Year: 2022

Stories

Documentaries thrive — at Oscar time and beyond

At Oscar time, our attention drifts to top names – Spielberg and Kidman and Denzel and such.
But maybe we’ll also notice Meera Devi and Suneeta Prajapati and others. They’re at the core of “Writing with Fire” (shown here) which is up for an Oscar (best documentary feature) on Sunday, March 27, then reaches PBS’ “Independent Lens” at 10 p.m. the next day.
“The extremely brave actions of these young women is amazing,” Lois Vossen, who started “Lens” 23 years ago, said by phone. “I don’t know whether I would have the guts to do what they do.”
They report for a print-and-online news agency in rural India. They are women from the Dalit caste (previously called “untouchables”), confronting people who distrust women and Dalit and maybe the news in general. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Yes, the Oscars will have some music

A week before the Oscars, we’re finally hearing names of some of the music performers.
That’s a step up from last year, when music – and any entertainment, really – was jettisoned. Music was exiled to the preview portion; comedy was also missing, in a no-host, no-fun night.
This year’s ceremony – 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 27 on ABC – will have three hosts (comedians Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall) and music from: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 21: It’s “Idol” vs. “Song Contest”

1) “American Song Contest” debut, 8-10 p.m., NBC.  For 65 years, the Eurovision contest has been big in Europe. Now we get an American version, an eight-week tourney (hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg) with 56 acts –one for each state, plus five territories and D.C. Most are unknowns, but the field includes Michael Bolton (Connecticut), Macy Gray (Ohio), Jewel (Alaska), Sisqo (shown here, Maryland) and “Voice” champion Jordan Smith (Kentucky). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 19, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 20: elegant “Sanditon,” passionate Adele

1) “Masterpiece: Sanditon” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. More than two years ago, the first season ended with Charlotte’s life in flux. Her true love, Sidney Parker, had left to marry a rich woman, rescuing the finances of his brother’s shaky resort project. And now? Sidney isn’t back … nor is his sister … or James Stringer, who loved Charlotte from afar. But Charlotte is bringing her giddy sister and there are plenty of new guys, include redcoat soldiers (shown here). It’s a great start. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 18, 2022
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 21: Oscars Week and more

1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC. The worst is over now. For three humorless years, there was no host; last year, there was little music, no fun … and lots of time for winners to drone on, thanking agents and such. Now the Oscars try to make up for that with three hosts, two (Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes) quite funny; the third is a gifted actress, Regina Hall. Still, the early list of presenters had only a few (Chris Rock, for instance) capable of fun. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 17, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 19: the joys of chocolate and basketball

1) “Great Chocolate Showdown” (shown here) finale, 8 p.m., CW. Three pleasant-enough things – chocolate, Canada and reality-TV – combine. This Canadian show started with 10 people – half of them Americans – crafting chocolate goodies. Now it’s down to Casey Hallen from New York City, Renu Matthew from Alberta and T. Lawrence-Simon from Massachusetts. Each gets a previous contestant as an assistant, then fills a shop window with various temptations. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 17, 2022
News and Quick Comments

“Sanditon”: PBS gambled on an almost-doomed show

(“Sanditon” is finally back, after a too-long gap. A separate piece here, under “stories,” is a guide to the second season, which starts at 9 p.m. Sunday, March 20, on PBS. Alongside that, however, I thought I should repeat a previous story, talking about the show’s rescue. Here it is, slightly shortened.)
Even before “Sanditon” (shown here) reached America two years ago, PBS had a dilemma.
Like virtually everything on “Masterpiece Theatre,” this was a global project, with a British network paying more and getting it first. And that network had already decided not to do a second season.
“We knew that (it) had been canceled before it even aired on ‘Masterpiece,’” Susanne Simpsons, the “Masterpiece” producer, said in a Television Critics Association virtual press conference. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 18: basketball vs. “Blacklist”

1) “The Blacklist,” 8 p.m., NBC. With basketball gobbling up CBS this weekend, hour-long crime shows are hard to find. Fortunately, “Blacklist” is back, for only its third episode in eight weeks. The task force is tracking “The Chairman,” whose dark web helps criminals trade stock-market shares. Also, Ressler is angry when Red (shown here in a previous episode) goes to extremes to find a tracking device. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 16, 2022
Stories

“Flatch”: fun from Feig, Fox and flyover folks

They’ve been called “the flyover states,” the ones that helpfully keep New York and California apart.
They’ve given us the humor of Will Rogers and Garrison Keillor, the music of Motown and Garth Brooks, the heroics of Roy Rogers and George Clooney. And now there’s “Welcome to Flatch,” a droll comedy about small-town mid-America, at 9:30 p.m. Thursdays on Fox, starting March 17.
Sam Straley (from Cincinnati) and the mono-named Holmes (from Omaha) star as young adults (shown here), not sure what happens after the school years are over. Paul Feig, from small-town Michigan, is a writer-producer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 17: droll “Flatch” or tourney fuss

1) “Welcome to Flatch” debut, 9:30 p.m., Fox. Adapted from a British comedy, this is filled with droll, dry humor. A camera crew, we’re told, is studying small-town America. Mostly, it finds semi-empty lives – a local clergyman (Seann William Scott); his ex-wife (Aya Cash), editing the local paper; and two young people (shown here), clueless about life after high school. One wants a Scarecrow Festival prize; the other wants to be an influencer or spend time with her distant dad. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2022