Year: 2019

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 16: Finale overload

1) “America’s Got Talent” finals, 8-10:01 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, NBC. The 10 finalists perform Tuesday and viewers vote; on Wednesday, the show will have its 14th champion. As usual, there are lots of singers – Kodi Lee, Emanne Beasha and Benicio Bryant, plus three groups, the Detroit Youth Choir, the Ndlovu Youth Choir and Voices of Service. They face comedian Ryan Niemiller, violinist Tyler Butler-Figuera and two dance groups, the acrobatic V.Unbeatable (shown here) and the Light Balance Kids. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 14: Mulaney re-visits “SNL”

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. John Mulaney (shown here was an “SNL” writer for five years, best-known for molding Bill Hader’s hilarious Stefon. He returned when Bill Hader hosted, to write more Stefon. Mulaney’s been busy lately with everything from acting to stand-up to (for a year) his own situation comedy. Here’s a rerun of his second turn as host, with Thomas Rhett as music guest. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2019
Stories

Here’s an epic, big-tent view of country music

To understand the big-tent view of Ken Burns’ “Country Music,” let’s step back 46 years
It’s May of 1973, at the Michigan State University Auditorium. The concert has the Eagles … and Gram Parsons (with Emmylou Harris) … and Lester Flatt (with Marty Stuart).
Really. The guy from the Byrds … and the band that would make “Life In the Fast Lane” … and the guy whose mandolin propelled “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Tickets ($7) included a second night, with Quicksilver, Canned Heat and REO Speedwagon.
It was, Stuart (shown here) said, “the first time I saw rock and roll and bluegrass and honky tonk and folk music and gospel music collide …. I remember thinking, ‘It can all exist under the umbrella of country music.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 13: Raul Julia’s passionate portrait

1) “American Masters,” 9 p.m., PBS. These days, people keep seeing (and re-seeing) Raul Julia in the two “Addams Family” (shown here) films. But that was just part of a wide-ranging career. Julia arrived from Puerto Rico at 24, ready for Shakespeare and Broadway and talk shows and more. Before his death (at 54, of a stroke after intestinal troubles) he also did passionate roles as Latino activists. Here’s a fond portrait. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2019
News and Quick Comments

Reboots? Some are fine; “BH90210” isn’t

As “BH90210” wraps its noisy little season, we’ll just shrug.
A great idea got so-so execution. The result was almost adequate by lowly, end-of-summer standards.
The finale is 9 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 11) on Fox, promptly rerunning at 8 p.m. Friday. Like previous hours, its self-effacing humor is often quite good; its drama is more-often quite awful. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2019
Stories

Raul Julia’s life was a passionate party

Raul Julia reached New York in 1964, a time when people made easy assumptions.
He was an actor from Puerto Rico; surely, that meant lots of street-smart roles. One talk-show host said she’d heard he didn’t speak English when he got there.
“Of course he spoke English,” theater director Oskar Eustis said. “He spoke beautiful English.”
Julia (shown here) – the subject of a PBS profile Friday — grew up around English-speaking teachers. He was college-educated, Shakespeare-trained. “He was very well-educated …. Latinos don’t (only) come under stressful conditions,” actor Esai Morales said. “We are not always struggling to survive.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 12: Fictional hit man, real politics

1) “Mr. Inbetween” season-opener, 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11. Ray is your average bloke — a caring father, a friend who will help you hide your porn or dispose of a body. He’s also a skilled hit man, which is important tonight (shown here), when he’s asked to check up on two less-skilled guys. There’s a droll feeling here that makes the show fun even when nothing happens; then … well, something happens. That’s followed by a rerun that reminds us to always check the trunk before stealing a car. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2019
News and Quick Comments

With death and dismay, ‘Snowfall’ nears season-finale

From the start, “Snowfall” had delivered sharp jabs.
Lucia had most of her family killed … then vanished. Franklin, the brainy teen, became a drug boss; his friends became killers.
Still, nothing matched the latest jolt: Franklin casually killed Andre, the honest neighborhood cop. On the day of the funeral, Melody – Andre’s daughter, Franklin’s ex-girlfriend– shot him three times and left him to die.
What’s going on? As the season-finale arrives, viewers might incorrectly expect the worst: Maybe Franklin’s being killed and the show – whose co-creator, John Singleton (shown here), died in April at 51, after a stroke – is being cancelled. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 9, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 11: Jolts from fiction and from fact

1) “Snowfall” season-finale, 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11. The last two weeks have delivered fierce jolts. First, Franklin killed Andre, the honest neighborhood cop. Then Melody – Andre’s daughter, Franklin’s former girlfriend – shot Franklin three times, leaving him for dead. Will he survive? Where does the show go from here? Viewers will have to wait until the final minutes to find out. Much of this hour – frustrating, yet fascinating – is a “what if” detour. Then key questions are answered. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 9, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 10: Who’s the funniest?

1) “Bring the Funny” finale, 10:01 p.m., NBC. This started with 40 acts – stand-up comedians, sketch groups, even offbeat “variety acts.” Now it has a final five going for $250,000. One, announced tonight, is the “save” by viewers’ vote; the others are two stand-ups (Taccara Williams, shown here, and Ali Siddiq), plus a sketch act (The Chris & Paul Show) and a musical singing trio called Lewberger. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 8, 2019