1) 9/11 (shown here) coverage, all day. Twentieth-anniversary ceremonies start at 8:30 a.m.ET in New York and 9:45 a.m. in Shanksville, Pa., with the broadcast networks and cable news channels covering. There’s much more, with 9/11 marathons starting at 7 a.m. on History, 9 a.m. on Discovery and 12:30 p.m. on National Geographic. Reruns will dominate, but there are also new specials we’ll mention next.
2) “The 9/11 Classroom,” 7 and 11 p.m. ET, CNN. In a gently told hour, we meet the Florida teacher – and some of her top students – who were reading to George W. Bush when he learned of the Sept. 11 attack. That’s followed at 8 p.m. ET by “Shine a Light,” with young adults discussing the impact of that day on their lives. The hour includes music by Brad Paisley, Common, H.E.R. and Maroon 5.
3) “Four Flights,” 8 p.m., History, Here are stories of the people who were on the four hijacked flights. That’s followed at 10:03 by “9/11: I Was There,” weaving together personal diaries, with “Four Flights” rerunning at 12:06 a.m. Other new specials: Spike Lee’s four-part “NYC Epicenters 9/11 through 2021 and a Half” concludes from 8-10 p.m. on HBO; “Surviving 9/11,” looking at survival stories after the crashes and in the 20 years since, is 8-10:09 p.m. on Discovery, rerunning at midnight.
4) Key reruns. “9/11: One Day in America” (5:30 p.m. to midnight, National Geographic) dug through 900-plus hours of film, added 54 new interviews and told compelling stories, several with surprisingly upbeat twists. “9/11” (9-11 p.m. ET, CNN) is the Emmy-winner from a crew that happened to be filming a firefighter that day. Others include: National Geographic’s George W. Bush interview (4:30 p.m.), History’s “102 Minutes That Changed America” (6 p.m.), Fox News’ “Lost Calls of 9/11” (7 p.m. ET),
5) ALSO: There are still plenty of shows outside 9/11. That includes reruns: From 8-10 p.m., NBC has “America’s Got Talent” semi-finals and CBS has “S.W.A.T.” and “NCIS: New Orleans”; at 11:29 Rege-Jean Page hosts NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Movies are led by “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) at 8 p.m. ET on Turner Classic Movies. College football includes Iowa-Iowa State (ranked No. 10 and 9) at 4:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Fox’s baseball game adds 9/11 emotions, with Yankees-Mets at 7:40 p.m. ET.