Day: December 3, 2020

An honorable judge sinks into chaos

This is a basic challenges of fiction: Find a plausible way for an ordinary person to plunge into an extraordinary situation.
That’s what “For Honor,” the mini-series starting at 10 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 6) on Showtime, does so well. Aided by the subtle skill of Bryan Cranston (shown here with Hunter Doohan), it keeps sinking deeper into a pit.
Such stories are best if the protagonist starts with a small sin he wants to hide. He joy-rides in a car, unaware there’s a body in the trunk … sneaks into an apartment, unaware it’s a drug house … cheats on his wife, unaware that the object of his lust is obsessive.
In this case, there’s an extra layer – a widowed dad is desperate to help his son. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Dec. 7: Lotsa Christmas, lotsa football

1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, PBS. For a time, one of TV’s greatest half-hours (shown here) seemed to be out of reach for most viewers. The entire “Peanuts” collection had gone to Apple TV+; that’s fine for Apple’s 40 million subscribers, but what about everyone else? Fortunately, there are solutions: The show will be available to non-subscribers this weekend (Friday through Sunday, Dec. 11-13) online. And on Sunday, it gets this spot on PBS – which seems ideal for a show that satirizes commercialism. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 5: Second chances for chimps and country star

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Morgan Wallen (shown here) is a young (27) country singer on a roll; his last four singles have each hit No. 1 on on the country airplay charts. He was supposed to be music guest earlier this season – then blew it when social media showed him partying without a mask. Dropped from the show then, he gets a second chance now; Jason Bateman hosts. Read more…