Mike Hughes on TV

Alysa Liu: joy on ice

As the team portion of Olympic figure skating peaked, NBC’s Terry Gannon had a question.
“Is Alys Liu ever NOT smiling?” he asked.
Apparently not. Liu (shown here) had finished her part, the short program, and now was sitting with her teammates, mostly beaming. A week later, she had something more to smile about: She became the first U.S. woman to win figure-skating gold in 24 years.
Viewers can get a sampling Saturday, when NBC has the Olympics skating gala in two bursts, at 2:55 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. ET. There will be no rules, no judges, just the medalists skating for fun. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 20, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 21: serious hockey, fun skating

(These are slightly out of order; the Feb. 22 one appears below this)

1) Winter Olympics. It’s the last full day, with a flurry of medal finals. The USA Network is mostly live from 4 a.m. ET to the hockey bronze-medal game, at 2:40 p.m. NBC is mostly live from 10 to 6, then repackages the day from 8-11 p.m. And CNBC has curling, from 1-7 p.m.

2) Skating gala, 2:55 to 3:15 p.m. ET and 3:50 to 4:30. Amid all of that competition, here’s the opposite. It’s a figure-skating exhibition, with no rules, no judges and lots of dazzle. The medalists — including the U.S.’ Chock-and-Bates dance duo (shown here) and solo sensation Alysa Liu — can simply have fun. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 20, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 22: Dramas soar as Olympics end

1) “Dark Winds,” 9 p.m., AMC, rerunning at 10:03. First is a fresh angle on the shoot-out in last week’s opener. Then things get deeper for Joe (shown her), who’s haunted by his wife’s departure, and his deputies — Bernadette (secretly promised his job when he retires) and Chee (her boyfriend). In a potent hour, they (and a killer) search for a teen runaway and her cousin. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 20, 2026

Stories

An actor’s life — from Lucifer to the CIA

For an actor, it’s handy when the guys you play have things in common.
Just ask Tom Ellis (shown here, left). After six years in the title role of “Lucifer,” he stars as Colin in “CIA,” arriving at 10 p.m. Monday (Feb. 23), at the front of CBS’ post-Olympic surge.
“They’re quite similar, actually,” he told the Television Critics Association. Like Lucifer, “Colin is two steps ahead of everybody else, or at least thinks he is.”
Still, they’re opposites in two key ways: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 19, 2026

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 23: It’s a post-Olympic flurry

1) “Marshals” debut, 8 p.m. Sunday, CBS. In “Yellowstone,” Kayce Dutton (shown here) left his family’s mega-ranch to be a SEAL and then to live on the neighboring reservation, where his wife grew up. Now a former military buddy is a U.S. marshal who needs help. The opener lays on the macho-folks dialog way too thick, but gives us sturdy people to care about. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 19, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 20: skaters, stumblers, Sun Ra

1) “American Masters” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Sun Ra (shown here) proclaimed he was an angel from Saturn. His concerts matched that mystical feel, merging jazz, dance, poetry and pageantry. In truth, he was Sonny Blount; he had his own big band as a Memphis teen, was disowned by family and friends after resisting World War II, then created a fascinating persona. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 18, 2026

News and Quick Comments

Springtime at Fox? It will look like summer

Fox’s spring line-up will look suspiciously like a summer one.
Three shows that usually anchor the summer — “MasterChef,” “The 1% Club” (shown here) and “The Quiz With Balls” — will arrive in mid-April. By then, the network will be awash in games and reality.
And scripted shows? Most will end their seasons early — “Memory of a Killer,” April 6; “Best Medicine,” April 7; “Doc,” April 14; “Animal Control” and “Going Dutch,” April 19. After that, it will be just the cartoons.
Fox’s one new scripted show — a three-Sunday mini-series, “The Faithful: Women of the Bible” — will conclude on Easter, April 5. Soon after that, the network will be all games, reality and cartoons: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 18, 2026

Stories

CBS slumber ends; a fresh surge is coming

For CBS, the winter slumber is finally ending.
It’s been a long one. Most shows haven’t had a new episode since mid-December; it was Dec. 9 for “NCIS: Origins,” Dec. 8 for “DMV.”
Now — after 9-10 weeks of hibernation — the surge begins. In one stuffed week, CBS has:
— Two new series: “CIA” at 10 p.m. Monday (Feb. 23) and “Marshals” (shown here) at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 1.
— The start of the 50th “Survivor.” It gets a three-hour launch, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25.
— And the return of 11 more series, from “The Neighborhood” at 8 p.m. Monday to “Tracker” and “Watson,” at 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday, March 1. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 17, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 19: going for gold in skating, hockey

1) Figure skating, 1-5 p.m. ET, NBC. For many viewers, this is the peak, with the women’ long program. It has created pop-culture stars, from the U.S. (Tara Lipinski, who is now NBC’s commentator, Dorothy Hamill, etc.) and beyond (from Sonja Henie to Katarina Witt). Now the current stars — including the U.S.’ Amber Glenn (shown here) and Alysa Liu — get their chance. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 17, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 18: beautiful evil, dangerous love

1) “The Beauty,” 9 p.m., FX and Hulu. Two potent monologues propel this hour. One is an intense sales pitch by Ashton Kutcher (shown here), the other a personal reflection by Anthony Ramos. Both– plus FBI agents and fight scenes — are part of this look at a fierce obsession with beauty. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 16, 2026