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Today marks the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Half a decade has passed. Why does it still feel like 2002 on television?

On Sept. 11, 2002, television commemorated the attacks' first anniversary with a single-mindedness that was both moving and a little overwhelming. It seemed that every network except the Cartoon Network and Animal Planet aired some kind of 9/11 documentary. Back then, Jon Stewart cracked that programmers were approaching the first anniversary with "all of the solemnity of Sweeps."

But the focus on emotions and nostalgia that was so natural and even necessary in 2002 seems rather peculiar in 2006. If, as we are told, we are in the midst of a global struggle comparable to World War II, then why are so many of these specials focusing only on the war's opening day? Five years after Pearl Harbor, the war with Nazism, Fascism and Imperial Japan had been fought and won. In fact, it had been over for a year. Any commemoration of Pearl Harbor's fifth anniversary on Dec. 7, 1946, would have noted that triumph.

Five years after 9/11, we're seeing a lot of specials that could have aired in 2002. In fact, some of them did. Why are we stuck on reruns? What has changed in five years? What have we learned? What have we done right? Where have we gone wrong? How has culture evolved? Can we rely on television to ask these hard questions? Or does it all come down to raw emotions and news nostalgia?

Today's 9/11-related programming includes:

¢ Beginning at 5 a.m., CNBC will broadcast from Ground Zero with programming focusing on the financial impact of the terror attacks and the state of business in a post-9/11 world.

¢ "Brothers Lost: Stories of 9/11" (6 p.m., Cinemax) profiles men who lost siblings in the terror attacks; efforts to keep their memories alive and the bonds that have grown between survivors.

¢ The conclusion of "The Path to 9/11" (7 p.m., ABC), a superior, if controversial, miniseries based on the findings of the 9/11 Commission.

¢ Jane Pauley returns to "Dateline" (7 p.m., NBC) to update her 2001 report on Flight 93.

¢ "Nova" (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings) presents "Building on Ground Zero," looking at changes in building construction and security since the attacks.

¢ Steve Buscemi narrates "Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11" (9 p.m., Sundance) about the firefighters and construction workers who have contracted illnesses after being exposed to toxic debris.

¢ Chris Matthews hosts "9/11: The Day that Changed America" (9 p.m., MSNBC) including interviews with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Sen. Hillary Clinton, presidential adviser Karen Hughes, police official Bernard Kerik and others about where they were on that day.

Tonight's other highlights

¢ The Washington Redskins host the Minnesota Vikings in NFL action (6 p.m., ESPN).

¢ A not-so-phantom hitchhiker strikes on "Prison Break" (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ On two episodes of "Medium" (NBC), Allison bonds with an accused killer (8 p.m.), visions of a road not taken (9 p.m.).

¢ New evidence takes the case in strange directions on "Vanished" (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ A killer strikes close to home on "CSI: Miami" (9 p.m., CBS).