“Chasing Mummies” (9 p.m., History) may not uncover the next King Tut, but it may have discovered the next big reality-TV personality. From Jon and Kate to Snooki and the Situation, documentary-style shows represent a cheap fishing expedition for outsized personalities and exhibitionists, “real” people fake enough to compete with high-priced unionized actors for our attention.

Shot outside of Cairo, “Mummies” does indulge us with sporadic dips into archaeology, Egyptology and all those other dusty ologies, but it devotes much of its time to the manufacturing of fake tension and convoluted drama. Within minutes of meeting series “star” Dr. Zahi Hawass, we’re told that a cameraman and shapely Canadian intern have been forgotten in a pyramid and face asphyxiation — or worse! The scenario could not have seemed more contrived had the intern been tied to a railroad track.

Hawass is a very big deal in his field and a superstar in his country. And he didn’t get there by being Dr. Nice Guy. He’s a tyrant with a short fuse, and he detonates in nearly every other scene, firing people with the mad abandon of Suzanne Pleshette’s Leona Helmsley in the 1990 TV movie “The Queen of Mean.”

When not exploding, Hawass betrays an avuncular nature, nurturing young female interns in the ways of Egyptology. Often in tight spaces. But at his most entertaining, he’s a shouter, a screamer, a terminator, if you will. If you can imagine an older, slightly sun-baked Omar Sharif type portraying the Soup Nazi from “Seinfeld,” you’ve come close to picturing our Mummy Chaser.

While watching Hawass and his crew pry open a dusty sarcophagus, I couldn’t help thinking of something truly ancient — Geraldo Rivera’s 1986 syndicated TV special about the opening of Al Capone’s vault. “Chasing Mummies” has traveled a long way to unearth one of the oldest reality-TV cliches of them all.

• Forget bootlegged DVDs and designer handbags. “Crime Inc.: Counterfeit Goods” (8 p.m., CNBC) reveals cheap knockoffs — like untested electronic devices and counterfeit prescription drugs — that can literally kill you. Like just about everything else we can buy, most of these shoddy products are made in China.

Tonight’s other highlights

• The top seven perform on a two-hour “So You Think You Can Dance” (7 p.m., Fox).

• The Peanuts gang take the diamond in the 2003 animated special “Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown” (7 p.m., ABC).

• Gloria doesn’t appreciate Jay’s favorite comic (David Brenner as himself) on “Modern Family” (8 p.m., ABC).

• Seth Myers hosts the 18th annual ESPY Awards (8 p.m., ESPN).

• Things go bump in the night on “The Fabulous Beekman Boys” (8 p.m., Planet Green).

• “Ghost Hunters International” (8 p.m., SyFy) visits Nottingham, England.

• “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (8 p.m., HBO) looks at the surge in women’s bodybuilding.

• “Women of the Forbes Celebrity 100” (9 p.m., E!) profiles powerful women in the entertainment business.

• “Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman” (9 p.m., Science) ponders the existence of life elsewhere.