Year: 2019

Weekly Previews

Week’s top 10 for May 6: Full of finales

1) “Modern Family” season finale, 9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. In a week stuffed with finales, this may be the big one: It wraps up the second-to-last season of a show that won the best-comedy Emmy in each of its first five seasons. (One year, everyone playing an adult was nominated, landing four of the five spots for supporting actor.) It’s almost time for Haley and Dylan (shown here in a previous episode) to have their twins; that spurs people to recall their recent birthdays. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 2, 2019
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Best bets for May 3: Gloria’s high-octane music

1) Gershwin Prize, 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Things starts vibrantly, with the original “On Your Feet” cast (shown here on Broadway). Dancers leap, singers soar … and then everything sputters. Six people talk before the fun resumes. Fortunately, this is worth waiting for — the music of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, sung by Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Jose Feliciano, the Estefans, their talented daughter Emily and more. There’s also a sharp film from Lin-Manuel Miranda, overcoming the show’s so-so production. Read more…

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

“Empire” is renewed … as its sons seem to vanish

Fox has just renewed “Empire” for next season … while viewers are being hammered by this season’s Vanishing Son Syndrome.
Last week, Jussie Smollett had his final episode as Jamal. Viewers knew he’d been fired …. but weren’t ready for the next blow: Andre, Jamal’s brother, has learned that his heart is failing; with no chance for a donated organ (due to his recent cancer struggle), he wants his dad Lucious to assist his suicide Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 1, 2019
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Best bets for May 2: Ethical crisis for “Big Bang”

1) “The Big Bang Theory,” 8 p.m., CBS. With only four episodes left, TV’s best comedy points to a big possibility: Sheldon and Amy might win the Nobel Prize he’s always assumed he would get. Tonight, they face a temptation: Their prime competition is a duo played by Kal Penn and Sean Astin (shown here); now Kripke has proof that the latter plagiarized his college thesis. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 30, 2019
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John Singleton: A big loss for quality TV

John  Singleton burst onto the movie world with a revolutionary fervor. His first Oscar nominations — for writing and directing “Boyz n the Hood” — came when he was just 24; he was reportedly the youngest person and the first African American nominated as director.
Oddly, those were also his last nominations. In the years that followed, he said, Hollywood was sometimes frustrating. But lately, Singleton — who died today (April 29) at 51 — had found a place known for supporting creative talent: cable’s FX network. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 30, 2019
Stories

A Lori-less “Heart” finally returns

(Updated May 6)
The transition is complete: Like Russian dictators of old, Lori Loughlin has become a non-person.Scenes were re-edited, re-shot, re-written. After seven weeks in limbo, Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart” returned Sunday and continues Monday (May 5-6).
The feel-good show centers on Elizabeth (Erin Krakow), who left her privileged background in 1910, to teach on the Canadian frontier. Devastated by a mining tragedy, the town was held together by sturdy women, especially Abigail (Loughlin). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 29, 2019
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Best bets for May 1: Lot of music, lots of hyphens

1) “Billboard Music Awards,” 8-11 p.m., NBC. Taylor Swift opens the night by premiering “Me!” She’s joined by Brandon Urie, whose group (Panic! At the Disco) also performs. This night – which has way too many exclamation marks! — has Halsey alone and with BTS (shown here at last year’s event). Other combos include Madonna and Maluma, Tori Kelly with Dan + Shay. Also performing are Kelly Clarkson (who hosts), Mariah Carey (who gets the Icon Award), Paula Abdul, the Jonas Brothers, Ciara, Khalid and Lauren Daigle. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 29, 2019
News and Quick Comments

A life lesson about babies, books and cash

It was a moment when someone offered an irrrefutable truth.
And it had the bonus of showing I’m not so bad, after all. There was more such proof this week.
In the 1998 cable movie “Floating Away,” Paul Hogan (shown here in his crocodile days) said this to Rosanna Arquette: “Sometimes, a bad parent is better than a good parent who leaves the baby on top of the car.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 28, 2019
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Best bets for April 30: ‘The 100’ is sort of ‘The 8’

1) “The 100” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. A nice nap is helpful, but this goes too far: Clarke (Eliza Taylor, shown here) and friends were in a sleep state for 125 years. Now they’re awake (and, one assumes, refreshed), with a task: Colleagues feel they’ve found a planet that can support life. “The 100” began with 100 people trying Earth; this hour, a good one, has a landing party of eight, including Clarke, Bellamy and the relentlessly annoying Murphy. In the ship are Clarke’s mom and the relentlessly annoyed Octavia and Raven. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 28, 2019