Year: 2020

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 9: Bright lights, grim Grinch

1) “The Grinch Musical,” 8 p.m., NBC. This has lingered on the fringe of the theater world. It was on Broadway (2006, 2007) and on tour (four times), but always confined to two-month, holiday spurts. Now it’s been done in London for NBC, with Matthew Morrison (shown here) starring, amid a “Grinch” overload. FX has the animated movie (2018) at 8 and 10 today and Saturday, then 9 and 11 p.m. Sunday. Freeform has the Jim Carrey film, at 8:20 p.m. Thursday; TBS has the cartoon classic at 8 p.m. Sunday. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 7, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Yes, the missing shows are on the way

Some of the final pieces of the fall TV season are on the way now – albeit in the winter.
The most recent steps – see separate story – involve three shows (“Equalizer,” “Call Me Kat,” “The Masked Dancer”) that will be launched after football games. That followed several other moves: CBS has just returned four of its dramas … NBC set Ted Danson’s new “Mr. Mayor” comedy (shown here) for Jan. 7 … ABC and Fox set January dates for returning shows and for some mid-season game shows.
Here’s an updated, alphabetical list of what’s scheduled on the five broadcast commercial networks. Others – cable, streaming and PBS – tend to have shorter runs throughout the year. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 7, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Equalizer,” others, get football boost

Struggling to launch a handful of new shows, the networks turn to the one thing they can count on – football.
CBS has given its best spot – after the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 – to “The Equalizer” (shown here) The show – a reboot starring Queen Latifah – will remain on Sundays, starting 8 p.m. Feb. 14.
Earlier, Fox decided to launch both of its new shows after NFL doubleheaders.
“The Masked Dancer” will debut Dec. 27, then settle into a temporary spot at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. “Call Me Kat,” a Mayim Bialik comedy, debuts Jan. 3, then moves to 9 p.m. Wednesdays. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 6, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 8: Strong ending(s) for “Transplant”

1) “Transplant” season-finale, 9 and 10 p.m., NBC. This series started with Bashir Hamed (shown here)  – once a battlefront doctor for Syrian rebels – working at a Toronto restaurant. Tragedy struck and he saved a customer (Dr. Bishop) by drilling into his skull; Bishop soon hired him. Now come belated aftershocks. This is a taut and emotional two-parter with about five endings – four powerful and one confusing. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 6, 2020
Stories

An epic mini-series finds love and lust in 1951 India

Sprawling across the emotional landscape, “A Suitable Boy” seems to be many things.
It’s mostly Jane Austen-esque, with a late dose of lurid soap opera. It’s indie cinema, expanded to near-epic proportions. It’s the work of two masters, trying something new at ages 63 and 84.
The former is Mira Nair, an indie-movie favorite for decades; the latter is Andrew Davies, who has written many of the best British mini-series. They linked for a tale that reaches the Acorn streaming service (www.acorn.tv) Dec. 7.; starting with two hours, it then has hours on four more Mondays.
Set in 1951 India, this centers on Lata (shown here), a college student whose widowed mother wants to find her a husband instantly; Austen would approve. But beyond that, it takes a few detours, some bad – oaf-ish villains throughout and some soap-style moments in the fifth episode – and some good. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 5, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Dec. 7: “Nurses” starts, football grows

1) “Nurses” opener (shown here), 10 p.m., NBC. The five nurses arrive for their first day of work. They’re young, bright, diverse and (of course) telegenic. They have almost a minute to acclimate; then the world falls apart. A driver has crashed into students, killing and injuring; soon, the show is racing at “ER” speed. It sometimes slows, however, for personal glimpses of the patients and staff. Some of that feels contrived – especially an argument about helping a villain – but this is still a solid-enough drama. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 5, 2020
News and Quick Comments

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…

By Mike Hughes / December 3, 2020
Weekly Previews

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…

By Mike Hughes / December 3, 2020
Daily Best Bets

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…

By Mike Hughes / December 3, 2020