Month: March 2020

Stories

Our friend, the Web, brings monopolies and lies

The World Wide Web began as a sort of democratic ideal.
There were no borders, no barriers; it was equal access and equal potential. And then … well, human nature took over.
These days, Niall Ferguson (shown here) says in a PBS special Tuesday (March 17), the Web is “an increasingly polarizing and unstable pace, where the truth itself is at a disadvantage.”
It’s also far from equal. In their respective fields, he said, Amazon has 40 percent of the business … Facebook has 70 percent … Google has 90 percent. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 18: Witches & rappers

1) “Motherland: Fort Salem” debut, 9 p.m., Freeform. They forgot to tell us this in history class: Ever since the Revolutionary War, it seems, witches have been a key part of the American army. Now we meet three young ones (two are shown here) in basic training. There’s the privileged daughter of an officer … an angry youth mourning her mom … and an idealist who just wants to do good. Their arguments feel contrived, but other scenes work well – especially the opening and closing ones, showing how potent the enemy is. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2020
News and Quick Comments

More virus-related changes: “Baseball” is back, country is gone, news specials are added

TV networks are making changes at blitz speed, to keep up with the coronavirus situation.
Now ABC has added a primetime special and a latenight emphasis … CBS’ country-music awards have been delayed until September … and PBS has said there will be “Baseball” (the Ken Burns series, shown here) when there’s no actual baseball being played.
The changes, in chronological order of impact: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 17: St. Patrick’s Day gem

1) “Finian’s Rainbow” (1968), 10:30 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. With many St. Patrick’s Day events canceled, people can settle for TCM’s full day of Irish films. Logically, there are two that John Ford filmed in his parents’ homeland – “Rising of the Moon” (1965) at 4:30 p.m. ET and John Wayne’s “The Quiet Man” (1952) ar 8. But no, you don’t have to be Irish: Before directing “Godfather” films, Francis Coppola made “Finian’s Rainbo,”(shown here with Fred Astaire and Tommy Steele), a gem of a musical with zesty visuals and bursts of satire. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 16: “Idol” expands, “Roswell” resurrects

1) “Roswell, New Mexico” season-opener, 9 p.m., CW. We’re used to death having a certain permanence, but not here. A decade ago, Liz’s sister died – apparently as a drunken driver, also responsible for the deaths of two friends. Later, we learned that Noah was responsible; Max (Nathan Parsons, shown here with Jeanine Mason as Liz) found Rosa’s well-preserved body and resurrected her. (Outer-space aliens can do that, apparently.) Tonight, we find Rosa alive, Max and Noah dead (for now) and Isobel – Max’s sister, Noah’s widow – bitter. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 14, 2020
Stories

Stock crashes are fun … in fiction

This is the sort of timing that no one could plan – we hope.
Showtime had set Sunday, March 15, as the season-opener of “Black Monday” (shown here). That’s a loose drama-comedy, centering on the 1987 stock market crash.
Then, on March 13, newspaper headlines proclaimed the worst Wall Street crash since 1987. Hey, all we know is that the fictional crash is a lot more fun than the real one. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Virus spurs network schedule changes

As the coronavirus impact grows, TV is making quick adjustments.
CBS and ABC are filling the voids left by canceled basketball games. That means more reruns, plus spreading the two-hour “Hawaii Five-0” (shown here) finale over two weeks.
And PBS has a helpful reminder: We’ve been through much worse. Changes include: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 15: Basketball dies; androids don’t

1) “Westworld” season-opener, 9 p.m., HBO. This show takes its time. It was 16 months between the end of the first season and the start of the second … and another 20 months after the second. “Westworld” has drawn praise– 41 Emmy nominations, with seven wins – and confusion. Now the sentient androids have escaped. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood, shown here in a previous season) is in futuristic Los Angeles with a guy (Aaron Paul); Maeve (Emmy-winner Thandie Newton) is in a different park, based on Fascist Italy. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2020
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 16: More “Blacklist,” less basketball

1) The Blacklist” return, 8 and 9 p.m. Friday, NBC. After three months on the shelf, this smart, twisty show has episodes that are opposites, despite some common threads. Both involve a valuable gold box; both link Red (James Spader, shown here in a previous episode) with an imposing blonde – Gillian Alexy the first hour, Joely Redgrave the second. But that first hour is a clever art-theft tale; the second throws logic aside, for a fun yarn. In the Agatha Christie style, people are in a mansion on a dark and stormy night, with no escape and much death. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2020