A young girl defies a thousand-year tradition and vows to lead her tribe in the 2002 New Zealand drama “Whale Rider” (8 p.m. Sunday, PBS). The film’s star, Keisha Castle-Hughes, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress at age 13, the youngest person ever nominated in that category. Critic Roger Ebert called “Whale Rider” “fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving.” New York Post critic Lou Lumenick called it “An excellent way to teach children that movies don’t begin and end with Hollywood blockbusters.”

¢ “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law” (10:45 p.m. Sunday, Cartoon Network) returns with more cartoon litigation. In this week’s episode, the animated swamp-thing Wally Gator needs criminal defense for his redneck misbehavior. In a future episode, Harvey is sued by an evildoer for injuries suffered in 1967 (when “Birdman” was an actual Hanna-Barbera cartoon superhero). This sparks a class-action suit against Harvey by a menagerie of marauders.

Today’s highlights

¢ On back-to-back episodes of “The West Wing” (NBC), peacekeeping fatalities (7 p.m.), a free speech statement runs amok (8 p.m.).

¢ Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (9 p.m., CBS): a wronged woman named Mrs. Wright.

¢ A skeptical scientist and a mystical nun join forces against evil in the six-part miniseries “Revelations” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Following in Johnny Cash’s footsteps, Marty Stuart travels to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on “In the Moment: Marty Stuart” (9 p.m., CMT).

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Scheduled on “Dateline” (6 p.m., NBC): a family torn in three directions.

¢ Alexis Bledel stars in the 2002 fantasy “Tuck Everlasting” (7 p.m., WB).

¢ A real-life Mother Hubbard on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (7 p.m., ABC).