John Safran may be an infidel, but you can’t say he’s not ecumenical. The host of the award-winning Australian series “John Safran vs. God” (8 p.m., Sundance) spans the world in search of religious practices and often finds the most extreme and humorous variations on faith.

Did you know there are believers in Mozambique who placed a 30-year curse on the Australian soccer team?

Like an intrepid reporter or anthropologist, he asks the hard questions. “Just how hard is it to get a fatwa placed on somebody’s head?” And in tonight’s episode, Safran goes about trying to arrange one – on a media rival and a fellow veteran of Australian reality TV. He also takes a sacramental walk in Arizona with members of the Peyote Way Church of God and examines the beliefs of practicing Scientologists.

Over the next eight Thursday nights, Safran tries to find out whether a Jew can join the KKK; auditions for the Harlem Gospel Choir; is beaten with sticks at a Zen monastery; goes uncover in the burgeoning Mormon film industry and raffles off his “right of return” to Israel on a faux game show. In the eighth (July 12) episode, he undergoes an exorcism.

Safran may be from Down Under, but his cheeky approach to public piety and accepted dogmas follows in the tradition of America’s most famous public skeptic, the popular and beloved 19th-century humorist Mark Twain.

¢ NBC airs an original episode of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (9 p.m., NBC), perhaps the most anticipated, highly praised and disappointing series of the just-concluded season. Many fans hoped that writer/creator Aaron Sorkin could rekindle his old “West Wing” magic. Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) guest stars as a guest host who faces a catastrophe when prop masters and cue-card operators stage a strike at the 11th hour.

¢ Famous for being famous in Britain, Cat Deeley hosts the second summer season of “So You Think You Can Dance” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Sebastian prosecutes overzealous shutterbugs in the accidental death of a young actress on “Shark” (9 p.m., CBS). This legal drama will return next season and air on Sunday nights, swapping times and dates with “Without A Trace,” which returns to its original Thursday night berth.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Doug and Carrie await the really big news on the series finale of “King of Queens” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ Earl makes a deal with Catalina’s old boss (Burt Reynolds) on “My Name is Earl” (7 p.m., NBC).

¢ A plain girl from Queens finds herself working at a fashion magazine on the pilot episode of “Ugly Betty” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Jack sets Liz up on a blind date on “30 Rock” (7:30 p.m., NBC).

¢ Identical twins die on the same night and under similar circumstances on “CSI” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Michael tries to make the most of a big convention on “The Office” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Auditions continue on “On the Lot” (8:30 p.m., Fox).