Year: 2021

Stories

“Black Church” ripples with history, humanity

For centuries, the Black church has towered over American life.
“The church was the epicenter,” Stacey Holman, producer-director of a vibrant PBS documentary, told the Television Critics Associaition. It was “where we could gather freely, we could commune freely.”
It’s been a place of music and message, said gospel great Yolanda Adams. “Jesus was always about uplifting the people who were downtrodden.”\
And it’s been a place of permanence, said Henry Louis Gates (shown here), the show’s writer and host. “The Black church is the oldest, the most continuous and most important institution” in African-American history. So he’s fashioned “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song,” from 9-11 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 16-17). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
News and Quick Comments

“Voice of Freedom” launches big PBS week

The world seemed to agree that Marian Anderson (shown here) was a great singer.
Audiences cheered; critics raved. Conductor Arturo Toscanani said this was a voice “one is privileged to hear only once in 100 years.”
What people didn’t agree on, in a segregated time, was where she could perform. That’s at the core of “American Experience: Voice of Freedom” (9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15), a documentary that launches an exceptionally strong week on PBS.
It’s followed on Tuesday and Wednesday by Henry Louis Gates’ resounding “The Black Church: This Is My Story, This Is My Song.” The week ends Sunday with an emotional, Christmastime season-finale of “All Creatures Great and Small.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 14: “Idol”returns, Lincoln lingers

1) “American Idol” season-opener, 8 p.m., ABC. Last spring, “Idol” did an impressive job of adjusting to social-distancing, with talented people (including Nick Merico, shown here) and strong, at-home performances. Now auditions begin in three California cities. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are again the judges; Ryan Seacrest hosts … as he’s been doing since the opener, in the summer of 2002. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 15: A stellar stretch for PBS

1) “The Black Church,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, PBS. Here is non-fiction TV at its best – joyful, passionate, yet willing to point out faults. Henry Louis Gates ranges from tiny churches with lay pastors to a 14,000-seat arena (shown here) with video screens and a band. He tells of slaves bringing religions – Christian, Muslim, more – from Africa, joining White churches, then breaking off. He points to flaws – biases against women, gays and uneducated – and strengths, rippling with music and warm memories. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 12, 2021
News and Quick Comments

Lincoln: saved by a non-evil stepmother

We’ve heard plenty about evil stepmothers, so let’s hear the flip side – the good stepmother who helped shape the man who preserved the Union.
That’s one of the stories in “Lincoln: Divided We Stand,” which is part of an excellent documentary duo Sundays on CNN, starting Feb. 14: “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” is 9 p.m. and midnightET, offering a warm survey of food and people; the Lincoln story is at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET.
Abe Lincoln (shown here) had a hard-scrabble childhood in Kentucky and then Indiana, hitting bottom when he was 9. His mother died and his father decided he couldn’t raise the kids alone. Leaving Abe and his sister in their cold cabin, he rode back to Kentucky and asked a family friend to marry him.
Sarah Bush Johnson – whose husband, a jailer, had died – said yes. She arrived with three children, some cookware … and a collection of books, which Lincoln promptly gravitated to. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 11, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 13: wild year, romantic weekend

1) “A Wild Year on Earth,” 8 p.m., BBC America. In July and August, Greenland’s icebergs crumble, the great migrations begin and brown bears await their salmon feast. There are nasty creatures, from sidewinder snakes in the desert to mosquitoes on a rhino’s back – soon swooped up by birds. This series (shown here in a previous episode) has stunning footage; tonight, it ranges from nomadic Mongolians on horseback to a sly fox on an Alaskan island. He leaps out of hiding to snatch birds that were flying low to avoid sea gulls. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 11, 2021
Stories

“Clarice”: a CBS show with a movie soul

Watching the new “Clarice” series, you might think you accidentally switched channels.
Is this really a CBS show? Don’t worry; its producers were wondering the same thing.
“We had originally envisioned this as a streaming show,” Alex Kurtzman told the Television Critics Association. “And CBS said, really unequivocally, ‘Please put it on our network and we will let you make whatever show you want.’”
That opens the door for a lot. “Clarice” (10 p.m. Thursdays, starting Feb. 11) is a sequel to the “Silence of the Lambs” movie, following a young FBI agent (shown here) a year after she caught a serial killer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 12: celebrating Abe and romance

1) “In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl” finale, 9 p.m., PBS. This starts with the perfect way to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s 212th birthday: Gustavo Dudamel (shown here) conducting Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” with Vin Scully narrating. The rest of the night has vibrant Latino music with Carlos Vives, Cafe Tacvba and flamenco dancer Siudy Garrido. This series’ only weak spots have been the pleasant-but-empty video chats; this time, there are two of them … but the rest of the hour is superb. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2021
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 11: “Clarice” and comedies

1) “Clarice” debut, 10 p.m., CBS. Three decades ago, “Silence of the Lambs” won the best-picture Oscar, with Jodie Foster as Clarice, a young FBI agent who catches a serial killer. Now we nudge ahead a year; Clarice (Rebecca Breeds, shown here) wants to stay in her desk job, but she’s nudged into the field. The result is beautifully directed and acted, but a mixed blessing. It has unneeded flashbacks (brief, but gory) and the cop-show cliché of higher-ups who just keep getting in the way. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 9, 2021
News and Quick Comments

Tough talent comes in mixed sizes

“Tough as Nails” is back, giving us toughness in all sizes.
For the supersize, there’s Scott Henry, 40, a lineman. “He’s this big, lovable teddy bear,” Phil Keoghan, the show’s host and co-creator, told the Television Critics Association. “But he’s also 6-foot-7 and he’s a very powerful guy.”
And for the mini-size, there’s Celi Garcia (shown here, foreground), 31, a traveling nurse. “I’m 5-2,” she said, “and we had some really big guys on our show. And a lot of strong women.”
That’s sort of what Keoghan had in mind when he created the show, which is back (8 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS) for its second season. It has people compete in blue-collar tasks. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 9, 2021