Hank Stuever
Hank Stuever
Critic

A list of JFK assassination-related TV shows — with our TV critic’s recommendations

(Joseph Sinnott/ ) - JFK: ONE PM CENTRAL STANDARD TIME-- Re-enactment of the CBS Newsroom in New York on the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

(Joseph Sinnott/ ) - JFK: ONE PM CENTRAL STANDARD TIME-- Re-enactment of the CBS Newsroom in New York on the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

Here’s a quick viewing guide to some of the Kennedy-related TV documentaries and specials airing this month, with Post TV critic Hank Stuever’s recommendations denoted by a “★.”

Hank Stuever

Hank Stuever is The Washington Post’s TV critic and author of two books, “Tinsel” and “Off Ramp.”

Archive

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★ JFK: The Final Hours

Friday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel

Narrated by Bill Paxton, an intriguing replay of Jack and Jackie’s trip to Texas, featuring several interviews with people who met them and also a lot of memories from Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent assigned to guard the first lady.

Fox News Reporting: 50 Years of Questions — The JFK Assassination

Saturday, Nov. 9 at 9 p.m., Fox News Channel

Discussion hosted by Bill Hemmer.

Killing Kennedy }

Sunday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel

Dull and clunky. Saved by Will Rothhaar’s nervy performance as Lee Harvey Oswald — a poor man’s Ryan Gosling!

★ American Experience: JFK

In two parts — Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 11 and 12 at 9 p.m., WETA and MPT

The big kahuna of this year’s Kennedy documentaries — a full biography and examination of his presidency. Lots of footage you’ve seen before; some you haven’t. A good start for those born after 1980 or so; a reverent review for those who remember it all vividly.

Capturing Oswald

Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 10 p.m., Military Channel

Looks at the fast scramble by Dallas police officers and feds to find the Kennedy assassin (and cop-killer). Interviews, recollections and the whole tick-tock account.

★ Nova: Cold Case JFK

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 9 p.m., WETA and MPT

Father-son ballistics experts run experiments in the desert to see whether the Warren Commission’s findings pass their plausibility tests.

★ JFK: One P.M. Central Standard Time }

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 10 p.m., WETA and MPT

News junkies will dig this “Secrets of the Dead” episode, narrated by George Clooney, about how the news from Dealey Plaza and Parkland Hospital was broken and confirmed by reporters in Dallas and New York — up to and including CBS anchor Walter Cronkite’s live announcement that Kennedy had died.

★Marching On: 1963 Army-Navy Remembered

Thursday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network

Recounts the somber but healing football game — postponed after Kennedy’s assassination — that helped coax a nation back to normalcy.

JFK: A President Betrayed

On-demand beginning Nov. 14, DirecTV

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, a look at Kennedy’s efforts to avoid armed conflict and reign in the nuclear-arms race, while fending off the hawks around him who wanted to drop bombs. This one’s for those with DirecTV who can never hear enough about the Cold War.

Kennedy’s Suicide Bomber

Sunday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m., Smithsonian Channel

Here’s a weird one most everyone forgot: A man drove to Palm Beach hoping to kill president-elect Kennedy in December 1960 with a car bomb.

The Day Kennedy Died

Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m., Smithsonian Channel

A thorough examination of routes, schedules, trajectories, eerie details and Zapruder close-ups.

★ Letters to Jackie

Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m., TLC

Tenderly examines a handful of the 800,000 condolence letters the first lady received in the days after the assassination, read aloud by celebrities.

The Lost JFK Tapes

Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m., Discovery

Features some new audio recordings and testimonies from those who saw it happen in Dallas.

JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide

Friday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m., History

Whodunit? (Besides Oswald.) A roundup and breakdown of all the theories and unsolved mysteries of what happened at Dealey Plaza and then, two days later, when Jack Ruby shot Oswald. A survey reveals what Americans today think most likely happened, based on their, uh, vast expertise.

Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live

Friday, Nov. 22 at 10 p.m., History

We still don’t know what made Oswald do it, but we sure know a lot about his last two days alive.

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