Year: 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
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 19: Now the skaters can have fun

1) Figure-skating gala, 11:30 p.m. ET, NBC. Here’s one of the highlights of the winter games – no rules, no judges, just skilled skaters entertaining us. That includes the medal winners and, sometimes, others. We can expect to see the gold-medalists, including the French ice-dance duo (shown here) and Nathan Chen of the U.S.; we’ll also see the winners of the pairs finals, which air from 6-10 a.m. today on the USA Network. That will rerun in NBCs primetime (8-11 p.m. ET) … just before we see the medalists have gala fun. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 17, 2022
Stories

Lincoln: a towering subject for History mini-series

Abraham Lincoln was a towering enigma, a sturdy pillar of conflicts and contrasts.
He was a sad man who made people laugh, a rough-hewn rail-splitter who preferred to be inside with a book. He lost four political races … then won the presidency and changed the nation.
“There’s nothing bigger … than the Moby Dick of American history, which is Abraham Lincoln,” said historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose Lincoln documentary debuts on President’s Day weekend (8 p.m. Feb. 20-22) on the History Channel. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 16, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 18: skating pairs and movie fun

1) ”Knives Out” (2019), 8-11 p.m., Syfy. In no universe would this be considered sci-fi or syfy or whatever. Still, it’s a terrific film, worth seeing. Rian Johnson’s Oscar-nominated script skillfully juggles humor, action and a murder mystery. The stars include Jamie Lee Curtis (shown here, foreground), Chris Evans and – as a detective with a big Southern accent – Daniel Craig. And Ana de Armas, relatively unknown to American audiences, is terrific as an innocent, working for a scheming family. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 16, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 17: Women lead a big Olympic day

1) Olympic figures-skating. It’s time for the women’s individual finals, always a ratings-grabber … especially when there’s a whiff of scandal.  Russia’s Kamila Valieva (shown here) is clearly the best skater, but word came late – VERY late – that she’d tested positive for a banned drug. An agency rule that she can skate … while people figure out who’s responsible and whether she gets a medal. That’s live this morning (5-9 a.m. ET) on the USA Network, then on tape tonight (8-11:30 p.m.) on NBC. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 15, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Big screen or small, Christie mysteries are eternal

 Yes, show-business loves things that are fresh, flashy and new.
But some old tales still work well. Near the top of the list are Agatha Christie stories; two new examples:
–“Death on the Nile” (shown here), It opened this weekend in movie theaters, with Kenneth Branagh directing and starring as Hercule Poirot.
–“Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” It’s a three-parter that starts streaming April 12 on Britbox, with Hugh Laurie writing, directing and taking a small role. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 14, 2022