9/11 on TV: a comprehensive guide to the best 10th-anniversary specials
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Brothers Peter and Tommy Langone, 9/11 first responders, both died at the World Trade Center. This photo is from "Children of 9/11," which will air on NBC at 10 p.m. Monday.
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Tommy Langone was a New York City police officer and volunteer firefighter who died on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. His daughter, Caitlin, was 12 at the time.
There is a point in the documentary "Children of 9/11" where she says, "I would give anything in the world just to give my dad a hug again," and it's clear that the span of 10 years cannot truly diminish her pain.
Monday's presentation represents the wide variety of this week's programming across various platforms on almost every major network. Focusing on the children gives the horrors of 9/11 a more human face; many other programs concentrate on the progress made in rebuilding the World Trade Center and its new memorials, including Discovery and Science Channels' "Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero" and Fox's "FOX News Reporting Freedom Rising With Shepard Smith."
More than 3,000 children lost a parent on 9/11, and NBC's presentation of "Children of 9/11" at 10 p.m. catches up with 11 of them.
Some were older, like Caitlin, a few were born just days before or after their fathers died. Rodney Ratchford, whose mother died at the Pentagon, was 11 at the time, got angry at the world and spiralled downward into drugs. But he has rebuilt his life.
Tom Burnett died on one of the airplanes. "We stopped dancing before bed -- we stopped everything," recalls one of his daughters. Home video shows Mr. Burnett surrounded by three little girls, gleefully jumping around the room.
Mohammad Chowdhury, a Muslim, was killed while working at the World Trade Center. His young family eventually moved out of the state in search of calm.
Produced and directed by Janice Sutherland, "Children" is at times heartbreaking, but the overall message is that children are resilient, if not always able to understand the reasons for the awful things that can happen.
"I hope the documentary allows people to remember and understand that there were real people affected and are continued to be affected," Caitlin Langone said recently. Her uncle, a firefighter, also died in the attacks. "But you don't have to coddle us ... you don't have to treat us with kid gloves.
"You know, you don't have to feel awkward about it or anything. Just if we want to talk, just listen. Like, that's what we need."
The Discovery and Science Channels' program is Part 1 of a six-hour special that made its premiere last week but will encore over the next few days. We've all seen and heard about the plans to create a "new" World Trade Center, but attention to detail and focus on the people -- from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the guys riveting girders -- makes this an inspiring show.
With Steven Spielberg among the executive producers, that's no surprise. There is a scene in the first episode, which looks at the design and creation of the National 9/11 Museum, where a crushed Ladder 3 firetruck nicknamed "Big Red" is lowered into the below-ground museum space. Complete with firemen honor guard and bagpipers in the background, it's a moving event.
Earlier, the collection of some of the museum's oral histories and artifacts are shown, including the story of Abe Zelmanowitz. His brother, Jack, presented Abe's cracked and bent photo ID to the museum and explained that Abe refused to leave behind a friend and co-worker who was in a wheelchair. Both died when the Towers collapsed.
Artifacts manager Mark Wagner points out a scarred bicycle rack: "All these guys did was come to work that day; I don't know if they survived or perished."
The six-hour series airs Sept. 11 beginning at 5 p.m.
"Fox News Reporting Freedom Rising" is partly about history, partly about real estate, partly a political analysis. Host Shepard Smith notes that "America is about creation," setting up the background on the original World Trade Center.
Who knew that an artists' colony had been set up in an adjacent building of the WTC, where painters are documenting the rebirth of Building No. 1, a.k.a. "The Freedom Tower"?
The program checks in on their recording "vision of freedom rising," and it also features behind-the-scenes glimpses of the folks who are creating this new symbol of America. Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava's soaring, cathedral-like plans for the new Port Authority hub, for example, is as impressive inside as out.
First Published September 4, 2011 12:00 am
