Weekly Previews

1) “Race Against Time: The CIA and 9/11,” 8-10 p.m. Friday, CBS. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks (shown here), there will be a surge of new films, alongside strong reruns. “Detainee 001” is a so-so look at the American captured with the Taliban; it’s 9 p.m. Friday on Showtime, preceded at 8 by a new report from Afghanistan. Also Friday: History has “9/11: The Legacy” at 7 p.m. and “Rise and Fall: The World Trade Center” at 8. And Vice has “Too Soon: Comedy After 9/ll,” from 8-10 p.m. Read more…

1) “CMA Summer Jam,” 8-11 p.m. Thursday, ABC. For two summers, the Fan Fest was cancelled because of COVID. This year, however, the gap was filled by a two-day mega-concert in Nashville. Dierks Bentley sang at his club, Eric Church on a pedestrian bridge, Darius Rucker on a downtown stage and others at an amphitheater. That includes two Lukes (Bryan and Combs) plus Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani (shown here), Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Mianda Lambert, Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Thomas Rhett. Read more…

1) “9/11: One Day in America,” 9-10:30 p.m. Sunday, National Geographic, rerunning at 11:30; continues Aug. 30-31. Here’s the start of six hours of riveting television. In a three-year project, people dug through 950 hours of film from Sept. 11, 2001(shown here) and added fresh interviews. There are deep waves of tragedy, of course, but also surprising bursts of feel-good stories. This is human nature at its best – heroism and stoic survival, mixed in with bursts of sheer luck. The stories are beautifully related. Read more…

1) “The Walking Dead,” 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC, rernning at 11:07p.m., 12:14 a.m., more. After a long delay, this ratings-leader starts its final season. It’s a long one – eight episodes now, then a break, with 16 more coming. The last new episode (16 months ago) will rerun at 7:52 p.m., with the final battle with the Whisperers. Now a food-gathering mission fails; Maggie proposes a dangerous plan that Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, shown here must lead. Then a fierce storm forces them into a subway tnnnel filled, of course, with zombies. Read more…

1) “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” season-opener, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Some 16 months after the seventh season ended, the eighth and final one arrives, as part of NBC’s post-Olympics surge. It will be brief (just 10 episodes), but welcome. The early seasons were awash in praise – the show won two Golden Globes and was nominated for two Television Critics Association awards and 11 Emmys. As this season starts, Amy is returning from maternity leave and her husband Jake (they’re shown here) is working a case with Rosa. Then Captain Holt creates a weekend getaway. Read more…

1) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10 p.m. today, ABC. A week before the finale, there’s lots of work to do. Last week, Michael Allio – 36, a widower and the only remaining contestant older than Katie Thurston (shown here), 30 – quit after a tender talk with his son, who missed him. That leaves Blake Moynes, 30, a Canadian wildlife manager and two sales guys, Greg Grippo, 27, and Justin Glaze, 26. Still remaining are the hometown visits and the nights when each guy is invited to an overnight date; usually, the guy says yes. Read more…

1) Olympics. For two more weeks, the Olympics dominate on NBC, cable, Peacock and online (www.nbcolympics.com). American audiences are especially big on swimming (shown here), which continues through Sunday, and gymnastics, which keeps going: The team finals are today (men) and Tuesday (women); the individual all-around titles are Wednesday (men) and Thursday (women). Then, on Sunday, individuals start competing per-specialty. Also, the track-and-field events finally start Friday. Read more…

1) Olympics opening ceremony, 7:30 to midnight ET Friday. After a five-year wait – a year longer than usual – the Olympics are here. A few sports – soccer, softball, archery, rowing –will begin Wednesday on the NBC Sports Network; others will wait for the ceremony, which could be spectacular. (The 2016 ceremony is snown here.) There will be no in-person spectators, but there will be 11,000 athletes from 206 countries – ranging from 600-plus Americans to one each from Nairu, Tuvalu, Aruba and South Sudan. Also NBC has previews all day, except 4-7 p.m. Read more…

1) “Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail” debut, 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, TBS. In a comedy-starved summer, this is what we need, filled with darkly clever humor. It has the same stars and writer-producer (Simon Rich) as the previous two “Miracle Workers” series, but new characters and a new era. Now Daniel Radcliffe (shown here) is a clergyman, floundering in the frontier; Geraldine Viswanathan is a zestful parishioner in a drab marriage. Steve Buscemi is the suspicious bloke who is supposed to lead their wagon train west. Read more…

1) “Big Brother” season-opener, 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, CBS. Ever since 2000, this has propelled CBS’ summers, mostly becoming a playground for young people who are telegenic and assertive. Tonight, it’s paifed with “Love Island” (shown here), each with a 90-minute opener. On “Big Brother,” we’ll meet eight women; one is a 40-year-old phlebotomist, but the others range from a 21-year-old grad student to two women who are 30. We’ll meet eight men; a farmer is 34, the others are in their 20s. The house also has a lawyer, a scientist, a teacher and lots of salesfolks. Read more…