Year: 2021

News and Quick Comments

As death toll grew, funeral traditions ceased

New Orleans, it seems, is very good at good-byes.
Its funerals (shown here) are filled with music and color and passion. “This is what New Orleans does so beautifully,” someone says in “Frontline,” at 10 p.m. Tuesday (March 23) on PBS (check local listings).
But as the pandemic hit, everything changed. The death toll soared, but the traditions ceased.
Now “Frontline” looks at two Black-owned funeral homes. It’s an involving hour that happens to be at the same time as ABC’s excellent “Soul of a Nation,” which on that night views “Black joy.” Switching channels, we’ll pile joy upon sorrow upon rich human traditions. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 18, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 22: Aretha soars, “Superstore” ends

1) “Genius: Aretha,” 9 and 10 p.m., today through Wednesday, National Geographic. A strong story blends with powerhouse music, in this beautifully crafted, four-night, eight-hour mini-series. Sunday’s opening episodes (rerunning at 6:56 and 8:03 p.m. today), flashed between Aretha Franklin as a young girl, singing on the gospel circuit, and as a struggling jazz and pop singer. In both cases, type-A men (her dad and her husband) loomed. Cynthia Erivo (shown here) is stoic in acting, but magnificent when singing. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 18, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 20: bayou drama, basketball dreams

1) “Ruby” (shown here), 8 p.m., Lifetime, rerunning at midnight. Ever since a “Flowers in the Attic” remake drew a big audience, Lifetime has savored V.C. Andrews’ novels. Today, it reruns four of them, at noon and 2, 4, and 6 p.m. (They’re sequels to “Heaven,” which, oddly, reruns at 10:02 p.m. and 2:04 a.m.) Then it starts a new series about Ruby Landry, growing up in the Louisiana bayou with her grandmother (Naomi Judd). That will rerun at 6 p.m. Sunday, leading into its sequel, “Pearl in the Mist.” Two more Ruby movies will air next weekend. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 18, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 19: Basketball tourney hits full-speed

1) Basketball, CBS. The first full day of the NCAA tournament wipes out CBS’ soap operas and cop shows, plus various talk and game shows. The best games should be the ones with similar seeds: On CBS, that’s 12:15 p.m. ET (Florida, No. 7 seed in a 16-team region, and Virginia Tech, No. 10) and 7:10 (North Carolina, No. 8, and Wisconsin, shown here, No. 9). The others are at 3 p.m. ET (Ohio State, No. 2), and Oral Roberts, No. 15) and 9:40 (San Diego State, No. 6, and Syracuse, No. 11). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 17, 2021
Stories

“Aretha” soars along a vast and soulful life

Some lives are neat and fun-sized; they can easily be condensed into a movie or less.
Then there are the grand exceptions: Starting at 9 p.m. Sunday (March 21), the National Geographic Channe;’s four-night, eight-hour mini-series (shown here) will view the overflowing life of the late Aretha Franklin.
“Aretha had such … a long career,” writer-producer Suzan-Lori Parks told the Television Critics Association, She had “a beautiful life, full of peaks and valleys that we can only imagine living.”
Her music reflected that range. She went from gospel to jazz, then was dubbed “the queen of soul.” She rocked; she dabbled in disco. And when Luciano Pavarotti turned ill, she sang opera at the Grammys. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 17, 2021
News and Quick Comments

After a long delay, FX packs power

“Mayans M.C.” is roaring back – full-throttle, as always.
The motorcycle drama (shown here) as returned to its slot at 10 p.m. Tuesdays. Add that to “Snowfall” (10 p.m. Wednesdays) and FX – the best channel on basic-cable – is finally near its full strength.
Both shows faced half-year delays because of the pandemic, leaving FX with few originals. Now both are in their usual state – passionate, profane, fiercely violent, fervently emotional. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 17: potent, passionate music

1) “A Grammy Salute to the Sound of Change,” 9-11 p.m., CBS. Starting Sunday, viewers can savor Cynthia Erivo’s awesome vocal skill. In National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha,” she ranges from gospel to disco. First, catch her here, singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.” There’s much more: John Fogerty does “Fortunate Son” and “Promised Land” … Gladys Knight (shown here) and others do Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” Greats songs are done by Andra Day, Billy Porter, Yolanda Adams and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 16: brutal bikers and feel-good family

1) “Mayans M.C.” season-opener, 10 pm., FX. One of TV’s best (and roughest) dramas is finally back. It’s been 16 months since the previous season ended. Now this border town is filled with soldiers; the bikers have lost their drug sources. Dita Galindo convinced EZ and Angel (shown here in a previous episode) to kill her, making it look like a suicide. Their dad (Dita’s ex-lover) is despondent; so is her son, the drug boss. The result – acted and directed with subtle skill – is deep and dark and brutal; the final minutes are especially nasty Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 15: bachelor, bullets, “Bloodlands”

1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8 p.m., ABC. Tonight, Matt James can choose Michelle Young (a Minnesota teacher, shown here with James) or Rachael Kirkconnell (a Georgia designer), in a show filmed prior to the controversy: James is the first Black bachelor; Kirkconnell has attended a pre-Civil War South party and allegedly mocked classmates who like Black men. Host Chris Harrison suggested leniency; for the 10 p.m. follow-up, he’s replaced by Emmanuel Acho, author of “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 13, 2021