Year: 2020

1) 9/11 documentaries, all day, History. On the 19th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks (shown her, here’s a 21-hour marathon. That includes two new hours, looking at the final two planes – one hitting the Pentagon, the other crashing in a Pennsylvania field. The rest are reruns, starting with efforts to rebuild on the site (7 a.m.) and to find the flag that was hoisted there (8). Especially moving are “Escape From the Tower” and “102 Minutes that Changed America,” at 4 and 6 p.m Read more…

1) Football season-opener, 8:20 p.m ET., NBC. This is just what we need now – the full-scale fun and fury of pro football. It starts with Patrick Mahomes (shown here) and the champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans, which almost stopped them en route to last year’s Super Bowl. All of the other teams play Sunday (including the Rams and Cowboys at night on NBC) or in an ESPN doubleheader Monday. And on Saturday, we have the first full – well, semi-full – day of college football. Read more…

1) “Nova” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., PBS. Here is PBS at its best – taking an impenetrable subject and making it easy to understand – and even compelling, almost in a science-fiction way. The subject, gene-editing, is explained by animation and more. We meet Jennifer Douda, the Berkeley biochemist who linkeed with  Emmanuelle Charpentier (they’re shown here, right to left) to find ways genes can be altered … and David Sanchez, 17, stricken by sickle-cell disorder. Could this be prevented? What are the ethical traps? These are compelling questions, beautifully posed. Read more…

1) “Transplant,” 10 p.m., NBC. In a terrific opener last week, we slowly learned the basics: Bashir was a doctor who treated rebels in Syria, then fled to Canada with his little sister. Rejected by hospitals, he was working in a restaurant when tragedy struck. He saved the hospital’s medical chief, who then hired him. In another strong episode tonight, Bashir (shown here) finds more problems: The makeshift methods he used in Aleppo are viewed harshly in this by-the-book workplace; also a friend is undocumented and homeless. Read more…

1) “American Ninja Warrior” (shown here in previous year) season-opener, 8-10 p.m., NBC. This summertime hit has turned into a fall show. It’s getting a late start, but will sprawl across autumn, when NBC needs temporary help. That’s what “Big Brother” and “Love Island” do for CBS. Like those two, “Ninja” has a “bubble,” keeping everyone in one place. Instead of tryouts around the country, it does everything at America’s Center in St. Louis. Some 150 people start by tackling the six-obstacle qualifier. Read more…

1) “Power Book II: Ghost” debut, 9 p.m., Starz. The “Power” series was a ratings winner for Starz – tough, taut and often lethal. Even the main character – a drug boss known as Ghost – was killed; his son Tariq did it, but Ghost’s wife Tasha was charged. Now Tariq is in college (shown here), stretching for ways to make money and get his mom free. Meanwhile, there’s a new drug boss, played by Mary J. Blige. Read more…