SHOW OF THE WEEK: 9/11: One Day in America (Aug. 29, 9 p.m., National Geographic)

An aerial view of Ground Zero in Manhattan burning. PHOTO CREDIT: NIST

I used to have an acquaintance who, every Sept. 11, would share her story online of escaping the World Trade Center on the day the towers fell in 2001.

I lost touch with Adrienne so it’s been years since I read her account. I no longer recall which tower she was in or what floor she was on, but I remember how her words never failed to grip me no matter how many times I read them.

Watching an episode of “9/11: One Day in America” reminded me of her story. The six-part series uses equally powerful stories from survivors to recount that horrible day minute by minute, from the first attack by a hijacked commercial jet on the North Tower of the trade centre, to the subsequent attacks on the South Tower and the Pentagon, to the crash of hijacked Flight 93 in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew stormed the cockpit. Two thousand, 977 people died that day 20 years ago.

That death toll is small compared to the ongoing fatality rate of the COVID-19 pandemic, but no one who remembers that day will ever forget what they were doing when they heard the news or — for those of us who felt immune from terrorism as North Americans — how profoundly it shook their world view.

The difference between “One Day in America” and other Sept. 11 documentaries I’ve seen is that it shares survivors’ stories without any narration or expert commentary; just their words supplemented by video and audio footage of the events.

Following a virtual screening I attended of Episode 2, “The South Tower,” executive producer T.J. Martin explained that he and co-producer Dan Lindsay (“Undefeated”) wanted to present an oral history of the day, free from the “geopolitics” that had attached themselves to Sept. 11, as “a conduit for empathy.”

I can’t imagine listening to the eyewitness accounts and not feeling empathy. Consider Stanley Praimnath, whose office on the South Tower’s 81st floor was in the direct path of the jetliner. Somehow surviving after pieces of the plane flattened walls and mangled furniture, he was saved when Brian Clark, who was making his way down from the 84th floor, heard his cries for help.

Brian and nine or 10 others were stopped on the 81st floor landing by a woman who told them they had to go back up. His companions retraced their steps and died. Brian chose to stay and help Stanley. Together, they made their way to the ground, effectively saving each other’s lives.

Kathy Comerford, who was blown out of her shoes on the 70th floor, recalls how people helped each other on the way out, especially how security guard Rick Rescorla sang to calm the terrified evacuees when they reached the 44th floor. He died in the collapse of the South Tower after refusing to leave so he could make sure he hadn’t missed anyone.

That’s just a fraction of what you’ll see and hear, and I won’t pretend it’s an easy watch. I have left out the more graphic memories from emergency responders at the scene. What makes it worthwhile is the humanity that shines through.

After Episode 1 on Aug. 29, episodes 2 and 3 air Aug. 30 at 9 and 10 p.m.; episodes 4 and 5 on Aug. 31 at 9 and 10 p.m., and episode 6 on Sept. 1 at 9 p.m.

American Horror Stories (Aug. 25, Disney Plus)

If you are a fan of the Ryan Murphy-Brad Falchuk brand of gore mixed with sex and humour, this series might be right up your alley.

Personally I was a bit blood-and-guts fatigued after four episodes.

Not to mention that the content skews very YA in that the protagonists, at least from what I saw, are mostly teenagers (well, 20- and 30-somethings playing teenagers).

Although billed as an anthology series, episodes 1 and 2 are a two-parter that takes place in the infamous “Murder House” of “American Horror Story” Season 1, while the finale (which I did not screen) returns to that venue.

The first episodes feature Sierra McCormick (“The Vast of Night”) as Scarlett, the lesbian daughter of a gay couple (Matt Bomer and Gavin Creel) who plan to turn the house into a spooky B&B. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out those plans go awry, particularly since Scarlett has a taste for ultra-violent porn, a good fit for a house full of ghosts of murders past.

I didn’t find Scarlett particularly sympathetic, not even as the target of a group of mean girls led by her crush Maya (Paris Jackson).

