Month: February 2022

Stories

True stories focus on uberwrought young geniuses

TV sems to savor two kinds of real-life stories – true crime and true tech. Now come the tales of:
–Uber and Travis Kalanick. “Super Pumped” (shown here), 10 p.m. Sundays on Showtime, starts Feb. 27.
— Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. First was an HBO documentary movie; next is “The Dropout,” a Hulu mini-series Thursdays, starting March 3.
Each depicts a hard-charging person, creating a billion-dollar business; still, there’s a key difference. “Travis isn’t a con man, said “Super Pumped” producer Beth Schacter. His idea worked. “We all walk around with Uber in our pocket; we don’t walk around with Theranos.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 24, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 25: “Blacklist” and its almost-clone

1) “The Blacklist” and “The Endgame,” 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. After filling in on Thursdays (and after a five-week break), “Blacklist” (shown here in a previous episode) returns to its Friday slot. Its task force is probing a network for untraceable cell-phone calls, when there are sharp consequences. That leads into a rerun of Monday’s “Endgame” debut … which is a lot like the “Blacklist” debut, nine years ago. Again, a master criminal is confined, but in control; the result is slickly crafted, but lacks believability. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 23, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 24: law & order & “Grey’s & such

1) “Law & Order” season-opener, 8 p.m., NBC. The 21st season begins, a dozen years after the 20th. The long rest, however, hasn’t done it much good; the opener has a fairly flat story about a Cosby-type star and the aftershocks. Sam Waterston (shown here), 81, is back briefly as the district attorney, but the courtroom work goes to Hugh Dancy. Anthony Anderson, currently in three series, is back as a cop, with Jeffrey Donovan as his sullen partner and Camryn Manheim as their boss. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 22, 2022
News and Quick Comments

One PBS night: from frontier horse to bionic limbs

As the Olympics finally fade away, we can rediscover the rest of the TV universe.
That includes PBS, which has a remarkable night of non-fiction Wednesday (Feb. 23). In one night, it takes us from horses – the heroes of the American frontier – to a new generation of bionic limbs.
That starts at 8 p.m. with a beautifully filmed edition of “Nature.” Horses were here 40 million years ago, filmmaker Eric Bendick told the Television Critics Association, then disappeared from North America. “They actually came back with the Spanish conquistadores, (leading to) the arrival of the mustang” (shown here). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 21, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 23: propulsive “P.D.,” amiable “Alien”

1) “Chicago P.D.,” 10 p.m., NBC. This is easily the best of the three “Chicago” series, as shown tonight. After a bland “Chicago Fire” at 9 p.m., we get this taut hour. It starts with Haily Upton (Tracy Spiradakos, shown here) on a nighttime run. A crisis leads to a stunning opening; then the propulsive story streaks toward its emotional finish. There’s strong writing and visuals, plus great work from Spiradakos. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 21, 2022
Stories

After a delay, FX is ready to surge

As TV reaches a state of sheer excess, one key player has been fairly quiet … until now.
That’s FX, now preparing for a surge on its own channels and on the Hulu and Disney+ streamers. “Our output hasn’t progressed as quickly as we planned,” said John Landgraf, the FX chairman.
Now it’s ready to fly. Returning to FX are “Snowfall” (shown here) on Feb. 23, “Better Things” on Feb. 28, “Atlanta” on March 15 and “Mayans M.C” on April 19 … followed by three new series – the animated “Little Demon,” the non-fiction “Welcome to Wrexham” and, this summer, the long-delayed “The Old Man.”
Beyond that, Landgraf told the Television Critics Association about 17 other projects. A couple (“Dave” and “Fargo”) are returning shows from the cable networks (FX and FXX); most, however, will skip cable and go directly to the streamers. They range from an “Alien” prequel series to some large mini-series – one on Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations,” another a “Shogun” reboot he calls “in terms of scale and scope, the most ambitious production in the history of FX.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 20, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 22: NBC duo brings strong emotions

1) “This Is Us,” 9 p.m., NBC. After an Olympic break, broadcast-TV’s best drama is back with another emotional and well-crafted episode. This one steps outside the usual Pearson universe. There are nods to nice-guy types – Miguel (in a flashback, before he married Rebecca) and Elijah (who’s with Madison).  But the real focus is on Randall’s wife Beth (shown here). If you saw (in real life) a 15-year-old Olympian being berated for falling, you’ll be moved by Beth’s reaction here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 20, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 21: Honest Abe; dishonest schemer

1) “Abraham Lincoln,” 8-10:33 p.m., History, rerunning at 12:04 a.m. Sunday’s opener (rerunning at 5:30 p.m. today) took Abe through a tough childhood, brightened when his new stepmother brought warmth and books. Now, on Presidents Day, we see him (shown here) waging war and pondering emancipation. Skillfully blending historians and re-enactments, this concludes at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with reruns at 3 and 5:30. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 19, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 20: Farewell, Olympics; hello, Abe

1) Olympic finale, 8-10:30 p.m., NBC. The Chinese have shown a mastery of spectacles – from inventing fireworks (1,00 years ago) to holding he Olympic opening ceremony (16 days ago). Now it’s time for the closing ceremony (the 2018 one is shown here), plus two reruns of the figure-skating gala. One (3:30-8 a.m.) is on the USA Network, which also reruns the men’s hockey championship during that stretch; the other (2-6 p.m.) is on NBC, which also has women’s cross-country skiing plus (at 7 p.m.) an Olympic wrap-up. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 18, 2022
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Feb. 21: It’s makeover time for NBC

1)“Endgame” debut, 10 p.m. today, NBC. It’s makeover week for NBC, with a transformed line-up after the Olympics. That starts today with “America’s Got Talent: Extreme” (same Simon, bigger stunts) at 8 p.m. and then “Endgame.” A master criminal (Morena Baccarin, left) and a brilliant FBI agent (Ryan Michelle Bathe, right) collide. The former is under arrest, but still able to trigger mega-crimes. It’s big and ambitious, but strains believability at every turn. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 17, 2022