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.
2) “9/11” and “The 9/11 Classroom,” 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday, CNN. On Sept. 11, 2001, a crew was filming a New York firefighter; that quickly turned into a gripping World Trade Center film. It reruns here, followed by a gently upbeat look at the former Florida schoolkids who were visited by George W. Bush that morning. Also Saturday: the finale of Spike Lee’s New York film (8-10 p.m., HBO) and a rerun of National Geographic’s richly crafted “9/11: One Day in America” (5:30 p.m. to midnight).
3) “Impeachment: American Crime Story” opener, 10 p.m. Tuesday, FX; rerunning hourly. It’s been five years since producer Ryan Murphy triumphed with his O.J. Simpson mini-series. Now he nearly matches that with a Bill Clinton film that is both funny and enraging. Playwright Sarah Burgess (with Monica Lewinsky as consultant) wrote the sharp script. Viewers will love Lewinsky and Paula Jones and rage at Linda Tripp – perfectly played by Beanie Feldstein, Annaleigh Ashford and Sarah Paulson.
4) “Bachelor in Paradise” or royal movies Monday – 8-10 p.m., ABC; or 3-10 p.m., Lifetime. We can choose the brash, bikini-clad romances of “Paradise” or the subtler ones of royalty. Lifetime reruns the fairly charming “Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance” (2018) at 3 p.m., with “Harry and Meghan: Becoming Royal” (2019) at 5:30; then it debuts “Harry and Meghan: Escaping the Palace” at 8. Oddly, different actors play the couple each time. At 10:03 p.m. is a new special, “The American Royal Baby.”
5) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. Last week was rough on singers. Only Jimmie Herrod, 30, advanced to the finals; others – three soloists and a vocal quartet – were ousted. Joining Herrod on Sept. 14 will be a magician, a comedian, a teen aerialist, a taekwondo team … and five more acts, to be announced Wednesday (8-9 p.m.). Competing Tuesday are two singers, two vocal groups and two comedians, plus dancers, acrobats, unicyclists, a mentalist and even a quick-change artist.
6) “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” opener, Wednesday, Disney+. Taking a driving test, a 16-year-old –who’s also a doctor – leaps out to assist at an accident scene. That was in “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” 32 years ago, and repeats in this charming series: Lahela Kamealoha is a Hawaiian surfer like her dad and a doctor like her mom; recalling the old show, colleagues dub her “Doogie.” Also streaming: Netflix has a documentary on Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali (Thursday) and the action film “Kate” (Friday).
7) “Good Trouble” season-finale, 9:30-11 p.m. Wednesday, Freeform. We don’t expect a season-finale to resolve every plot line – but we do expect many of them to be settled. Not here. Despite the extra length, the finale leaves us with most things in the air, plus a note that it will return sometime in 2022. There’s the court case for Callie … work crises for Mariana and Malika … the comedy showcase for Alice … the romance triangle for Davia. “Good Trouble” is a good show with an overload of trouble.
8) “20/20: The Women of 9/11,” 9-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. The surge of 9/11 films starts with this one, narrated by Robin Roberts. It meets first-responders and survivors – including one who was trapped for 27 hours, until a dog found her. “I was just praying and asking God to show me a sign and give me a miracle,” she says. It also meets women who lost loved ones; for another moving portrait, PBS (9-11 p.m. Friday) reruns “Generation 9/11,” with people born after their fathers died on 9/11.
9) “CBS Fall Preview,” 9 p.m. Thursday, CBS. Annaleigh Ashford can do it all. She’s brilliant in drama (“Impeachment,” starting Tuesday) … comedy (“B Positive,” returning this fall) and on Broadway (a Tony award in a play and nomination in a musical). Now she leads the musical opening for this special. CBS needs some extra pizzazz here, because it only has four new scripted shows – three of them spinning off or rebooting “NCIS,” “FBI” and “CSI.” Only the comedy gem “Ghosts” is totally new.
10) “American Rust” debut, 10 p.m Sunday., Showtime. In a crumbling Pennsylvania town, people make do. The police chief (superbly played by Jeff Daniels) carries dark memories from the military and from years as a Pittsburgh cop; his sometimes-lover (Maura Tierney) may lose her home and her son. That leads a big night that also has the “60 Minutes” season-opener (7:30 p.m., CBS), the terrific “Guilt” finale (9-11 p.m., PBS) and the MTV Music Video Awards (8 p.m., MTV, CW, VH1 and more).