Year: 2019

News and Quick Comments

CW: “The 100” joins the departure line

LOS ANGELES — The old gang seems to be breaking up at the CW network.
Then again, the new shows will be a lot like the ones that are leaving.
Three of the network’s most-praised series — “iZombie,” “Jane the Virgin” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” — ended their seasons this year. Two more, “Arrow” and “Supernatural,” have already said the coming season will be their last.
And now comes one more: “The 100” — which wraps ends its current season Tuesday – will also make next season its last, said CW chief Mark Pedowitz. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 4, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 6: The chaotic joy of Woodstock

1) “American Experience,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Five weeks before Woodstock, promoters had a mega-list of performers — and nowhere to play. Banned in one town, they scrambled to find another. They barely got the stage finished … never did get the fences … and saw the masses swarm in. Food was scarce, mud was abundant and traffic was so snarled that the performers needed helicopters. This could have been a disaster, but people who were there recall it fondly. Here’s a terrific, 50th-anniversary portrait. And for a full Woodstock story, scroll down this page or jump to the “stories” category. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 4, 2019
News and Quick Comments

Small show wins big at TCA awards

LOS ANGELES — “Fleabag” — a handmade British show, filled with charm and regret – is the year’s big winner in the Television Critics Association awards.
The TCA gave it the top award for comedy and also named it program of the year. In addition, Phoebe Waller-Bridge – its creator and star — won the individual comedy award. (She’s shown here in the show.)
The drama awards went to “Better Call Saul” and to “Fosse/Verdon” star Michelle Williams, with “Russian Doll” named best new show and “Chernobyl” winning for best movie or mini-series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 4, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 5: Bachelors and “Big Bang”

1) “Bachelor in Paradise” opener, 8-10:01 p.m., ABC. TV is determined to stuff our summer with blue sky, sunshine and folks who look nice in swimwear. This starts wih 11 women (most of them shown here) and nine men. The opening focus is on Blake Horstmann, 30, who was runner-up in last year’s “Bachelorette.” He gets the first date card, stirring things with past acquaintances Hannah Godwin and Caelynn Miller-Keyes, both 24. Then his ex-girlfriend (Kristina Schulman, 27) arrives. That complicates things … which is how TV likes it. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 3, 2019
Stories

A “Hot” show becomes instant nostalgia

Floating through the TV universe are endless tele-memories
.The channels vary – Get and Grit, Decades and Retro and Antenna and more – as do the shows. There’s “Partridge Family” and “Petticoat Junction,” Ed Sullivan and Johnny Cash and “Death Valley Days.”
But into that world comes a surprise: Just four years after it ended its run, “Hot in Cleveland” begins a two-hour rerun stretch every weekday on GetTV. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 3, 2019
Stories

Got a billion? Want something new? Go undercover

LOS ANGELES — Glenn Stearns was facing a common– well, semi-common – dilemma.
He had it all – the cash, the cars, the houses, the charity. What else might he want?
A ranch? An island? He had them, too. (In fairness, he merely shares them – one with John Elway, the other with Sir Richard Branson.)
What’s left? Reality shows – first “The Real Gilligan’s Island” and now “Undercover Billionaire.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 2, 2019
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 4: It’s country’s night

1) “CMA Fest,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini host and do two songs apiece. One of hers is with the Chainsmokers, in a night stuffed with duets. Brothers Osborne and Brooks & Dunn do two, one adding Ashley McBryde. There’s Tim McGraw with Luke Combs, Maren Morris with Brandi Carlisle, Carrie Underwood with Joan Jett, Keith Urban with Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X. There are also solo stars – Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 2, 2019
Stories

Woodstock — the triumphant disaster

LOS ANGELES — As the reports rolled in, one thing was clear: Woodstock (shown here) was a disaster, a swirl of mud and hunger, chaos and confusion.
“The New York Daily News headline (said), ‘Hippies mired in sea of mud,” recalled Joel Makower, whose book is the basis for a PBS documentary Tuesday.
Other headlines echoed that — “Rock Crisis” and “Traffic Uptight at Hippiefest” and more. They set a grim tone, as festival founders had their post-Woodstock meeting with bitter bankers. “The last headline we had read was ‘Nightmare in the Catskills,’” Joel Rosenman recalled.
Then things rebounded, he said. The bankers compromised. “And the next headline we saw, which we thought was going to be worse, was, ‘Miracle at Bethel.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 2, 2019
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Aug. 5; re-visiting “Woodstock”

1) “American Experience,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. To the outside world, Woodstock (shown here) was a mess – too much mud and chaos, too little food and water. But the people who were there tell a different story – a mega-crowd absorbing good vibes and great music. Just shy of the 50th anniversary (Aug. 15-18), this compelling film views Woodstock from the start … including the scramble for a new site, five weeks before the event. The stage barely got finished, the fence never was finished, but the party went on. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 1, 2019
News and Quick Comments

CBS faces woes over stereotypes and sex comments

LOS ANGELES — Just as CBS is renewing “Love Island,” its other summer reality show faces fresh scrutiny.
“We have heard things about (‘Big Brother’) that we are not comfortable with,” Kelly Kahl, the network president, confirmed.
One of the show’s producers has already been chastised for prompting a contestant to give outspoken soundbites, he said, and will be talked to after the season. And all of the network producers get training in facing “unconscious bias.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 1, 2019