What to watch next week

    More Paula Abdul, more "History Detectives," more child-labor woes, and more from the people who brought us "Degrassi."

All times Central.

SUNDAY

  Perhaps the best thing to come out of 10 years of “The View” is this: Lisa Ling's documentary series for Oxygen, “Who Cares About Girls?” In this installment airing at 9 p.m. on Oxygen, Ling travels to India, where some 60 million children, many of them girls, are put to degrading work, from long days of menial labor to the sex trade. Yes, this is a well-trodden news story. Unfortunately, you can't have too much light cast on this appalling practice.

MONDAY

  “The History Detectives” return to PBS, with still more intrigues spun out of the most unpromising stuff. The final story in the episode (which airs 8 p.m. on KCPT and KTWU) tells a fascinating backstory to the historic 1913 woman's suffrage march, popularized by the HBO movie “Iron Jawed Angels.” And it all started with this image from the march's program (at right).

  THURSDAY

  “Hey Paula” is not from the people who make those TV shows featuring violent car wrecks … but it might as well be. This reality series, airing 9 p.m. on Bravo, is devoted to Paula Abdul, “American Idol” judge and putative wacko. Just like other Bravo shows, “Hey Paula” works on two levels: literal and ironic. On the literal level, this is a straightforward account of Abdul's celebrity life, attending events, spending money, interacting with fans. On the ironic level, “Hey Paula” strongly suggests that celebrity is her life (her self-declared “best friend” is her hair stylist). No wonder she's a little nutty.

  NEXT FRIDAY

  “The Best Years” (7:30 p.m., The N, digital cable) is a college soap opera with a twist: Charity Shea plays Samantha, a teenager who graduates from life in the foster-care system to a fancy-schmancy university. It's an interesting twist on the true story of Liz Murray, who was homeless but wound up going to Harvard, and is from “Degrassi” writer Aaron Martin. Only one question: What's this doing on a channel aimed at kids who are too young to go to college?