It’s little exaggeration to say that Ricky Gervais revolutionized TV comedy. So I was looking forward to “Ricky Gervais: Out of England: The Standup Special” (8 p.m., today, HBO), and I was surprised and a little confused when I found myself not laughing.

Gervais arrives on stage in a robe and a crown, goofing on his image as some kind of king of comedy. He then ventures into familiar territory with his trademark verbal rambles.

As the delusional character David Brent on the original British version of “The Office” and the pathetic Andy Millman in “Extras,” Gervais had a way of stumbling into the most awkward conversational thickets. And he would often flounder into more uncomfortable and incorrect ditches as he tried desperately to extract himself. Nobody made you more uncomfortable. Gervais could improvise cringe like Jimi Hendrix played a guitar.

But those were characters set in the absurd narrative of innovative sitcoms. Watching Gervais as Gervais drive through similar territory seems contrived. Suddenly, he is no longer playing a pathetic tongue-tied loser, but appearing as one of show business’s biggest winners and expecting us to laugh at long and belabored jokes about children with autism and the origins of AIDS.

¢ Has television gone too far? And who determines how far is too far? These questions seem very contemporary as the Supreme Court wrestles with the legality of “fleeting expletives” and a recent study links teen pregnancy to the breezy portrayal of sexuality on television. But the “Masterpiece” (8 p.m., Sunday, PBS, check local listings) presentation of “Filth” suggests that the controversy has been around for a very long time.

Based on real events, this deliberately over-the-top movie stars Julie Walters as Mary Whitehouse, a devout mother, teacher and devoted postman’s wife who is shaken out of her tea-cozy world by an afternoon broadcast in 1963 on the topic of premarital sex. She soon organizes her neighbors and students into a cause that becomes a national crusade to clean up television.

Hugh Bonneville portrays BBC chief Sir Hugh Greene, a man equally committed to making Britain’s airwaves friendly to the innovative and avant-garde. Whitehouse continues her efforts in the teeth of social and cultural ferment of the 1960s, most notably trying to censure the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” over the lyrics to “I am the Walrus.” Over time, Greene and Whitehouse become each other’s obsessions, with unhealthy consequences for them both.

While “Filth” portrays Whitehouse as a prude and a censor, she emerges as a genuine underdog, while Greene comes off as the worst kind of elitist. It’s not giving away too much to note that Whitehouse never backed down and continued to monitor and complain about programming until her death in 2001.

Today’s highlights

¢ Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star in the 2005 comedy “Wedding Crashers” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Paul Rudd hosts “Saturday Night Live” (10:30 p.m., NBC), featuring musical guest Beyonce.

Sunday’s highlights

¢ A mutual crush inspires deception on “Hannah Montana” (7 p.m., Disney).

¢ The fat lady sings for a Cold War opera defector on “Cold Case” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Distractions in Syria on “The Unit” (9 p.m., CBS).