Year: 2020

News and Quick Comments

One more big-deal option: It’s “FX on Hulu”

(Right now, you’ll spot an odd convergence of stories about FX. That’s because the network has been holding back, waiting to start its “FX on Hulu” hub. Now is the time;  highlighted here are stories on FX’s “Breeders” and “Devs”; one on “Dave” is coming. But the story here pauses to take an overview of the hub, including future shows — “Mrs. America” is shown here, with Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly — and ones this week. Here we go:)
There’s a new streaming service – yes, another one – out there.
Or you might call it a semi-service – a hub to something that was already there. Either way, “FX on Hulu” is a major player. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 3: Super Tuesday or super soapy

1) “Empire” return, 9 p.m., Fox. For six seasons, “Empire” has had an odd mix – great music and messy, over-the top soap opera. For this final season, it aired 10 episodes, then took an 11-week break; now it’s back for its last 10. Fox says only that there’s a “shocking revelation” tonight; there usually is. It implies that a death shakes the Lyon family; also, Andre (Trai Byers, shown here, center) makes an important decision. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 1, 2020
Stories

Woodworker Nick becomes a tech genius

Here is the precise opposite of type-casting:
In “Devs,” Nick Offerman (shown here) plays someone who masters the wispy world of computer dimensions.
Yes, that Nick Offerman – the hands-on, work-with-wood guy. “My character is an incredibly creative genius, so that required some heavy leaning on my classical training,” he joked. “I did a lot of homework; I spoke with my cast members, who are much smarter than me.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 29, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 2: “Breeders,” “Bob,” “Bachelor”

1) “Breeders” debut, 10-11:14 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11:14. Paul and Ally (Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard, shown here) are your basic Britishers, with decent jobs, a nice home and two noisy children. And at times, they teeter close to madness. In the first of these two hilarious episodes, they can’t get the kids or themselves to sleep; in the second, they scheme to get the kids into the best school. They also confront his clueless parents, her careless dad (Michael McKean) and Paul’s failure to pursue his childhood dreams. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 29, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Five-0” ends, Smothers Brothers (via reruns) return

It’s the circle of life (TV version). Some shows die … some return … some live forever:
1) “Hawaii Five-0” is ending (again). The original version ran for 12 seasons; the reboot is wrapping up after 10. Its two-hour finale will be April 3. There’s no explanation for why it’s leaving now, but CBS has an overload of successful dramas – including “Magnum,” with the same producer and same setting – and “Five-0” is an expensive show. All shows have to end sometime.2)
Or do they? “Murdoch Mysteries” has finished 13 seasons now, with no sign of slowing down. At 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) Saturday, March 7, it will air its 200th episode. Set in early-20th-century Toronto, the show finds a way to pack that era’s top people – from Einstein and Edsion to Tesla and Curie –into one busy hour.
3) And the best news is that even canceled shows return via reruns. Now one of the all-time best – “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (shown here) – will be on GetTV. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2020
Stories

FX breeds comedy chaos

Television used to give us plenty of perfect parents.
Father knew best. Ozzie and Harriet had it all figured out; so did the Bradys, the Huxtables and more.
But now comes “Breeder” (shown here), which is sort of about the rest of us.
“When you become a parent,” said Simon Blackwell, one of the show’s creators, “you’re given this perfect human being …. And theoretically, you can do it perfectly. But you won’t and you will fail.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 1: “Dispatches” debuts, “Big Shots” returns

1) “Dispatches From Elsewhere” debut, 10 p.m., AMC. Peter leads an unchallenging (and unfulfilling) life, with no significant human contact. He visits a therapist weekly because it’s free and he should talk to someone; still, he has nothing to tell her. Then he’s lured into a bizarre adventure. This is an odd tale, compelling and confounding. Jason Segel (shown here), who skillfully directed and co-wrote the opener, stars alongside Oscar-winner Sally Field, rapper/actor Andre Benjamin and trans actress Eve Lindley. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2020
Weekly Previews

Top-10 for week of March 2: “Empire” returns, FX soars

1) “Empire” return, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. For six seasons, this has offered a unique mix: It’s had great music – rhythm-and-blues, pop and rap – alongside messy, over-the top soap opera (shown here). For this final season, the show aired 10 episodes, then took an 11-week break; now it’s back for its last 10. Fox says only that this hour has a “shocking revelation”; there have been plenty in “Empire.” It also implies that a death shakes the Lyon family. Also, Andre makes an important decision and Devon confronts Tiana. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 27, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 29: Splendid “Seven” concludes

1) “Seven Worlds, One Planet” finale, 9 p.m. ET, BBC America and IFC; 9 p.m., AMC and Sundance; also, 12:30 a.m. ET, BBC America. Most nature shows start in Africa; this gorgeous seven-parter ends there. We see chimps fashioning hammers to crack nuts … And a cheetah team (shown here) with a well-plotted attack … And tiny birds living on giraffes, to feast on fleas and ticks. There’s also grim news about poachers and about reduced habitat; David Attenborough, 93, meets the only two survivors from a rhino sub-species. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 27, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Yes, we like it; no, we don’t understand it

There’s a genre that we’ll call “whaaa(!?!) television.” Or, simply, “WTF TV.”
These are shows in which the characters have no idea what’s going on. Nor do the viewers. We kind of hope the writers do, but we’re never sure.
Reality is juggled, time is shifted, minds are bent. The result is both compelling and confusing; and now two such shows are arrived, almost simultaneously.
Hulu’s “Devs” will be March 5, so we’ll discuss it another time. It’s set among tech geniuses, so we expect them to be bending and shifting and such. But AMC’s “Dispatches From Elsewhere” (shown here) is another matter, it arrives Sunday (March 1), descending on four ordinary people. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 26, 2020