Year: 2020

Stories

After the shootings: pain, panic, heroics and survival

The Baca sisters (shown here) seemed to be having sunny lives. They were cheerleaders, twin teens in Las Vegas. Fans of country music in general and Jason Aldean in particular, they went to a high-energy, outdoor concert on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
Then came the rifle fire. “My boyfriend … picked me up and we ran for safety,” Gianna said.
Her sister Natalia gradually realized she’d been shot in the back. She headed to a medical tent, where an off-duty firefighter stepped in. “Dean (McAuley) said, ‘Don’t let your eyes come off me.’” He wanted to make sure she didn’t drift off, as they looked for a ride to the hospital.
The sisters recalled that day in an interview (alongside survivor-helpers Lonnie and Sandy Phillips) and at a Television Critics Association session. They’re featured in “In Memoriam,” a powerful documentary that debuts at 9 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 8) on Investigation Discovery. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 7: Mac is back

1) “MacGyver” season-opener, 8 p.m., CBS. There’s an action surplus on CBS; “MacGyver” finally returns, nine months after its last new episode. Now the team can again tackle an impossible mission: At an elegant party (shown here), it team must slip off, find crucial information and transmit a copy without being noticed. There’s no Phoenix Foundation to help; our heroes are working with a quirky British ex-spy, played, by Henry Ian Cusick of “Lost.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 6: It’s a debut-stuffed night

1) “Tommy” debut, 10 p.m., CBS. TV loves to show an outsider, tackling new turf. Here’s a prime example: “Tommy” Thomas, the new Los Angeles police chief, is female … and gay … and from New York. She’s an instant anomaly. In the wrong hands, this could have been riddled with cliches. “Tommy,” however, is written by Paul Attanasio, who drew Oscar nominations for “Donnie Brasco” and “Quiz Show” and then created “House.” It stars Edie Falco (shown here), a four-time Enmy-winner. Resisting cliches, they give us deeply layered characters. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2020
Stories

“Katy” is keen on new lives in New York

Winding through the “Katy Keene” TV series (shown here) – beneath its zest and glitz and giddy optimism – is a story that keeps being repeated in real life:
Young people keep trying for a new life in the big city. They often fail and occasionally succeed.
Lucy Hale remembers that feeling. She was 15, a Memphis kid who’d been taking singing and dancing lessons forever; after she finished fifth on “American Juniors,” she moved with her mom.
“We packed up her Prius,” Hale recalled. “We moved to LA, only planning to stay the pilot season. (It was) a complete culture shock.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Super Bowl halftime: Craving in the closet

This is always a dilemma on Super Bowl Sunday: Should we stay and watch the game or go out to a “gentleman’s club” instead?
This time, fortunately, we could sort of do both.
At halftime of the Super Bowl, two nice ladies came out and performed. There was some pole dancing and some bellydancing; the cameras had a lot of well-planned booty shots. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 5: Serious cops, frisky Fox

1) “Chicago P.D.,” 10 p.m., NBC. A tough hour starts quietly. Earlier this season, we learned that Kim Burgess (Marina Squercian, shown here in a previous episode) is pregnant via Adam Ruzek, a fellow cop who is her ex-fiance. Assigned to light duty, she’s working the 9-1-1 calls. That’s when a plaintive call grabs her emotionally. What follows is a terrific hour – sharply and subtly written and played – that takes Burgess (and viewers) on an emotional roller-coaster. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 4: Trump, time-travel, killer crows

1) State of the Union address and response, 9-11 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. This is a unique time in history – a president preparing his speech while he’s been facing impeachment and planning a re-election push. People will probably be interested in Donald Trump’s comments and in the Democratic response by Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer. If not? We’ll list some 9 p.m. alternatives, including (shown here) some CW time-travel. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2020
Stories

Fred Silverman: From Archie to Angels and beyond

Fred Silverman molded a generation of television.
It was the last three-network generation, the final one totally dominated by CBS, ABC and NBC. And Silverman – who died of cancer Thursday at 82 — ran all three.
Ranging from chimps and “Charlie’s Angels” (shown here) to Archie Bunker and “Hill Street Blues,” he was the master of big-tent TV. “Fred was one of the few people I’ve ever known who laughed where the laugh track laughed and got misty watching a daytime soap opera,” former NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff wrote in “The Last Great Ride” (1982). “He truly loved television.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 3: Here’s the Oscars build-up

1) “Some Like It Hot” (1959), 9:45 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. We’re in Oscar Week, leading into Sunday’s Academy Award ceremony. And TCM’s “31 Days of Oscar” has barely started. “Hot” (shown here in a color poster for the black-and-white film) won one Oscar (for costumes), but was nominated for five more, including Jack Lemmon in support; the American Film Institute named it the funniest American movie of all time. Lemmon stars with Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe … whose “Bus Stop” (1956) is at 8. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 1, 2020