9/11 anniversary specials

Hearst: life in the Trump-Murdoch-Kane lane

William Randolph Hearst lived a life of dizzying extremes.
It was part-Trump and part-Murdoch, with bits of the fictional Charles Foster Kane. It rippled with power, both symbolic (a castle, shown here, a movie-star lover) and real, with newspapers, magazines and more.
But there were also parts of Hearst that were surprisingly mellow. “People were expecting something as brash as his newspapers,” Victoria Kastner, a Hearst historian, told the Television Critics Association. “Actually, he was quite courtly and an elegant man with a sense of humor.”
astner – former official historian for Hearst’s San Simeon estate – is one of the commentators in a four-hour “American Experience” profile, from 9-11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 27-28) on PBS. Read more…

Surge of New York specials starts with mega-concert

Television’s surge of New York-themed specials will get an early start.
CNN has just added a live, New York City concert, with Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and many more. It will focus on the city’s comeback from the pandemic and will honor front-liners.
That will be 5 p.m. ET Saturday (Aug. 21), one day before HBO launches Spike Lee’s documentary (8 p.m. Sunday) about New York in the 20 years since the World Trade Center was attacked. Many other New York-temed specials will be closer to Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the attack. Read more…