1) Pro football season-opener, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC, with pre-game at 7. A new season begins, just when we all need (and deserve) a distraction. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs had a slow start last year, then finished with eight straight wins and the Super Bowl championship. They host the Dallas Cowboys, with Dak Prescott (shown here) back. Last year, the Cowboys were 2-3 before his injury, 4-7 afterward.
2) “CBS Fall Preview,” 9 p.m., CBS. Annaleigh Ashford can do it all. She’s brilliant in drama (as Paula Jones in “Impeachment,” Tuesdays on FX) … in comedy (“B Positive,” starting its second season Oct. 7 on CBS) and on Broadway (a Tony award in a play and nomination in a musical). Now she leads the musical opener. CBS needs extra pizzazz, because it only has four new scripted shows – three of them spinning off or rebooting “NCIS,” “FBI” and “CSI.” Only the comedy gem “Ghosts” is totally new.
3) “Call Me Kat,” 9 and 9:30 p.m., Fox. This pleasant-enough comedy won’t be back until mid-season. For now, there’s a Thursday spot for reruns. First, Kat (Mayim Bialik) wins a trip for two, but doesn’t have anyone to take; that leaves Phil and Randi (Leslie Jordan and Kyla Pratt) bumbling at the cafe. Then she tries therapy with her mother; Phil seeks medicinal marijuana for his mom.
4) “What We Do in the Shadows,” 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 10:34 and 11:08. In romance, Nandor the Relentless had a long dry spell – 200 years, give or take a couple. But now, in a funny episode, he’s gaga for someone named Gail. This disrupts the household … as does the discovery of an old jalopy. That’s followed at 11:42 by the low-budget movie version of “What We Do in the Shadows” (2014).
5) “The Little Mermaid” (1989), 7 p.m., Freeform. This Disney classic is surrounded by newer (and lesser-known) cartoons. It’s “Gnomeo and Juliet” (2010) at 11 a.m., “Chicken Little” (2005) at 1 p.m., “Meet the Robinsons” (2007) at 3, “Brave” (2012) at 5 and “Tangled” (2010) at 9.