— Do slick 21st-century remakes of teen favorites remind us of how much we loved them? Or how grim the 21st century has become?
"Nancy Drew" (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) gets the "Riverdale" (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) treatment as that brooding "Archie" adaptation enters its fourth season.
Once the predominant collection on many adolescent girls’ bookshelves, "Nancy Drew" has been transformed into a glum, post-modern vision of hyper-articulate, knowing teens who appear to be pushing 35, deeply enmeshed in gruesome conspiracies, murder plots and vaguely supernatural horror phenomena.
Like "Riverdale," the teen life appears to be trapped in a kind of timeless amber. Characters drive modern cars and use contemporary technology, but the vibe is a curdled mid-20th-century nostalgia bathed in the blue-light noir of too many David Lynch movies.
Kennedy McMann plays the title character, wise, worried and cynical beyond her years. Brilliant and college-bound, she found her life upended by her mother’s death. Things get even more complicated when she’s implicated in the murder of a socialite at the center of her town of Horseshoe Bay, Maine, a murder that appears to be linked to a local ghost story.
"Veronica Mars," (now streaming on Hulu) updated the spunky teen detective some decades back. And did so with a sense of humor.
"Riverdale" returns with a nod to fallen character Fred Andrews, Archie’s dad, played by the late Luke Perry, who died between seasons three and four. This is more than can be said of the gang on "BH90210," who saw his passing as a mere speedbump on the way to a series reboot.
— "Isle of Chimps" (8 p.m., Smithsonian) visits Uganda’s Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where orphaned and rescued chimpanzees are given a second chance to live in the wild after being saved from hunters who would have sold them for exotic pets or as bush meat.
Like any reality series, "Isle" has a "star," a 2-year-old named Eazy who slowly acclimates to his natural environment and fellow chimps.
— You don’t need to leave the city to find exotic critters. The second of three episodes of "Wild Metropolis" (10 p.m., PBS, check local listings) examines the animal "commuters" who share cities with the more than 1 billion humans who inhabit urban areas.
Apparently, many critters don’t move permanently to the city, but only occasionally go "to town" to forage for things lacking in their diet, as human settlement encroaches on their natural habitat.
Other wild creatures have discovered that the concrete jungle provides better shelter for mothers giving birth and protecting their young. But, like many city dwellers, they retreat back to more verdant spaces after deciding that the city isn’t the right place to raise the kids.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A risky procedure may be a dying man’s last chance on "Chicago Med" (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Four celebrities compete on "The Masked Singer" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).
— A suspicious incident consumes a juvenile facility on "Chicago Fire" (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Roxy makes the most of the new normal on "Almost Family" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— A botched carjacking may be the tip of the iceberg on "Chicago P.D." (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— Dex has much to learn on "Stumptown" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— Every Dee has her day on "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (10 p.m., FXX, TV-MA).
— Mr. Jingles has unfinished business on "American Horror Story: 1984" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
Clint Eastwood plays a vigilante lawman in the 1971 thriller "Dirty Harry" (10:15 p.m., Showtime, TV-14).
SERIES NOTES
A risky move on "Survivor" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Adam’s new status on "The Goldbergs" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14) … Boyz II Men appear on "Schooled" (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
Serbian adventures on "SEAL Team" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … Volunteer babysitters on "Modern Family" (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Angie’s meltdown on "Single Parents" (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A doomsday cult looms on "S.W.A.T." (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Will Smith is booked on "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" (11 p.m., Comedy Central) … Niecy Nash and Gavin Matts appear on "Conan" (11 p.m., TBS, r) … "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (11:35 p.m., CBS) features Jonathan Van Ness and Brett Gelman and Big Thief, with special appearances by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
Ted Danson, Elizabeth Olsen, Diane Von Furstenberg and Steve Gorman visit "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Adam DeVine and Adam Lambert appear on "The Late Late Show With James Corden" (12:35 a.m., CBS).
