Today, Friday, September 11
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TV Insider
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Networks and news channels commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with daylong coverage and primetime news specials. Conan O’Brien wraps the third season of his comedic travelogue with a visit to the Philippines. Park ranger Anna Pigeon hunts for whoever trapped her in a cave. Apple TV‘s Dark Matter keeps getting more perplexing with multiple versions of multiple characters from alternate worlds,
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Special | 8/7c |
A day of solemn remembrance starts in the morning, with all major networks and news channels covering ceremonies in Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, commemorating the thousands of lives lost 25 years ago on September 11, 2001. In primetime, the networks continue their coverage with news specials.
- 9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan (8/7c, ABC): Few sights are more haunting than the annual “Tribute in Light,” when blue lights pierce the sky where the Twin Towers once stood. In collaboration with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, anchors David Muir, Robin Roberts, and Diane Sawyer reflect on the events and impact of that terrible day. This special will be simulcast on National Geographic and streamed on Disney+ and Hulu. Followed by a replay of 9/11: United We Stand — 25 Years Later (9/8c), which explores how the nation recovered from the tragedy through music, sports, entertainment, and late-night humor.
- 9/11: We Remember (8/7c, CBS): Tony Dokoupil anchors a special featuring reports by 60 Minutes‘ Lesley Stahl and Norah O’Donnell, who interviews Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Dan Caine, and Dokoupil’s profile of a family who escaped the collapse of the World Trade Center but lost their patriarch. Followed by Daughters of 9/11 (9/8c), a two-hour documentary following two women who lost their fathers on 9/11 as they enlist FBI special agent Frank Pellegrino in their crusade to seek justice against accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
- Facing Ground Zero: A Dateline Special (10/9c, NBC): Lester Holt anchors a special edition featuring archival material from the day, some of it never before seen, in profiles of New Yorkers captured in real-time footage as they reflect on how the day changed their lives forever.
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Documentary Premiere | 8/7c |
Robin Roberts is an executive producer of a special featuring survival stories of people who were inside the World Trade Center’s iconic Twin Towers when planes commandeered by terrorists struck the buildings, ultimately collapsing them in an unthinkable tragedy. The two-hour documentary includes stories from building employees, including window washers and security staff, office workers, and first responders, in a moment-by-moment recreation of their harrowing escapes.
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Season Finale | 9/8c |
Conan’s final stop in the third season of his cheeky travelogue is the Philippines, where this pale goofball stands out more than usual. His first task is to help a fan named Mustafa become an action star by participating in a fight scene in the country’s top-rated cop show. Later, he dons a bamboo helmet when joining a tour group on bamboo bikes: “I go for what’s funny, and then we work comfort out much later.” Other detours include visits to a luxury hotel that’s decorated for Christmas in October, General MacArthur’s private residence, and a candy factory producing bubble gum with brand names like “Tarzan” and “Texas.” Any time Conan steers too close to an actual fact, the series posts a helpful warning: “The following clip contains trace amounts of knowledge.” The very idea!
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10/9c |
After spending the last episode being thrown into a deep hole and cave, park ranger and law enforcer Anna (Tracy Spiridakos) is feeling “like a trapped mouse being toyed with by a sadistic cat.” Concussed and dehydrated, Anna is undeterred when it comes to rooting out who’s responsible for her ordeal and for the death of the camper who was buried inside the cave. No surprise that her investigation puts her back in the crosshairs of her nemesis, wealthy landowner Jeremiah Paulson (Sons of Anarchy‘s Kim Coates).
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Seeing double, and sometimes triple, is nothing new for this brain-teasing sci-fi thriller. We’re used to seeing multiple versions of the show’s hero, Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), but now we’re getting dueling versions of his best friend Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), the visionary Leighton Vance (Dayo Okeniyi), and other characters as worlds continue to collide. Telling who’s who requires an awful lot of concentration, so it’s better to focus on the original Jason, who promises his wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), that he’ll destroy the Box that started all of this mess. As usual, there are unintended consequences.
INSIDE FRIDAY TV:
- US Open (3 pm/ET, ESPN): Men’s semifinal matches pit No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev from Germany against Russia’s Karen Khachanov, followed at 7 pm/ET by an all-American duel between No. 11 Frances Tiafoe and No. 8 Ben Shelton, both coming off epic matches on Tuesday, with Shelton’s battle against No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz lasting until 3:30 am in the morning. Thankfully, we won’t have to stay up late for these. The winners move on to Sunday’s finals.
- Fightland (9/8c, Starz): Duke (Howard Charles) gets ever closer to his target in the revenge thriller’s penultimate episode. But there are always new obstacles.
- Tribeca 25 (streaming on Netflix): A documentary depicts the quarter-century history of the Tribeca Film Festival, founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to help revive the community devastated by the 9/11 attacks.