The baffling and stylish series “Alias” (7 p.m., ABC) returns tonight. The two-hour helping will tie up some loose ends and reintroduce some old friends/enemies/lovers/rivals/family, including Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), Irina Derevko (Lena Olin) and Eric Weiss (Greg Grunberg). The ever-morphing Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) will also take on her most demanding role, that of mother.

While this “Alias” will delight the inscrutable thriller’s ever-dwindling cadre of fans, ABC will doubtless tick off far more followers of “Lost” by making us wait a week to keep up with the enigmatic doings on the island.

¢ Filmmaker Mark Lewis explores the eccentric world of feline fanatics in the hourlong film “The Standard of Perfection: Show Cats” (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings). Lewis interviews breeders who have devoted their homes, incomes and every waking hour to raising, breeding, grooming, pampering and anthropomorphizing purebred cats. He also follows them to the Cat Fancier’s Assn. International Cat Show in Houston.

It seems that cat buffs like to give their kitties the names of celebrities. So we meet an Australian couple who have named their European Burmese Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. A news-minded breeder has a Wolf Blitzer. One winner, named Colin Powell, even got to meet his namesake, the former secretary of state.

The claws do come out on occasion. A judge condemns the “frou-frou” aesthetic of the cat world and laments the lack of emphasis on the cats as “athletes.” “The Standard of Perfection” will continue next week with “Show Cattle.”

¢ The Crusades are back, and this time it’s personal. Some months ago, the History Channel spent a week on the long medieval holy wars between Islam and Christendom. Tonight, “Holy Warriors” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) devotes two hours to the rivalry between England’s Richard the Lionheart and Muslim conqueror Saladin, and each man’s attempts to “save” Jerusalem for his faith.

The 21st century echoes reverberate throughout this 12th century tale. Saladin was a Kurd, not an Arab. But he was born in Tikrit, in modern-day Iraq, the birth city of Saddam Hussein.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Modern technology and desert traditions mingle as the action moves to Oman on “Amazing Race 9” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Nobody’s counting calories on “Celebrity Cooking Showdown” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ Brennan wakes up in New Orleans without any idea of how she got there on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ A killer con man confuses the team on “Criminal Minds” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ To crack a safe, the gang must crack a computer code on “Heist” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Ryan reads the results on “American Idol” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ A football field becomes a graveyard on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ A bank heist appears linked to a kidnapping on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Hybrids abound, and we’re not talking about the Toyota Prius, as “Invasion” (9 p.m., ABC) returns.