The same applies to other characters like Chad (Rhenzy Feliz) in Episode 3, whose obsession with getting into his reluctant girlfriend’s pants leads him to a drive-in where a banned movie that purportedly turns its audience into killers is playing. And don’t get me started on the sociopathic social media influencer “bros” in Episode 4, who mess with the wrong mall Santa.

There’s at least some fun to be had in those episodes from seeing old pros like Adrienne Barbeau and Danny Trejo in small but choice roles.

But overall the series leaves me with an impression I’ve had from other Murphy-Falchuk efforts, that it’s style over substance.

“American Horror Story” also returns this week, with the 10th instalment, “Double Feature,” debuting on FX Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. I wasn’t able to get an advance look at that one.

Clickbait (Aug. 25, Netflix)

Zoe Kazan stars as the sister of a kidnap victim in “Clickbait” (with Kate Lister as a pesky reporter). PHOTO CREDIT: Ben King/Netflix

There are lots of excellent crime dramas out there. “Clickbait” isn’t one of them.

I presume it’s meant to be a commentary on the ubiquity of technology, albeit not a very nuanced one. The plot is driven by seemingly devoted husband and father Nick (Adrian Grenier) being kidnapped and popping up in a video holding hand-lettered signs that say he abuses women and that he’ll die when the video reaches five million views.

Cue the search, in which the Oakland police piggyback on the work of citizen investigators who create a geocaching app to find Nick, while the cops and his family follow up clues on social media sites, dating apps, CCTV footage and so on.

The actors do what they can with a weak and cliched script, but the characterizations are so shallow you’d hurt yourself if you dove into them.

Take Nick’s sister Pia, played by Zoe Kazan (“The Big Sick”), who spends most of her time stomping around being either angry or sad and not much in between. Betty Gabriel (“Defending Jacob”) plays Nick’s seemingly perfect wife Sophie and Australian actor Phoenix Raei is ambitious but caring detective Roshan Amir, who’s Muslim, which we know because we see snippets of him praying, and his mother trying to feed him and asking why he hasn’t been promoted to homicide yet. See what I mean about cliches?

Anyway, by the time I watched four of the eight episodes, I really didn’t care whether Nick was a good guy or a bad guy, or what happened to him.

You’d be better off to check out “Motel Makeover” (Aug. 25), which follows media darlings April Brown and Sarah Sklash, proprietors of the trendy June Motel in Prince Edward County, as they “Junify” a 24-room motel, plus restaurant and pool, in Sauble Beach over just five months.

April Brown and Sarah Sklash check out a dated room in the former Knight’s Inn.
PHOTO CREDIT: Geoff George/Courtesy of Netflix

If you’re not put off by the pair’s cheerful go-girl energy, there are pleasures to be had in watching them transform a mess of 1970s wood panelling and smelly carpets into the stuff that millennial dreams are made of.

Personally, I’m a sucker for a nice paint job and some thrift-store treasure hunting.

Also on Netflix this week are the animated spinoff “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf” (Aug. 23); Part 4 of the comedy series “Family Reunion” (Aug. 24) and the film “He’s All That” (Aug. 27).

Odds and Ends

Poet Rupi Kaur in the special “Rupi Kaur Live.” PHOTO CREDIT: Amrita Singh

You can see immensely popular Indian-Canadian poet Rupi Kaur in the special “Rupi Kaur Live,” coming to Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 27. According to Amazon, the one-hour show, filmed in Los Angeles pre-pandemic, fuses poetry, humour, spoken word, music and visuals.

Attention “Mandalorian” fans, Disney Plus has a tidbit for you while you await Season 3, with “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian,” a look at the making of the Season 2 finale and the reappearance of Luke Skywalker, dropping on Aug. 25.

Personally I’m stoked for the return of “Inspector Morse” prequel series “Endeavour,” coming to the PBS Masterpiece Amazon Prime Video channel on Aug. 23.

Speaking of PBS, if you’re a fan of TV historian Lucy Worsley, she’s back with three new episodes of “Royal Myths & Secrets,” beginning Aug. 29 at 8 p.m., delving into Henry VIII’s Reformation, England’s Regency era and the Russian Revolution.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time, and reflect information provided to me and cross-checked where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste.