If tonight’s television has a theme, it’s looking at life through a new set of lenses, changing perspectives and challenging preconceptions.

¢ Kaley Cuoco (“8 Simple Rules”) stars in the cable movie “To Be Fat Like Me” (8 p.m., Lifetime). She plays a cheerful high-school athlete suddenly sidelined by an accident. With her hopes for a scholarship dashed, she decides to make a documentary about what it would be like to be an overweight girl. She arms herself with a fat suit and a video camera and goes about filming at a nearby college where nobody knows the real Aly. Cruelty ensues.

“To Be Fat Like Me” was inspired by a real-life experiment conducted with a New York City teen for a 2003 TV documentary.

¢ The Women’s Network also launches a half-hour reality series “Gay, Straight or Taken?” (7 p.m., Lifetime) that tests a single woman’s dating intuition. As the title makes clear, this bachelorette meets three men and must determine which of the trio is available. If she chooses right, she gets to take a romantic cruise with her bachelor. If she chooses the taken guy or the gay guy, then he and his girlfriend (or boyfriend) get the cruise. Smug and predictable in every way.

¢ Los Angeles police officer Eddie Sutton (Russell Hornsby) throws his family a curveball when he decides to move them into a dangerous neighborhood on the new series “Lincoln Heights” (6 p.m., Family). On the plus side, they get a big house at a bargain price. Eddie gets to take advantage of the city’s incentive plan to move officers into crime-plagued neighborhoods. And he gets to return to the place where he grew up.

The downsides are many. Their neighbors include crack dealers and gang members who are less than thrilled to have a cop in the neighborhood. When the kids confront violence and crime on a regular basis, Eddie’s wife, Jenn (Nicki Micheaux), quickly begins to wonder if it was such a bright idea.

“Lincoln” is a real departure for Family, a network better known for shows like “Wildfire,” about teens with perfect cheekbones living on horse ranches. But Eddie’s role as a crusading cop and neighbor saddles him with a few too many speeches to deliver.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ The college-football season concludes with the BCS championship game (6:30 p.m., Fox).

¢ Disco star Tony (John Travolta, reprising his “Saturday Night Fever” role) sets his sights on Broadway in the unwelcome 1983 sequel “Staying Alive” (7 p.m., VH1 Classic).

¢ The gang swap stories on “How I Met Your Mother” (7 p.m., CBS)

¢ Howie Mandel hosts “Deal or No Deal” (7 p.m., NBC)

¢ A question of stature on “Wife Swap” (7 p.m., ABC)

¢ Natalia falls under suspicion on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ Brian and Bridget bond on “What About Brian” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ “The White Rapper Show” (9:30 p.m., VH1) looks for a hip-hop star from the other side of the melanin divide.

¢ David Arquette and Jennifer Hudson appear on “Late Show with David Letterman” (10:35 p.m., CBS)

¢ Jay Leno hosts Kiefer Sutherland and Chris Daughtry on “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC)