The notion that “science can go too far” has been around as long as there have been scientists. And it has informed novels and movies from “Frankenstein” to “The Fly.” Now the Science Channel explores some questionable experiments with the new series “Dark Matters: Twisted but True” (9 p.m.), hosted by “Fringe” star John Noble.

Using computer graphics, “Dark” revisits some of the more gruesome and questionable chapters in scientific history, including interspecies crossbreeding, official zombie hunts and that old horror movie chestnut, the head transplant.

The first hour revisits the early years of the Soviet Union, when scientist Dr. Ilya Ivanov hoped to create a race of super-soldiers by breeding ape-human mutants. “Dark Matters” also features a self-described UFO expert who contends that the military still has not come clean about its experiments involving invisibility. Talk about a lack of transparency!

Just to prove that not all of these adventures in weird science come from the fringe, “Dark Matters” looks into some of the creepier laboratory adventures of America’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison.

Look for stories straight out of pulp fiction in later installments, including the man who stole Einstein’s brain, Nazi experiments in anti-gravity, the psychic arms race during the Cold War and efforts to raise the dead. And you thought the invention of Viagra was diabolical!

• It just doesn’t seem like an NFL preseason without a “Hard Knocks” team to follow. And this season, we almost didn’t have a preseason. HBO attempts to compensate with “Hard Knocks: A Decade of NFL Training Camps” (9 p.m.). The 90-minute retrospective glances back at the 2001 Baltimore Ravens training camp, where the annual series began, and revisits memorable moments from past preseasons with Dallas (twice), Kansas City, Cincinnati and last year’s New York Jets.

Look for plenty of never-before-seen outtakes and “where are they now?” visits with past “stars” of the “Hard Knocks” series. Liev Schreiber narrates.

Tonight’s other highlights

• U.S. Open tennis (6 p.m., ESPN 2).

• The twins frantically scramble from New Jersey to Vermont and Texas in search of “Buried Treasure” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Five acts will join the top 10 on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC).

• During a squabble over a bet, Wilson begins to suspect that House is using again on “House” (8 p.m., Fox).

• An art collector loses consciousness on the season finale of “Royal Pains” (8 p.m., USA).

• Patty and Ellen seek to depose Erickson (John Goodman) on “Damages” (9 p.m., Audience Network, Direct TV).

• Scheduled on “Primetime” (9 p.m., ABC): raising a transgender child.

• A playoff jinx requires special attention on “Necessary Roughness” (9 p.m., USA).

• A huge fire coincides with Colleen’s big day on the second-to-last episode of “Rescue Me” (9 p.m., FX).

• Hector’s marriage founders on “The Hour” (10 p.m., BBC America).