Viewers of “The Glass House” (9 p.m., ABC) can judge for themselves just how similar it is to CBS’ long-running summer time-waster “Big Brother.”

Creative “borrowing” has been part of television from the beginning. “Imitation is the sincerest form of television,” quipped radio wit Fred Allen at least 60 years ago. Was it just a coincidence that all of those “Jersey” shows erupted after the success of “Jersey Shore”? Was the eruption of “Cajun” programming entirely spontaneous? Remember all of those game shows that showed up after “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” hit it big? OK, maybe you don’t.

The folks at CBS are so convinced that their idea was “stolen” that they have sued ABC. (The suit has not been ruled on as of this writing.) I’m not a lawyer, but I would suspect that the legal wrangling will be more interesting than either program.

• The new series “Hollywood Heights” (8 p.m., Nickelodeon) seems familiar in every way, from its generic title to its tales of teen talents soaring to superstardom. What sets the show apart is its open-ended duration. “Heights” will rattle on for 80 episodes, in the style of daytime soaps or Mexican telenovelas, following 18-year-old Loren Tate (Brittany Underwood, “One Life to Live”) as she goes from gushing music fan to famous performer.

”Heights” will air every weeknight at this time. This isn’t the only ongoing prime-time soap on Nickelodeon. It also airs “House of Anubis,” an American-Belgian co-production set at an enchanted prep school.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Atlanta becomes the setting for a new season of “Love & Hip Hop” (7 p.m., VH1).

• Don witnesses a pier demolition on “Off Limits” (7 p.m., Travel).

• Things go smoothly until they don’t on “Bunheads” (8 p.m., ABC Family).

• Relationship experts can’t follow their own pearls of wisdom on the new reality series “Miss Advised” (9 p.m., Bravo).

Cult choice

Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges star in the 1972 boxing drama “Fat City” (7 p.m., TCM), directed by John Huston.