1) “Muhammad Ali” opener, 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 10:15; continues through Wednesday. Ken Burns again tackles a larger-than-life figure, rippling with contrasts. Ali was a sweet-spirited kid who grew up in a devout Baptist home. Dyslexic, he stumbled in school, but compensated by being the class clown. He started boxing at 12; then, in his teen years, his 6-foot-3 frame began to fill out. He became a great athlete and a force of global impact (shown here), ideal for Burns’ flawless touch.
2) Emmy awards, 8-11 p.m., CBS. Last year’s ceremony, with no audience, was quite clever. Now the same producers move to CBS, with an outdoor audience; Cedric the Entertainer hosts, aided by the network’s latenight music men: Reggie Watts is the DJ and Jon Batiste (lwith Leon Bridges) does the “in memoriam” number. The night includes some humor people – Stephen Colbert, Mindy Kaling, Ken Jeong, Bowen Yang, Awkwafina –and others, including Dolly Parton and Patrick Stewart.
3) “Fantasy Island,” 8 p.m., Fox. The summer try-out ends, with Leslie Jordan as an artist’s former mentor. (Jordan will be back at mid-season in Fox’s fun “Call Me Kat”; the future of “Fantasy Island” – with lush visuals and so-so stories – is uncertain.) This will be surrounded at 7 and 9 p.m. by a half-hour preview of “Masked Singer” and the new “Alter Ego”; they’ll start their season Wednesday.
4) “Animal Kingdom,” 9 p.m., TNT, rerunning at 10. It’s a typically tough hour for Andrew “Pope” Cody. With his nephew J, he has to dump a body far away. And in flashbacks, we see his late mother (later named Smurf), desperate to protect him and his sister, who became J’s mom. Meanwhile, the others plan a mega-heist, in a strong and intense hour.
5) “The Price of Freedom,” 9-11 p.m., CNN. At 17, Harlan Carter shot and killed a Hispanic teen; his conviction was overturned on a technicality. Later – his first name now spelled “Harlon” – he became a Border Patrol leader, led “Operation Wetback” … and turned the National Rifle Association into a strident political force. This fierce film traces the NRA’s rise with Ronald Reagan (who favored gun control in the Black Panther years) and sees the counterforce of teens after the Parkland, Fla., massacre.