SAND SCULPTING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2
The Travel Channel (Comcast Ch. 71)
As kids at the beach or in the sandbox, we always thought we were doing good to get damp sand to stay in the shape of the bucket when we tumped it over. How wrong we were. Though it started out as child’s play, modern sand sculpting has evolved to an amazing level, equal parts art and sport. Competing teams use mason’s tools, paint brushes, kitchen gadgets, dental picks and a host of other instruments to transform a bus-sized pile of damp sand into a true masterpiece — one that will inevitably be reclaimed by the wind and the sea. For a short time, however, the results are amazing, ranging from gravity-defying castles to giant, abstract works of three-dimensional art, and must be seen to be believed.
INSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS
8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3
The Discovery Channel (Comcast Ch. 53)
Remember the old saw about those who forget the past being doomed to repeat it. It’s about time once again to revisit that long, tearful day in September 2001. In what might be the most realistic and exhaustive look yet at what went on inside the Twin Towers after the planes struck, the Discovery Channel talks to survivors, families, experts and architects about what it was like to be trapped in the upper floors of the towers just before they collapsed. The results are bound to be sobering.
DESIGN STAR
8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3
HGTV (Comcast Ch. 49)
For something a little more lighthearted, check out HGTV’s surprise hit “Design Star.” A reality show for the home-and-garden set, “Design Star” started several weeks ago with a troupe of 10 would-be designers. Since then, a number of challenges and votes by celebrity-designer judges has whittled the original group down to three finalists. In the two-hour season finale, the survivors are given $10,000 each to decorate a room in the house of an HGTV contest winner. The winning designer, as determined by a panel of both judges and their former castmates, will go on to win the ultimate designer prize: fame, fortune, design contracts, and his or her own show on the Home and Garden TV network.