right after the final round of competition on “Dancing With the Stars” (7 p.m., ABC).

If ABC can borrow so shamelessly from the cable competition, it seems only natural that the History Channel would offer a “Daily Show” contributor a two-hour special. “Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black” (7 p.m., History) features the host’s jaundiced opinions on the stresses and expenses of an exhausting celebratory marathon that stretches from mid-November until Jan. 2.

Along the way, Black explores the origins of holiday traditions, from eggnog toasts to the story of the real St. Nicholas. He also explains just why the Detroit Lions always get to play on Thanksgiving. Black invites fellow comedians, from Richard Belzer to Joy Behar, to share their tales of holiday anxiety.

• The parents of multiples reflect on their life together and apart on the series finale of “Jon & Kate Plus 8” (8 p.m., TLC). Is there anything left to say?

Tonight’s other highlights

• An uninvited guest shakes up the Petrellis’ Thanksgiving dinner on “Heroes” (7 p.m., NBC).

• A physicist’s ailment defies diagnosis on “House” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Six photographers compete to land a gallery and book deal on the three-part reality series “Picture This” (7 p.m., Ovation).

• The Houston Texans host the Tennessee Titans on “Monday Night Football” (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Once upon a time, the Titans were the Houston Oilers.

• Holiday flights can be a killer on “Trauma” (8 p.m., NBC).

• Lightman lands in a war zone on “Lie to Me” (8 p.m., Fox).

• “American Experience” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) repeats the 2003 documentary “Seabiscuit” about a champion racehorse that inspired Depression-era America.

• “The Lost JFK Tapes: The Assassination” (8 p.m., National Geographic) looks at the Dallas tragedy from new angles.

• “Bus 174” (8 p.m., Documentary) recalls a 2000 hostage crisis in Rio de Janeiro when a single gunmen took passengers at gunpoint and threatened to kill them all, a harrowing ordeal that played out on national television.

• Jellyfish may have been a murder weapon on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

• A murder victim has one too many mourners on “Castle” (9 p.m., ABC).

Cult choice

• Simon Baker (“The Mentalist”) and Sanaa Lathan star in the 2006 romantic comedy “Something New” (7 p.m., Oxygen).

Series notes

Lily’s father (Chris Elliott) visits on “How I Met Your Mother” (7 p.m., CBS) … Nathan faces serious charges on “One Tree Hill” (7 p.m., CW) … Billie fears a rival critic on “Accidentally on Purpose” (7:30 p.m., CBS)