Mike Hughes on TV

Stories

From Pompeii to Poseidon: surviving disasters

Staring at movies and TV shows, we’re used to this:
A disaster has started; people promptly shift into another gear. They panic, push, shout, scream and generally misbehave.
Is this realistic? “We do see panic in some emergencies,” Sarita Robinson said. “But not as often as portrayed.”
She’s studied such things for 30 years and has the academic credentials to prove it. She’s ponders disasters, new and old — in one case, very old: She’s in Tom Hiddleston’s “Pompeii: Out of Time,” a fascinating documentary (shown here), from 8-11 p.m. Wednesday (July 22) on the National Geographic Channel. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 20, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 22: Davids, “Dumbest,” Pompeii

1) “Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” season-opener, 8 p.m., ABC. The season starts with two interesting duos. First, Larry David is paired with his daughter Cazzie, a writer and actress. (They’re shown here.) Then Ben Affleck teams with Jamie Ding, who won 31 straight nights of “Jeopardy.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 20, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 21: kitchen nightmare, space joy

1) “Kitchen Nightmares” season-opener, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Who knew there was this much angst and anger in the back of basic, down-home restaurants? In the first hour, a chef faces an immensely disinterested front-of-the-house manager; in the second, an all-American diner wades in ill-will. Somehow, Gordon Ramsay (shown here) seems like the calmest guy in the room. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 19, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 20: lotsa games, new and reruns

1) Celebrity Family Feud,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. Last Thursday, “Feud” — one of TV’s best game shows– had its season-opener.s Now those episodes rerun today, emphasizing football — AFC and NFC champs — and music — En Vogue (shown here at its peak) vs. Sheila E, Lisa Lisa vs. Taylor Dayne. OnThursday, a new episode will pit the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic hockey teams. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 18, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 19: Messi soccer, gory vampire

1) World Cup championship, 3 p.m. ET, Fox. Argentina, the current champs, are back in the finals — barely. Lionel Messi (shown here) and his teammates needed a last-minutes, come-from-behind surge to edge England, 2-1. The Argentines have been in six previous finals, winning three times. Now they face Spain, which won its only previous finals, back in 2010. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 17, 2026

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for July 20: new games, old zombies

1) “Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” season-opener, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Things start with two interesting duos. First, Larry David is paired with his daughter Cazzie, a writer and actress. Then Ben Affleck teams with Jamie Ding (shown here), who won 31 straight nights of “Jeopardy.” That’s followed by reruns of Tim Allen’s “Shifting Gears.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 16, 2026

News and Quick Comments

“Maigret” and “Sullivan’s Creek” will be back

For fans of TV dramas, there are two pieces of good news:
“Maigret” (shown here) will return Oct. 18, for its second season on PBS. And “Sullivan’s Creek” will be back sometime next year, for its fifth on CW. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 16, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 18: Spielberg, sports & “SNL”

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. On the day after his epic “Odyssey” (shown here)_ reaches movie theaters, here’s Matt Damon with fewer battle scars. He hosts this rerun, with music by Noah Kohan. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 16, 2026

News and Quick Comments

Fox plans a tidy (too tidy?) start this fall

For one network, the start of the fall season will be tidy and uncomplicated.
Fox will stuff all of its season-openers into one week. That starts with games (“Name That Tune” and “Weakest Link”) on Monday, Sept. 21, and ends with laughs — “The Simpsons” (shown here), “Animal Control” and more — on Sunday, Sept. 27.
And yes, it will all feel familiar. The season starts with zero new shows. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 15, 2026

Stories

It wasn’t easy to fail to save the universe

When “Stuart Fails to Save The Universe” (shown here) debuts Thursday (July 23), it will bring all sorts of TV milestones.
This is the third spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory” … and the second to skip using a studio audience … and the first to have an alternate-world, apocalyptic, science-fiction concept.
The show (on HBO Max) has Stuart find a portal in his comic-book store. It’s the sort of notion the “Big Bang” guys might savor. “This is the kind of show that they would watch and argue about,” said producer Bill Prady.
But there’s one thing more that makes “Stuart” unique: It’s accompanied by strong praise for David Zaslav. Really. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 15, 2026