Day: January 28, 2021

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 1: Black history, super Sunday

1) “The Equalizer” debut, about 10:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. This is, very simply, the best post-Super-Bowl show since “The Wonder Years” arrived, 33 years ago. It’s beautifully written, sharply filmed and perfectly played. The original notion had a guy – Edward Woodward in the series, Denzel Washington in two movies – help people who couldn’t turn to officials. Now Queen Latifah (shown here) plays a former CIA agent who has skills, compassion, a teen daughter and high-tech help. It’s a deeply involving debut. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 28, 2021
News and Quick Comments

“Long Song” mingles classy drama and soapy bits

As “The Long Song” begins Sunday (Jan. 31), we’re clearly in a distant time and place.
This is Jamaica, early in the 1800s. It has blue sky, sprawling vistas … and deep, wrenching pain. Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell, shown here with Tamara Lawrance)– who owns the plantation with her brother – mostly stays in the mansion while her sadistic overseer drives the slaves.
Then come all the events – love, lust, rape, revolt, betrayal – that we might find in a Harlequin novel or in a quality production. By the end of the three-week mini-series (9 p.m. Sundays on PBS), we’re left with the same question raised by Netflix’s recent “Bridgerton”mini-series: Where is the line that somehow separates tawdry soap opera from classy, period-piece drama? Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 28, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 30: “SNL” starts its Biden era

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a five-week rest, the show begins its Biden era. John Krasinski hosts, Machine Gun Kelly is the music guest and the presidential focus shifts. In the most-recent new episode (Dec. 19), Alex Moffat – who had often played Eric Trump (as he does here, left) – became Joe Biden. Previously, that role went to Jason Sudeikis and then, for six election-time episodes, Jim Carrey. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 28, 2021