“Monk” (8 p.m., USA) enters its eighth and final season with a whimsical episode that calls attention to the enduring power of TV comedies and a reminder of why this detective series remains one of the most awarded, popular and beloved series on basic cable.

Elizabeth Perkins guest stars as a former child actress and star of “The Cooper Family,” Adrian’s favorite series, a “Brady Bunch”-like sitcom that offered him the comfort of a vicarious family life.

The episode allows him to channel his obsessive attention to detail onto trivial knowledge of every episode of “Cooper” and distract him from the fact that the star’s salacious memoir seems to have tarnished all of his innocent memories and made her a potential target of a parade of betrayed friends and lovers.

Look for Rena Sofer as a no-nonsense publicist. She’s one of many notables to appear during this final season, including Dylan Baker (“Kings”), Meat Loaf, Jay Mohr and Kelly Clarkson. And look for a special appearance by Bitty Schram, who played Sharona, Monk’s original sidekick and Gal Friday.

The enduring success of “Monk” and “Psych” (9 p.m., USA, also returning tonight) reminds us that scripted dramas with real actors tend to attract and retain an audience long after the gimmickry of reality fare fades away.

It’s interesting to note that NBC, the network affiliate of USA, recently fired its programming executive Ben Silverman, responsible for dropping “Medium” into CBS’s lap and larding the network schedule with endless showings of “Biggest Loser.”

Jeff Gaspin, the executive who oversaw cable successes at SyFy and USA (“Burn Notice” and “Royal Pains”), has replaced him. It’s too early to call this a victory for the script over the stupid, but we can always hope.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Cell phone madness on the season finale of “Surviving Suburbia” (7 p.m., ABC).

• Guests include Denzel Washington, Quentin Tarantino, James Caan and A-ha appear on “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross” (7 p.m., BBC America).

• On two episodes of “The Goode Family” (ABC), A clash on the highway (7:30 p.m.), a confusing bank error (8:30 p.m., season finale).

• A rescued Akita has boundary issues on “Dog Whisperer” (8 p.m., National Geographic).

• A shallow slave-to-fashion switches places with ordinary folk on “Mr. Friday” (8 p.m., FLN).

• A returning veteran needs help on “Mental” (8 p.m., Fox)

• A public sculptor has a private motivation on “Eureka” (8 p.m., SyFy).

• Scheduled on “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC): medical mysteries.

• Chris violates the mores of his guest country in part two of the three-part musical miniseries “Bollywood Hero” (9 p.m., IFC).

• “Catch It Keep It” (9 p.m., Science) threatens a Gibson Les Paul guitar with destruction.

• Hosts Chris Cosentino and Aaron Sanchez take on local cooking legends in the new competition series “Chefs vs. City” (9 p.m., Food).

Cult choice

A neglected wife (Jennifer Aniston) takes up with a troubled spirit (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the 2002 drama “The Good Girl” (7 p.m., WE), a strong vehicle for the “Friends” star who has appeared in far too many similar and predictable screen comedies.