Juliette Lewis offers a fine performance in the television movie “Chasing Freedom” (8 p.m., Court TV) as a workaholic corporate lawyer who grows a heart and a social conscience while helping an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. Layla Alizada is equally impressive as Meena, a woman who fled Taliban rule after the Islamic extremists beat her and threatened her family with execution in a public stadium for the crime of teaching young girls to read.

• “American Experience” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) commemorates the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and King’s 75th birthday with “Citizen King,” a documentary look at the last five years of the civil rights leader’s life.
• Over the years, we’ve seen our share of funny, two-minute “Saturday Night Live” skits turned into unbearable feature-length movies. For every “Wayne’s World” there have been too many bombs, like “It’s Pat,” and “A Night at the Roxbury.” Tonight, Fox turns a two-minute skit idea into a six-hour adventure called “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance” (8 p.m., Fox).
• If you think of Goths only as sullen teenagers who apply too much mascara, you should check out “The Barbarians” (8 p.m., History), a four-part look at folks, including “Vikings (8 p.m.) and “Goths” (9 p.m.), best-known for raiding, pillaging and striking fear into society.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Catch coverage of the Iowa caucus vote with Anderson Cooper (6 p.m., CNN) and Brit Hume (7 p.m., Fox News).
• Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson face colorful auditions on “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox), airing over three consecutive nights this week.
• Rich people spend a lot of money getting married on “InStyle: Celebrity Weddings” (9 p.m., ABC).

Late night

Al Green appears on “Late Show with David Letterman” (10:35 p.m., CBS) … Jay Leno welcomes Kelly Ripa and Simon Cowell on “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC).