Reports of Jerry Lewis being fired from his own telethon, then reinstated and all but airbrushed from the proceedings appear to have overshadowed another sad fact. The MDA Telethon (6 p.m., syndicated, check local listings) will last only six hours. It will actually end at the crack of midnight, Labor Day, a time when past telethons were just getting started.

For years, this annual charity event offered insomniac viewers more than 21 hours of entertainment of wildly uneven quality. The forced-march nature of the show, coupled with the mawkish personality of its founder and host, all but guaranteed gaffes and bizarre emotional outbursts. And that was at the core of its curious appeal.

With or without Jerry Lewis, the 2011 MDA Telethon puts its emphasis on the slick and competent over the unpredictable, cheesy and chaotic. And that’s just too darn bad. Scheduled talent includes Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum and Martina McBride. Nancy O’Dell, Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl and Alison Sweeney will be your hosts. Where have you gone, Tony Orlando?

• Much like the Jerry Lewis telethon, our commonly held assumptions about dinosaurs have undergone radical renovations over the years. “Dinosaur Revolution” (9 p.m., concluding next Sunday, Discovery) uses computer graphics to present new discoveries and theories about the long-lost reptiles.

Complete with the dinosaur-on-dinosaur violence you’ve come to expect from specials like these, “Revolution” puts special emphasis on new ideas about dinosaur mating rituals and family dynamics. Apparently, the dads were hands-on, even without hands!

Perhaps the most radical notion presented here is one of perception. For years, dinosaurs were presented as an evolutionary dead end, a doomed species that vanished before humans arrived to dominate the planet. “Revolution” argues that mankind’s time on Earth is but a tiny fraction of the 160 million years of the reptile reign.

Tonight’s other highlights

• A venerable Harrison Ford saddles up for the 2008 sequel “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (7 p.m., NBC).

• New episodes of “Inspector Lewis” arrive on “Masterpiece Mystery!” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings).

• “9/11: Heroes of the 88th Floor” (8 p.m., TLC) recalls two men who helped dozens escape after a jetliner struck the World Trade Center’s north tower. Like so many specials of its kind, “Heroes” is compelling as a thriller and, at the same time, very difficult to watch.

• Sookie puts her faerie skills to work on “True Blood” (8 p.m., HBO).

• “Border Wars” (8 and 9 p.m., National Geographic) enters a new season.

• A half-hour helping of “The Good Wife” (8:30 p.m., CBS) recaps the first two seasons in anticipation of the drama’s move to Sundays.

• Hank asks Walt to look into a hunch on “Breaking Bad” (9 p.m., AMC).

• Ice cream truck-related memories throw Larry off his game on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (9 p.m., HBO).

• Turtle feels financially squeezed on “Entourage” (9:30 p.m., HBO).