Month: September 2021

Stories

The Brits (and their colonies) give us good mysteries

For more than a century, the British have mastered the art of murder mysteries.
Lately, some of their younger colonies – Canada, Australia , New Zealand – have joined in. And Americans … well, we get to watch them, at a time when they’re really needed.
Bertie Carvel, starring in a new batch of Adam Dalgliesh tales (arriving in November), points to Dalgliesh’s creator: “I think P.D. James said she thought people like murder mysteries because they bring order out of chaos …. That’s something we need right now.”
Lucy Lawless – producing and starring in the current “My Life is Murder” series (which is shown here, with Lawless and Ebony Vagulans – agreed. “It’s giving people a sense of justice. The world’s been so unjust for the last six years and people are hungry for it.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 6, 2021
News and Quick Comments

9/11 specials, new and old, fill the TV week

For the next week, our TV sets will become history machines.
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, with ceremonies at the 9/11 memorial (shown here) and beyond. Much of the coverage will be packed into Friday and Saturday, but there will also be a couple earlier reports.
Here are some of the highlights. Afterward, I’ve included three separate stories that I posted last week: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 5, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 7; great “Impeachment” tops a busy night

1) “Impeachment: American Crime Story” opener, 10 p.m., FX; rerunning hourly. Five years after he triumphed with the O.J. Simpson mini-series, Ryan Murphy has one that’s almost as good. It’s both funny and enraging, as Monica Lewinsky (shown here in real life) — sweet-spirited and emotionally fragile — inadvertantly shattered Bill Clinton’s presidency. Sarah Burgess’ script will leave viewers loving Lewinsky (a consultant on the project) and Paula Jones and hating Linda Tripp – perfectly played by Beanie Feldstein, Annaleigh Ashford and Sarah Paulson. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 5, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 6: romance, brash or British

1) “Harry and Meghan: Escaping the Palace,” 8 p.m., Lifetime. It’s a trilogy now, for Lifetime’s favorite couple (shown here in real life). The fairly charming “Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance” (2018) reruns at 3 p.m., with “Harry and Meghan: Becoming Royal” (2019) at 5:30; then this new film arrives. Surprisingly, different actors play the couple each time. At 10:03 p.m. is a new special, “The American Royal Baby.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 4, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 5: guilty mystery, rockin’ movie

1) “Masterpiece: Guilt” opener, 9-11 p.m., PBS. Driving home from a wedding, brothers argue about a cash bar they visited often. Then someone steps in front of the car and is killed. The decent thing would be to call police; the older brother (shown here) isn’t into decency. What follows starts as a fun story of laymen trying (ineptly) to do a cover-up. But late tonight – and in next week’s conclusion – new twists soar. At the core of a terrific story is the younger brother, a good guy surrounded by schemers. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 3, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 4: Football is back; so is Wiig

1) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC. The first full Saturday of the college season peaks with a big one – Clemson (ranked No. 3 and shown here) hosts Georgia (No. 5). Earlier, ABC has top-ranked Alabama at Miami (No. 14), at 3:30 p.m. ET. There’s much more, including a triple-header on Fox: It’s Penn State (No. 19) at Wisconsin (No. 12) at noon ET … Louisiana (23) at Texas (21) at 3:30 p.m. … and LSU (16) at UCLA. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 3, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 6 dominated by 9/11 and Annaleigh

1) “Race Against Time: The CIA and 9/11,” 8-10 p.m. Friday, CBS. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks (shown here), there will be a surge of new films, alongside strong reruns. “Detainee 001” is a so-so look at the American captured with the Taliban; it’s 9 p.m. Friday on Showtime, preceded at 8 by a new report from Afghanistan. Also Friday: History has “9/11: The Legacy” at 7 p.m. and “Rise and Fall: The World Trade Center” at 8. And Vice has “Too Soon: Comedy After 9/ll,” from 8-10 p.m. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 2, 2021
News and Quick Comments

Next month, “Seinfeld” has its Netflix moment

I don’t usually reprint press releases here.
Come to think of it, I NEVER reprint press releases. But this one is too good to ignore.
The basic background: “Seinfeld”(shown here in its wonderful Chinese-restaurant episode – which is, of course, the best comedy in television history – will move to Netflix on Oct. 1. Instead of sendig a standard release, Netflix dispatched the following:
Hollywood, CA — Netflix will launch 180 episodes of a situational comedy called ‘Seinfeld,’ created by rising New York comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, who wrote for Saturday Night Live for a single season. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2021
News and Quick Comments

“Guilt” is our new non-guilty pleasure

Scrambling to fill pandemic holes, TV people searched internationally.
Occasionally, they found winners. NBC had Canada’s “Transplant”; CW has Canada’s “Coroner” and New Zealand’s “Wellington Paranormal.” And PBS discovered a couple four-hour gems – England’s “Us” and now Scotland’s “Guilt” (shown here).
The latter aired two years ago, as the first original project for the new BBC Scotland. Now it runs in two-hour chunks (9-11 p.m.) Sept. 5 and 12 on PBS’ “Masterpiece,” filling a drama dead zone. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 3: Feel-good CBS, feel-mean CW

1) All night, CBS. Don’t look for cop shows tonight; CBS is fullyin feel-good Friday mode. That starts at 8 p.m. with “Secret Celebrity Renovation”; Boomer Esiason helps renovate the home of his high school football coach. At 9, Cedric the Entertainer hosts the amiable “Greatest #AtHome Videos.” And at 10, Jane Pauley hosts a “Pet Project” (shown here)special, viewing people and their pets. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 1, 2021