Kids are back in school, weather is getting slightly cooler, so it’s time for a Friday night, multi-network fundraiser for education. “Think It Up” (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, 8 p.m.) features an array of stars assembling at the Santa Monica Airport supporting public education. Among them: Kristen Bell, Stephen Colbert, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Seacrest, Jessica Williams. And performances are promised from Kacey Musgraves and Justin Bieber. (Nick Jonas was used in a promo ad, right).
Mostly, the wall-to-wall benefit proves that the country might have shaken the shock of its biggest terror attack. Any other benefit on this day in the last 13 years would have been about Sept. 11. Instead that date is left to the replay of a few documentaries such as “Inside 9/11: War on America” (National Geographic Channel, 7 p.m.), “Miracle of Stairway B” (History, 8 p.m.), “Inside 9/11: Zero Hour” (National Geographic, 9 p.m.), “102 Minutes That Changed America” (History, 9 p.m.). There’s also a new one: “Fox News Reporting: 9/11: Time of Terror” (Fox News, 10 p.m.).
They’ve also scheduled the 2006 Nic Cage drama “World Trade Center” (Showtime, 8:30 p.m.) or the documentary about traversing the World Trade Center towers in 1974, “Man on Wire” (Netflix, streaming), about to be made into a scripted motion picture.
Last year’s Disney adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” (Starz, 8 p.m.), with Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick, makes its premium cable debut.
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO, 10 p.m.) is back live after a short break. His guests include Alexandra Pelosi, Wendell Pierce, Linda Chavez, Salman Rushdie and Michael Moynihan.
That other zombie series, “Z Nation” (Syfy, 10 p.m.) returns for a second season. It’s accompanied by the final season of “Continuum” (Syfy, 11 p.m.) in which Kiera is confronted by a new group of time travelers.
Richmond falls, Sherman marches to the sea and Lee surrenders in the conclusion of “The Civil War” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings). So why exactly are people still waving the flag of the losing Confederates 150 years later?
Other than the telethon, reruns dominate the network schedules deeper into September, save for a new “20/20” (ABC, 10 p.m.).
Seems like an awful lot of woodworking going on, from a two hour “Redwood Kings” (Animal Planet, 8 p.m.) to “Treehouse Masters” (Animal Planet, 10 p.m.), reminding you that at Animal Planet, trees are considered animals.
Two new episodes of “Bering Sea Gold” (Discovery, 8 and 9 p.m.) leads to the “Edge of Alaska” (Discovery, 10 p.m.).
Robert Osborne picks the films tonight on Turner Classic Movies. His choices: “Evergreen” (8 p.m.), “The Macomber Affair” (10 p.m.), “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (11:45 p.m.), “Went the Day Well?” (2 a.m.) and “They Made Me a Fugitive” (4 a.m.).
Baseball includes Blue Jays at Yankees (MLB, 7 p.m.).
In college football, it’s Miami at Florida Atlantic (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m.) and Utah State at Utah (ESPN2, 9 p.m.).
The U.S. Open (ESPN, 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.) continue semifinals, women today, men tonight.
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Ben McKenzie, Billy Gardell. The View: Melissa Rivers, Ciara. The Talk: Betty White, Jessica Radloff, Curtis Stone (rerun). The Real: Aloe Blacc, cast of “Party Down South” (rerun). Ellen DeGeneres: Jimmy Fallon, Pink, Oscar Hernandez, Arizona Rattlers dancers. Wendy Williams: Jennifer Lopez (rerun). Meredith Vieira: Nene Leakes. Queen Latifah: Martin Lawrence, Susan Feniger (rerun).
Late Talk
Stephen Colbert: Amy Schumer, Stephen King, Troubled Waters. Jimmy Kimmel: Mindy Kaling, Ricky Martin. Jimmy Fallon: Donald Trump, Terrence Howard, Pharrell Williams. Seth Meyers: Andy Samberg, Kevin Love, M. Night Shyamalan, Abe Laboriel Jr. James Corden: Leon Bridges. Carson Daly: Curtis Stone, Metz, Ravi Patel. Tavis Smiley: Andrew Garfield.