Hosted by “Trading Spaces” vet Genevieve Gorder, “Town Haul” (9 p.m. today, TLC) sets out to transform the town of Jeffersonville, N.Y., over the course of six weekly episodes.

It’s not giving away too much to reveal that “Haul” fails to renovate the entire town of 700 souls located 100 miles from New York City. The show focuses on the tasteful restoration of a once-dowdy variety store, a renovated ice cream parlor, a youth center in the village hall and a new apartment for “Cowboy Bob,” a wheelchair-bound resident who turns out to be one of many colorful characters discovered by “Town Haul.”

During its six-week stint, “Haul” explores local politics and the strange dynamic that inevitably ensues when a television crew arrives in a small community. While “Haul” avoids the hateful condescension of “The Simple Life,” it’s an oddly self-absorbed and self-referential production.

At times “Haul” looks like a scene right out of the 1950s musical “Bye Bye Birdie,” in which producers from “The Ed Sullivan Show” search for a middle-American girl to bestow a goodbye kiss on the Elvis-like pop star Conrad Birdie. If “Birdie” and “Haul” prove anything, it’s that the mere presence of television cameras alters small-town behavior.

In scene after scene, Jeffersonville residents gather in throngs to cheer on Gorder and her crew. She’s seen riding in a truck with the Bulldogs, the local high school football team; attending town council meetings; and, once, during an emotional “reveal,” even positions her face in the center of the tears and gratitude. Towns will come and go on “Town Haul,” but true basic-cable stars will do anything to stay ready for their close-up.

Today’s highlights

• The voice of Robin Williams animates the 1992 cartoon musical “Aladdin” (7 p.m., ABC).
• Paige Davis and crew embark for Scotland and some medieval makeovers on “Trading Spaces: Trading Castles” (8 p.m., TLC).
• A widow (Betty White) and her granddaughter (Amy Davidson) take a poignant road trip in the 2004 TV film “Annie’s Point” (8 p.m., Hallmark).

Sunday’s highlights

• The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers clash in the American Football Conference Championship game (6 p.m., CBS).
• Lynette’s father-in-law (Ryan O’Neal) arrives, secrets in tow, on “Desperate Housewives” (8 p.m., ABC).