What's On: Ordinary People Crash The Whole Truth

He may have lost that Oscar to co-star Timothy Hutton, but Ordinary People vet Judd Hirsch gets his chance for to a snag a third Emmy win tonight with a guest-starring spot on The Whole Truth. Will he succeed? Elsewhere on the tube, Modern Family shakes things up and Hellcats initiates a mutiny. And if you prefer depressing cinema, the Fuse network has one of the better musical biopics of the late '80s.

Modern Family [ABC, 9 PM]

Thanks to an earthquake, Cam and Mitchell think they can avoid their friend Pepper's (Nathan Lane) get-together. Thanks to a plumbing snafu, Claire finds herself stuck in a bathroom with a plumber. And thanks to Manny being who he is, he suffers an existential crisis with Jay.

Hellcats [CW, 9 PM]

Savannah persuades the team to let Dan direct their bid vid and Alice feels (and is) betrayed. The upshot? She may lose her position as captain. And I may lose control of my emotions.

The Whole Truth [ABC, 10 PM]

This show looks like it's in danger of cancellation, so let's check it out tonight to make sure we can deal with it. A popular judge (played by Oscar nominee and Taxi vet Judd Hirsch) hires Jimmy (Rob Morrow) to deal with his murder charge (ooh!), and Kathryn (Maura Tierney) frets about prosecuting him, since he's her former mentor. Shh, I may just watch Top Chef: Just Desserts instead.

La Bamba [Fuse, 9 PM]

The short life of Ritchie Valens is explored in this Lou Diamond Phillips-aided biopic. Los Lobos's cover of Valens' "La Bamba" took the song back to the top of the charts in the late 1987. The aviation culture in Clear Lake, Iowa never recovered after this film.