Year: 2022

News and Quick Comments

PBS plans a Broadway-style surge

PBS continues its solo mission of putting Broadway-type shows on TV.
There’s a small sign of that now, when stations air “An Evening with Lerner and Lehrer” during their pledge drive. (See a separate piece here, under “stories.” A bigger package comes in May, with specials on three Fridays.
Two of those shows were done last year, during a slowdown in the pandemic – a Sutton Foster musical in London (shown here) and an outdoor comedy in New York. The other is a documentary. The shows, under the “Great Performances” banner, are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2022
News and Quick Comments

“Joe vs. Carole” has half of a great feud tale

For a great feud story, you need two sides that are deep, detailed and interesting.
You need Yankees and Red Sox, Hatfields and McCoys, Lincoln and Douglas, maybe Edison and Tesla. By that standard, “Joe vs. Carole,” which starts Thursday (March 3) on Peacock, falls one short.
For a pretty good story, however, you need only one rich character, in the hands of a gifted actor. That’s what this delivers instantly.
Kate McKinnon (shown here with Kyle MacLachlan) is a delight as Carole Baskin, the animal activist; John Cameron Mitchell survives some overwrought material as Joe Exotic, owner of a touring animal show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 4: brains and rage

1) “Brain Games: On the Road,” 8-10 p.m., National Geographic. The original series ran for eight seasons and three hosts, showing how our sub-conscious can help or trick us. It was a fun show, worth trying; all the episodes are on Disney+ and three of them rerun here, at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. They’re followed by four half-hours of this spin-off (shown here), which debuted last week. Chuck Nice takes the games into neighborhoods. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2022
Stories

Respect MSU and save your team and/or planet

Adam McKay’s work sprawls across vast turf, from the goofiness of Will Ferrell films to the rage and humor entwined in “Vice” or “The Big Short.”
Now a sub-theme has accidentally surfaced: Take people from Michigan State University seriously. It might save your basketball team and/or your planet.
“Michigan is a major state with great learning institutions,” McKay said with a grin. Key characters in his latest films don’t seem to realize that; consider:
–“Don’t Look Up,” which has Oscar nominations for best picture, McKay’s script and more. MSU people say a meteor is heading toward Earth; there’s a fatal pause, as officials wait for Ivy Leaguers to agree.
— “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” debuting at 9 p.m. Sunday (March 6) on HBO. We see some people doubt that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a wide-eyed teenager, can make the jump to Los Angeles from MSU and his Lansing hometown. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 2, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 3: Joe vs. Carole, Holmes vs. the world

1) Streaming surge. The streaming networks are loading up now. On Wednesday, Disney+ added Steven Spielberg’s masterful “West Side Story” remake; today, two mini-series collide, each telling true stories with audacious people. d on Hulu, “The Dropout” has Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, a tech genius convicted of massive fraud. On Peacock, Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell (shown here) play Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic in “Joe vs. Carole,” a story made famous in the “Tiger King” documentary. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 1, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 2: It’s a night of farewells

1) “The Amazing Race” finale, 8-10 p.m., CBS. The longest race in TV history ends. Filming started two years ago, took an 18-month Covid break, then resumed. Now comes the Greece-Portugal-U.S. finish. Kim and Penn Holderness, internet stars since their “Xmas Jammies” video, are in the running. So are Ryan Ferguson (exonerated after 10 years in prison) and his friend Dusty Harris, Arun Kumar and his daughter Natalia; and flight attendants (shown here) Raquel Moore and Cayla Platt. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2022
Stories

Bourdain: a tasty life in motion

Anthony Bourdain was the guy who other guys wanted to be.
He was tall (6-foot-3) and handsome, in a craggy sort of way. He went everywhere and ate everything. He could talk easily to a master chef, a fish peddler or a rock star. Growing up, he once said, “all my heroes were musicians or writers.”
Bourdain (shown here) seemed wonderfully at ease with life, but that was an illusion; he committed suicide at 61.
This weekend (barring breaking news), CNN will look back at a remarkable life. At 9 p.m. Saturday (March 5), it has six episodes of “Parts Unknown,” Bourdain’s Peabody Award-winning series. At 9 p.m. Sunday (repeating at 11:30), it has the TV debut of “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2022
Stories

Music on TV? It thrives at pledge time

Music, once a prime part of television, has been nudged to the fringe.
Mostly, it shows up in award shows, in competitions, in the final minutes of latenight talk shows. And it fills PBS pledge drives.
That’s where we are now. Stations are stuffing this pledge period with the songs of Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, the Rolling Stones and more, from a Pink Floyd cover band to, as usual, Celtic Woman.
And in a change-of-pace (shown here with Jenn Colella), they have Broadway’s Lerner-and-Loewe songs, given a fresh twist. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 27, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 1: Time to learn the Union’s state

1) State of the Union address, 9 p.m. ET, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news networks. For the first time, we had to wait until March to learn what state the union is in. Since 1934, the speech has been in January or February; before that, it was November or December … except for George Washington, on Oct. 25, 1791. (Hey, he was new at this.) Now Joe Biden speaks and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds gives the Republican response. And yes, there are alternatives, including “Naomi” (shown here); see No. 4. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 27, 2022