Year: 2020

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 24: Crowd-less concert still has stars

1) “National Memorial Day Concert,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 9:30. The Washington event (shown here in a previous year) usually draws a mega-crowd. It was canceled this year, but the TV show, — with passionate tributes and powerhouse music — continues. A few tributes and choral groups will rerun from past years, but there are new performances — taped by small crews — from stars of country (Trace Adkins), classical (Renee Fleming) and Broadway – Tony-winners Cynthia Erivo and Kelli O’Hara and Tony-nominee Christopher Jackson. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 23, 2020

Stories

Film finds global sweep of anti-semitism

Standing face-to-face with a racist, Andrew Goldberg found something surprising: He sort of liked him.
“He’s a very likable guy,” Goldberg said. “We had an interesting friendship.”
Goldberg interviewed Russ Walker(shown here) for “Viral: Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations,” the compelling documentary that airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday (May 26) on PBS. Walker proudly displayed a sign reading “What’s wrong with being a racist?” The flip side added: “God is a racist.”
Plenty of people saw the sign, knew Walker’s views … and voted for him anway, when he ran for the North Carolina House in 2018. “He was a 75-year-old guy with no staff,” Goldberg said, but he got 37 percent of the votes, running as a Republican in a strongly Democratic district. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 22, 2020

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for May 25: The summer shows begin

1) “Agents of SHIELD” season-opener, 10 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. In a summer devoid of new Marvel and DC movies, TV steps in. DC has the likable new “Stargirl” at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on CW; Marvel has this show’s seventh and final season. The team suddenly finds itself in 1931 New York City (shown here), with its ship ready to time-jump at any moment. It must figure out what happened, before the past, present and future face disaster. To lure us in, ABC has Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” (2014), from 8-10 p.m. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 22, 2020

News and Quick Comments

ABC will seem familiar this fall

Fans of the ABC line-up can quit worrying:
With few replacements available, most of their shows will be back this fall.
The network has canceled a few comedies – “Single Parents,” “Schooled” and “Bless This Mess” – and one drama, “Emergence.” But other shows with borderline ratings — “Stumptown” (shown here), “A Million Little Things,” “Black-ish,” “American Housewife” — will be back. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 22, 2020

Stories

TV fills Memorial Day weekend void

For the third time, TV has fresh responsibility in a stay-near-home world.
First it was Easter without churches …. then Earth Day without being out in nature … and now Memorial Day without some of the usual parades and public events.
So TV has alternatives. It has a major concert (8 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday on PBS, see separate story) … a new mini-series (“Grant,” 9 p.m. Monday on History) … documentaries … and, of course, lots of movies, including three airings of the Spielberg/Hanks classic “Saving Private Ryan” (shown here). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 21, 2020

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 23: Combat, in basketball and in life

1) “The Last Dance,” 8-10:02 p.m., ABC. After drawing praise and strong ratings on ESPN, this 10-hour documentary gets a second life, this time on the broadcast side. Over the next five Saturdays, it will show Michael Jordan (shown here) and the Chicago Bulls pursue their sixth championship in eight years. Cameras followed the team in 1997-98, profiling Jordan, Scottie Pippin, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and their coach, Phil Jackson; this also has dozens of current-day interviews with rivals and others. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 21, 2020

News and Quick Comments

Surprise: Daytime Emmys make a comeback

The Daytime Emmy Awards – once the land of Oprah triumphs and Susan Lucci disappointments – are returning to primetime, broadcast TV.
CBS has set the show for 8-10 p.m. June 26, with the nominees and others at their homes. Key nominees will be announced Thursday (May 21) on its “The Talk,” at 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. CT and PT; then all the nominees will be on Etonline.com.
The awards began in 1974 and moved to primetime in 1991, when the daytime was filled with well-known stars. Lucci was on her 19th nomination before being named (shown here) best soap actress in 1999; Bob Barker won 14 times as ga,me-show show host. In one stretch, Phil Donahue was named best talk host nine times in 11 years; Oprah Winfrey later won five straight times, before withdrawing. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 20, 2020

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 22: Roe vs. a “stomping on” world

1) “AKA Jane Roe,” 9-11 p.m., FX. Norma McCorvey (shown here) spent her life in the spotlight. She was “Jane Roe” in Roe vs. Wade … then was outspoken on both the pro- and anti-abortion sides. In this film (shot shortly before her death in 2017), she flips again and says she went anti for the money. Still, neither side will feel much joy. Deep pain ripples through a woman who says her role “was to be stomped on and spit on.” Her one joy was a lesbian romance … which the evangelists convinced her to shed. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 20, 2020

News and Quick Comments

CBS this fall: same time, same night, same …

This fall, CBS will take “stability” to an extreme.
With few exceptions, it will have the same shows … at the same time … on the same nights.
In fact, four nights will be unchanged from what they had at the end of this season. The other three, changing only a tad, are:
Thursdays. Three shows from producer Chuck Lorre will be back-to-back, when “B Positive” is at 8:30, wedged between “Young Sheldon” and “Mom.” The new show (shown here) stars Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley” and Annaleigh Ashford (“Masters of Sex”); she plays the rough-hewn woman who may become his kidney donor. “The Unicorn,” which started this season in the 8:30 slot, moves back to 9:30. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 19, 2020