The sceptered head of the prom king never rests easy. At least in TV movies. Based on a true story, “Freshman Father” (8 p.m., today, Hallmark) should make teenagers think twice about prom-night hanky-panky, if any teens are watching. As “Freshman” begins, John (Drew Seeley, “High School Musical”) and Kathy (Britt Irvin) sport a crown and tiara and face the adulation and jealousy of their high school peers. A scholar and star athlete, John has secured a free ride to Harvard, and to many, this highway to success will take him away from their small town and Kathy, too.

But after Kathy gets pregnant, John does the decent thing, marries her and matriculates as an expectant father. Like youth itself, “Freshman” proceeds in a fleeting fashion. Graduation gives way to marriage, college days, parenthood and postpartum freak outs. Despite, or rather because of John’s levelheadedness, Kathy decides she just can’t cut it as a Harvard bride and leaves him — and the baby — in Cambridge. And just before a calculus test to boot.

This might be the end of this cautionary tale, but Annie Potts (“Designing Women”) arrives as a John’s new landlady, a tarot-reading eccentric with a soft spot for a student in distress. Will this witchy woman teach him that it takes a village to raise a child? Or just confirm that romance-centric audiences have always been a soft touch for handsome single man and a helpless baby.

l Porno for tweens? MTV launches a new comedy drenched in the “Superbad” sensibility of gross-out comedies of recent summers. Paul Iacono stars in the title role of “The Hard Times of RJ Berger” (10 p.m., Sunday, MTV) as a pale, insecure 15-year-old who fantasizes about anime characters and the prettier girls in his high school to whom he remains invisible. Left at that, there wouldn’t be anything in “RJ” that wasn’t covered by a thousand other coming-of-age comedies. But “RJ” begins with an extended scene of masturbation, ended only when his mother catches him in the act. Soon after, in a contrived scene on a basketball court, both the audience and RJ’s peers discover that he is endowed with a remarkably large manhood, a fact that makes him a subject of fascination, fear, pity and curiosity.

In essence, this is a variation HBO’s “Hung” for an audience not yet out of middle school. MTV will try to make the most out of such shock value, but nothing can redeem “RJ” from its status as one of the most depressing depictions of youth ever devised. From his sex-obsessed parents, to a porn-obsessed friend, to a lusty female sidekick, to an Asian female student stereotype who seems driven to frantic distraction by RJ’s awesome anatomical possession, the show and its characters seems suffocated by smutty-mindedness when they aren’t consumed by cruelty. “RJ” moves to 9 p.m. beginning Monday, June 14, where, presumably, it can reach an even younger audience.

• “Survivor” survivor Colby Donaldson hosts “Top Shot” (9 p.m., Sunday, History), a shooting competition that will determine the Annie Oakleys and William Tells among us. The 10-episode series showcases skilled marksmen both professional and amateur in elimination rounds involving rifles, muzzle-loaded muskets, bows and arrows and thrown knives. In the end, a “Top Shot” will be named and win a $100,000 prize. “Top Shot” follows the season premiere of “Ice Road Truckers” (8 p.m., Sunday, History) now in its fourth year.

• She’s back. A year after her tearful and over-documented split with her husband, Kate Gosselin returns to cable with two helpings of “Kate Plus 8” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Sunday, TLC), a glance at her life as a single parent with a large brood. As we’ve come to expect from these outings, at least some of tonight’s “8” involves the procurement and consumption of birthday cake.

Today’s highlights

• “Three Rivers” (7 p.m., CBS), the first series to be canceled last fall, returns for summer exposure.

• The doctor departs for five years on “Doctor Who” (8 p.m., BBC America).

• A soldier finds himself on a faraway planet in the 2009 shocker “Princess of Mars” (8 p.m., Syfy).

• Chris Rock appears on “The Graham Norton Show” (9 p.m., BBC America).

Sunday’s highlights

• John Lithgow returns to host “Essentials Jr.” (7 p.m., TCM) presenting movie favorites for young audiences, beginning with “Old Yeller” from 1958.

• The acclaimed BBC documentary series “Life” (7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.) begins a new run on Animal Planet.

• Silly summer movies past and about-to-be released are the focus of the 19th annual “MTV Movie Awards” (8 p.m., MTV and VH1) hosted by Aziz Ansari.

• Mardi Gras approaches on “Treme” (9 p.m., HBO)

Cult choice

Computer whiz outcasts form their own fraternity in the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds” (7 p.m. and 9 p.m., today, Fox Movie Channel).