Day: August 19, 2021

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Aug. 23: from 9/11 pain to reality fun

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…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2021
News and Quick Comments

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…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 21: Stars (and networks) link

1) “Stand Up to Cancer,” 8 p.m., ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, E, Showtime, Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, more. The first six specials raised awareness, plus $603 million for cancer research. They were on even-numbered years, but missed 2020 because of COVID. This one is hosted by comedy people – Anthony Anderson, Sofia Vergara, Ken Jeong and his wife Tran Ho (they’re shown here with their daughters)– and has music from Brittany Howard and from Common with Stevie Wonder. Segments include Ciara, Deon Cole, Jennifer Garner and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 19, 2021