1) “Islam’s Greatest Stories of Love,” 9 p.m., PBS. Shattered by her father’s death, a Harvard grad student (shown here) visits five epic stories involving her faith. The first three are gorgeously filmed, but are sometimes grim and violent, told in a clumsy, stop-and-start way. The fourth is a passionate story of a sister’s love for a troubled boy who became the towering Malcolm X.
2) Football, 8 p.m. ET, CBS and NFL Network. The pros’ pre-season wraps up over the next two days. Today, CBS has the Vikings and Titans; the NFL Network has the Falcons and Cowboys … and has four games Saturday, just as a few early-starters launch the college season.
3) More sports. Yes, sports keep gobbling up more time on the broadcast networks. Now CW has NASCAR at 7:30 p.m. ET; Fox has women’s college volleyball, with Pittsburgh-Nebraska at 7 p.m. and Florida-Stanford at 9.
4) “Happy’s Place,” 8 and 8:30 p.m., NBC. These reruns go in opposite directions. The first is silly at first, then has solid laughs when Bobbie (Reba McEntire) is nudged into a tattoo parlor. The second, involving a valuable bottle of whiskey, is excellent until deteriorating in the final five minutes.
5) “Guys and Dolls” (1955), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. It’s a Frank Sinatra marathon, led by musicals — this one and “High Society” (1956) at 4. Comedies include “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960) at 1:30 p.m. and “The Tender Trap” (1955) at 6. And at 10:30 ia the drug-addiction drama “The Man With the Golden Arm” (1956).