Can a history seminar be funny? Entertaining? Filmed before real students in an NYU classroom, “Assume the Position With Mr. Wuhl” (9 p.m. today, HBO) offers a light take on American history while imparting the lesson that what we believe to be fact is often shaped by prevailing popular culture.

Robert Wuhl, the former star of “Arli$$,” contends that the notion that Christopher Columbus “proved” that the world is round is simply a story invented by Washington Irving in a popular 19th-century novel. He compares Irving and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to filmmakers like Jerry Bruckheimer. They created pop culture blockbusters that shaped our view of history. Wuhl argues that Longfellow greatly exaggerated Paul Revere’s real ride but that the truth no longer matters because it has been eclipsed by poetic legend.

Amusing, provocative and occasionally profane, Wuhl blows the dust off commonly held historical preconceptions and challenges us to think of historical figures as human beings. I haven’t had so much fun in a classroom in years.

¢ Showtime dusts off some history of its own, airing a digitally remastered version of the 1972 special “Liza with a Z: A Concert for Television” (7 p.m. today, Showtime). Liza Minnelli performs popular ballads as well as numbers from “Cabaret,” the Oscar-winning musical that debuted that year.

¢ Tori Spelling plays an approximate version of herself in the new sitcom “So noTORIous” (9 p.m. Sunday, VH1). Tired of being typecast as the virginal Donna Martin from “Beverly Hills 90210” and ready to get out from under the shadow of her father, super producer Aaron Spelling, Tori moves into a modest apartment. OK, how modest can the place be when Farrah Fawcett (appearing as herself) lives next door?

To be honest, I was fully expecting to dismiss and dislike this show, but Tori’s self-deprecation is disarming and frequently charming. While this inside-Hollywood trifle trades in many cliches and sitcom conventions, it has a good time doing so.

Tonight’s highlights

¢ Naomi Watts stars in the 2002 shocker “The Ring” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ “The Henry Rollins Show” (9 p.m., IFC) kicks off a second 20-episode season of conversation about film, music and popular culture. Tonight’s guest: director Oliver Stone.

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): expensive and possibly dangerous anti-aging products; illegal aliens blaze new desert trails; an orphanage for baby elephants.

¢ Election Day jitters on “The West Wing” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ The World Series champion White Sox host the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball action (7 p.m., ESPN).

¢ Bree bonds with her sponsor on “Desperate Housewives” (8 p.m., ABC).

¢ Paulie feels lost on “The Sopranos” (8 p.m., HBO).