A tale of gorgeous girl meets gorgeous boy set against a backdrop of a relentlessly humorless fashion industry, “The Beautiful Life” (8 p.m., CW) teeters on the brink of delicious ridiculousness, only to settle for too many off-the-rack cliches.

Filled with overwrought runway drama, parties gone bad and roommate meltdowns, “Beautiful” borrows furiously from every backstage drama ever written. Newcomer Raina Marinelli (Sara Paxton) finds herself the “it” girl of the nanosecond when she steps into the dress of tantrum-prone supermodel Sonja Stone (Mischa Barton) and wows the fashion world.

Mere moments later, we meet Chris Andrews (Ben Hollingsworth), a handsome Iowa boy who catches the eye of a talent agent while eating a tourist lunch with his farmer family. Why do we think he’s not going to make it home to help out with the sorghum harvest?

An unsmiling Elle Macpherson plays Claudia Foster, a modeling agency head so cynical, severe and hard-nosed that she signs the unknown and unphotographed Chris on the spot.

I’d be hard-pressed to select the most preposterous moment in the pilot. The fistfight that breaks out when Chris discovers that one mentor’s intentions are not entirely professional? Or when Raina talks the neophyte through his first photo shoot, becoming a “hunk whisperer” in the process? Maybe it’s when Raina learns a vital secret and gains the upper hand over a fading star? Or when we discover that Raina — a girl with a checkered past and secrets of her own, who is reigning queen of the fashion firmament — is only 16 years old?

Not quite bad enough to be dreadfully entertaining, “Beautiful Life” at least hearkens back to train wrecks of old, “Showgirls” and “Paper Dolls,” a “Dynasty”-era fashion-industry trash-cult favorite loosely based on the Brooke Shields story. Of course, the audience for “Beautiful Life” was barely born when “Showgirls” flamed out to a chorus of giggles. It’s comforting, however, to know that a younger generation has an atrocity like this to call its own.

For the record, Ashton Kutcher is the executive producer of “Beautiful Life,” and his name is dropped (as in “Ashton’s in the audience”) in a very early runway scene. Between his Twitter missives and product endorsements, Ashton Kutcher has been very good at promoting Ashton Kutcher. But sooner or later, you’ve got to create something people want to watch.

• “Full Color Football” (7 p.m., Showtime) offers a five-part look at the history of the upstart American Football League, an organization that went from doormat to Super Bowl winner in a mere 10 years. Look for installments every Wednesday through Oct. 7.

Tonight’s other highlights

• A winner emerges on “America’s Got Talent” (7 p.m., NBC).

• Auditions continue on “So You Think You Can Dance” (7 p.m., Fox).

• “Live from Lincoln Center” (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents the New York Philharmonic Opening Night Gala Concert.

• Victor Garber and Josh Groban guest star on “Glee” (8 p.m., Fox).

• A kidnapping spree claims a team member on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Carter falls under suspicion in the season finale of “Dark Blue” (9 p.m., TNT). That was quick.

Cult choice

A producer (Tim Robbins) makes a killing in all the wrong ways in director Robert Altman’s 1992 Hollywood satire “The Player” (7 p.m., IFC).