Life imitates art, or something, when Bristol Palin guest stars on “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” (7 p.m., ABC Family). Playing herself, Palin makes friends with Amy at a music camp for teen mothers.

Cable shows can’t get enough of the Palin family saga. On last week’s “My Life on the D-List,” Kathy Griffin traveled to Wasilla, Alaska, to hang out with Levi Johnston, Bristol’s estranged ex and the father of her child. And Bristol’s mother, Sarah, the former governor of Alaska, will get her own show on TLC later this year.

• “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” (9 p.m., Travel) enters its sixth season as Bourdain samples the cuisine and examines the lifestyle of the Caribbean on a self-described island hop. “No Reservations” is not the only series on television to talk about culture and feature a host unafraid to contrast and compare foreign ways of life. But you would be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining one.

• The greater-Buffalo area of western New York state is known for many things, among them months of crushing snowstorms, passionate Bills and Sabres fans, and a unique recipe for chicken wings. But who knew that it was a hotbed of psychic activity?

“No One Dies in Lily Dale” (8 p.m., HBO) explores the tiny Victorian village of Lily Dale, located just south of Buffalo. It claims the highest concentration of mediums in the world.

“No One” interviews psychic practitioners and tourists, including a Chicago policeman who lost his son to gang violence and a distraught daughter who wants to ask her recently deceased mother just why she was cut out of her will.

• America’s top machine shops compete for recognition and a $100,000 prize on the new series “Ultimate Car Build-Off” (8 p.m., Discovery). Every week rival garages from one city will compete to create some eccentric customizations, including turning a bland minivan into a performance roadster or devising a submersible car.

On a similar note, “Heartland Thunder” (9 p.m., Discovery) celebrates the Midwest’s passion for dirt-track racing. First up: a visit to a Kansas City, Kan., track on a very loud Friday night.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Lightman plays a dangerous game with a psychology student on “Lie to Me” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Two hours of “Last Comic Standing” (8 p.m., NBC).

• Jack and Dad discover a pattern to a rash of classic-car robberies on “Good Guys” (8 p.m., Fox).

• Items linked to talking pictures and the transatlantic cable fall under scrutiny on “History Detectives” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).

• An unpopular receptionist is terminated on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).