Year: 2020

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 7: Chiefs and ninjas and putters and such

1) Football season-openers, 8:20 p.m. ET Thursday and Sunday, NBC. This is what we need now – the fun and zest of pro football. It starts with the champion Kansas City Chiefs, hosting the team (Houston Texans) they beat to get to the Super Bowl (shown here). On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Rams (9-7 last year) host the Dallas Cowboys (8-8). All the other teams play earlier on Sunday or in ESPN’s doubleheader on Monday. And after a slow first week, college football will have a fairly busy line-up on Saturday. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 3, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 5: The semi-start of college football

1) College football season-openers, cable. The first football Saturday is a modest one, with a bigger line-up coming next week. For now, ESPN packs in three games – Eastern Kentucky at Marshall at 1 p.m. ET; Southern Methodist at Texas Tech at 4:30; and Arkansas at Memphis at 8. It also has two games on its ESPN3 streaming service. The CBS Sports Network had the first game, Thursday; today, it has Army (shown here last season) hosting Middle Tennessee — with a crowd consisting only of cadets – at 1:30 p.m. ET. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 3, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Mulan”: Great at home, better in theaters

I just remembered why I love movies – the big, sweeping kind that fill the screen and fill your eyes and ears and thoughts.
I also found that I miss seeing them in their natural habitat. Watching one at home is great fun; watching it in a movie theater would have been much better.
This comes up because people can now pay extra and see “Mulan” (shown here) – the new adventure epic, not the 1998 cartoon – at home.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, of course. Disney spent $200 million on “Mulan,” creating a mega-movie for theaters. It had its premiere March 9 … moments before the COVID shutdown Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 3, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 4: From fun films to Breonna Taylor tragedy

1) “New York Times Presents,” 10 p.m., FX and Hulu. The death of Breonna Taylor (shown here) has drawn intense focus. Here’s a long look, with friends, neighbors, officials, boyfriend Kenneth Walker and her mom. Key comments are from David James, a Black ex-cop and a Louisville councilman. Banging on the door without identifying as police “is the most dangerous thing you can do,” he says. Most neighbors say the cops didn’t identify themselves; one disagrees. Walker fired a shot; a police barrage then killed Taylor. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 2, 2020
Stories

Swank’s century: Seething in jail, soaring in space

If you flash through Hilary Swank’s career, you might decide that society is improving, after all.
There she was in “Iron Jawed Angels” (2004), as real-life militant Alice Paul, surviving arrests and hunger strikes while fighting for women’s right to vote.
And here she is in “Away,” which Netflix debuts Friday – 100 years and nine days after that voting-right became official. She plays the captain of a Mars mission.
“We’ve definitely come far in the last hundred years,” Swank told the Television Critics Association recently. “And we still have so much more to accomplish in equality for women. But … the show is such a beautiful reflection of where we’re headed.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2020
News and Quick Comments

FX film digs into the Breonna Taylor case

In the heated debate over Breonna Taylor’s death, David James is situated perfectly.
The argument has multiple sides – police, politicians, Blacks and officials. He happens to fit all of those – a Black councilman in Louisville and a former narcotics officer who spent 14 years as a cop.
And now he’s key to “The New York Times Presents,” at 10 p.m. Friday (Sept. 4) on FX and Hulu.
This is an extensive look – an hour without commercials, 81 minutes on FX. It has a brief portrayal of Taylor, 26, described by friends, her mother and her boyfriend (Kenneth Walker, shown here with Taylor) as an upbeat soul, an emergency medical technician at work, a fun person at home. Then it gets into the case. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 3: Holey moley, there’s lots of games and such

1) “Holey Moley,” 8 p.m., ABC. Thursdays have become the centerpoint for summertime games and reality shows. At 8 p.m., that includes two shows on CBS (“Big Brother” and “Love Island”), two hours of “Beat Shazam” on Fox and “The Wall” on NBC. It also includes this goofy miniature-golf show (shown here), which has a final spot to fill in next week’s $250,000 championship. Contestants range from a law student to a pageant queen, from a musician to a former pro football player. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2020
Stories

“Wolves” leads a pack of fresh streaming shows

As September arrives, the streaming networks are determined to keep their grip on us.
Yes, several networks have plans for makeshift fall seasons; PBS and cable have more. By Sept. 21, the TV world will feel sort of busy; by Sept. 27 – the launch of two engrossing cable series, “Fargo” and “Comey Rules” – it will seem packed.
But the streamers are loading up first. On Thursday – one day before Netflix’s ambitious “Away” debuts and Amazon Prime’s “The Boys” returns – four series or mini-series arrive, including Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves” (shown here): Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 2: Results for “Tough,” “Talent”

1) “Tough as Nails” finale, 9-11 p.m., CBS. The team prize was handed out last week, but now comes the big one – an individual prize of $200.000 and a truck. Starting with 12 people, “Nails” – already renewed for next season – has its final five. There are two women – Linda Goodridge, 29, a deputy sheriff; and Callie Cattell, 28, a fisherman – and three men. Danny Moody, 33, is a drywaller; Miles Pak, 28, is a forestry tech; “Murph” Murphy (shown here), 47, is a Marine veteran. Phil Keoghan hosts. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 31, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 1: One strong drama debuts, another continues

1) “Transplant” debut, 10 p.m., NBC. At a Middle Eastern restaurant in Canada, a tragedy strikes. There are life-and-death moments, as one of the workers (Hamza Haq, shown here) takes action. Then … well, we won’t say any more. “Trasnsplant” is careful to reveal itself slowly; watching this first hour that way is a rewarding experience. John Hannah, a Scottish star, is the only actor Americans might recognize. (We see him first as a restaurant customer.) The Canadian cast, led by Haq, performs with subtle skill. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 30, 2020