Some national holidays lend themselves to television. Others don’t. Christmas programming begins shortly after Halloween, a holiday that has seen its share of holiday specials increase exponentially in recent years.

Presidents Day, however, gets little respect. Except for all of those loud holiday “sell-a-thon” car ads, you’d hardly know the day was set aside to honor the father of our country, Honest Abe, and, presumably, every other chief executive from Franklin Pierce to Chester A. Arthur.

Tonight, only the History Channel honors Presidents Day with a special edition of the “Save Our History” series of “Valley Forge” (7 p.m.). Narrated by Josh Binswanger, the documentary explains the place of Valley Forge, Pa., in America’s early history and details the many efforts necessary to preserve the historic site.

Historian Roger McGrath explains how Gen. George Washington rested his troops in Valley Forge during the winter of 1778. After a series of stinging defeats, many expected the colonial rebellion to simply fall apart. Instead, Washington used the Valley Forge respite to inspire his troops and turn them into a professional army.

“There was probably no more dramatic transformation of troops in history than the transformation of the American troops at Valley Forge,” McGrath observes.

For this reason, many consider Valley Forge to be sacred ground. Unfortunately, time, termites and millions of visitors have taken their toll on the 3,600-acre national historical site. Binswanger has to climb down from the rotted floor of Gen. William Alexander’s headquarters, a victim of decades of termite infestation and water damage. “Save Our History” won an Emmy for its work to educate viewers about endangered historic sites like Valley Forge.

 The only other Presidents Day programming appears on the Cartoon Network’s seven-hour “Time Squad” marathon, beginning at 9 a.m. “Time Squad” follows a goofy trio from the distant future who work to “enforce the past to protect the future.” On this series, history always gets out of hand. In one episode Betsy Ross turns Washington’s soldiers into a group of tie-dyed, granola-crunching hippies. During today’s marathon, they will meet Napoleon, Beethoven and Confucius, and make sure that both Lincoln and Washington stick to their historic roles.

 On a similar theme, “Castaway BC” (7 p.m., BBC America) takes “reality” back to the Iron Age. Seven men, seven women and three children have consented to endure the hardships of the ancient Celts, living in conditions that prevailed in Britain between 700 BC and 50 BC. There’s even a Druid re-enactor!

 “Inside Hate Rock” (8 p.m., VH1) explores the musical subculture of “hatecore,” hard-core rock with neo-Nazi and white supremacist lyrics. One neo-Nazi record label earns more than $1 million for a racist organization called the National Alliance, headed by William Pierce. The Wagner-loving Pierce can’t stand the music, but he recognizes its power to influence a younger generation. A former hatecore performer, George Burdi, explains the rise of the musical genre and its appeal. He has since renounced his views and performs at “rock against racism” concerts.

Tonight’s other highlights

 Olympic coverage 7 p.m., NBC) continues. Highlights include figure skating  ice dance and free dance and freestyle skiing.

 New York City appraisals on “Antiques Road Show” (7 p.m., PBS).

 Harrison Ford stars in the 1984 thriller “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (7:30 p.m., ABC).

 Sports don’t come easily to Geoffrey on a repeat of “Everybody Loves Raymond” (8 p.m., CBS).

 Based on two novels by Nancy Mitford, “Love in a Cold Climate” concludes on “Masterpiece Theatre” (8 p.m., PBS).