As if inspired by the old Groucho Marx song “Hello, I Must Be Going,” ABC has announced that “The Deep End” (7 p.m., ABC) will air its series’ finale next week. That was quick.

Perhaps they thought that this dumb, uninspired dish of warmed-over “L.A. Law” would appeal to fans of “Grey’s Anatomy.” If so, they should have aired “Deep” after “Grey’s” and not before.

“The Deep End” isn’t the only Thursday-night show that deserves a speedy exit. Like most critics, I found “Past Life” (8 p.m., Fox) to be humorless, contrived, far-fetched and dull. And, more importantly, audiences did too. Blessed with an “American Idol” lead-in for its debut, “Past” managed to lose 70 percent of its audience by the time it came to its dreary conclusion. Last Thursday on Fox, a new episode of “Past” was watched by far fewer people than a repeat helping of “Bones.” It’s difficult to buy into a reincarnation detective drama that comes dead on arrival.

• The documentary “Reporter” (8:30 p.m., HBO) follows multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist Nicholas Kristof on a trip to the Congo to bring back first-hand accounts of war crimes, atrocities and human suffering.

“Reporter” does a neat job of confronting viewers’ reservations about watching a film about such a grim subject. Kristof is the first to admit that he has become a bit of a nag, writing dozens of op-ed columns in The New York Times about Darfur, The Congo and other forgotten locales. But if he doesn’t use his position to make readers aware, who will?

“Reporter” also examines the dwindling number of papers and news outlets devoted to stories this big and this difficult. Participants wonder and worry about online readers’ desire or ability to find stories of importance in the me-centric cyber culture of trivia, gossip, social networking and gnat-like attention spans.

In a provocative aside, Kristof discusses studies he’s made into the psychology of human compassion. Experiments show how most people respond charitably to the image of one starving child. But show the same test subjects an image of two unfortunate children and their interest and empathy plummet. If that’s true, mulls Kristof, just how do you convince enough people to care when hundreds of thousands, even millions of lives are at stake?

Tonight’s other highlights

• Women’s curling (4 p.m., CNBC) glides into view.

• A tale of neighbor spying on neighbor in communist East Germany, the 2006 drama “The Lives of Others” (6:40 p.m., Sundance) took home an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

• Figure skating and snowboarding loom large in coverage of the Winter Olympics (7 p.m., NBC).

• Langston’s human-trafficking case returns him to Las Vegas on “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Drama in the fashion world on “Project Runway” (9 p.m., Lifetime).