‘Respect’ recalls Stax Records

The “Great Performances” presentation “Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story” (8 p.m., KSPS) offers a parable of musical triumph overshadowed by tragedies of the personal, political and financial sort.

It’s a tale of talent, race and opportunity. Ultimately, it’s the familiar struggle between business and music in which business triumphs in the most callous and depressing fashion.

A humble Memphis record company founded in an old movie theater in the late 1950s, Stax would discover and record some of the greatest names in R&B, soul and funk, including Booker T and the MGs, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, the Staples Singers and Wilson Pickett.

Given the entrenched segregation of the times, the white owners of the label were blind to any color other than green. Black and white musicians played, ate and recorded together and considered the Stax family an oasis of harmony in troubled times.

But their optimism was mixed with a dangerous naivete. Only after a triumphant tour of Europe did many Stax artists consider themselves stars anywhere outside of Memphis.

Filmmaker Rick Sebak (“A Hot Dog Program”) offers a new summer treat. “To Market to Market to Buy a Fat Pig” (7 p.m., KSPS) celebrates urban and farmers markets across America.

Other highlights

The top eight perform on “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox).

The top 10 perform on “Last Comic Standing” (9 p.m., NBC).

Back to the drawing board on “American Inventor” (9 p.m., ABC).

Business school graduates compete in the financial game show “Fast Money MBA Challenge” (6 p.m., CNBC).

Gene splicing can be murder on “CSI: NY” (10 p.m., CBS).

Scheduled on “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC): the millionth “news” piece involving the iPod.

Wayne Brady hosts “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” (9:30 p.m., Fox).

Eight survivors are grilled on “The Nine” (10 p.m., ABC).

Frozen foods take center stage on “Top Chef” (10 p.m., Bravo). Rocco DiSpirito cameos as a guest judge.