Day: January 26, 2023

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 30: Grammys, hip hop and a sci-fi surge

1) Grammy awards, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) today, CBS, repeating at 8:30. Skillfully produced by Ben Winston (who also does the Tonys and James Corden’s show), the Grammys survived the pandemic. Now Trevor Noah hosts for the third straight year. Beyonce leads with nine nominations … tying her with her husband Jay-Z, as all-time leaders with 88 apiece. Performers include Mary J. Blige (shown here), Bad Bunny, Luke Combs, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Brandi Carlile and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 28: Fun on (or near) ice

1) “Planet Earth: Frozen Planet II” (shown here), 8 p.m., BBC America. A third of our planet remains mostly frozen, David Attenborough tells us here. Parts of the Arctic are fierce – 200-mile-an-hour winds whipping temperatures of 94-below-zero Fahrenheit. But moving south a tad, there’s spectacular footage of frozen forests, cascading waterfalls, wolves and bison colliding. This is great filmmaking, in a day filled with reruns of other BBC nature gems, Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023
News and Quick Comments

It’s a life of TV fame and (sometimes) soup-can meals

(This is mainly for people in the Lansing, Mich., area, but should be of interest to others, especially “Shameless” fans. Jim Hoffmaster, who did 69 episodes of that show, is the subject of a fascinating documentary. It’s returning to Lansing for a week at the Studio C theater, beginning at 6:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. With that in mind, I’m repeating this story, from a few months ago.)
Here are some moments in the life of a successful TV actor. Jim Hoffmaster (shown here) was:
— Visiting his alma mater, Durand (Mich.) High School, when a young woman rushed in, grinning. She was meeting the guy who plays Kermit on “Shameless” – “my favorite character on my favorite show.”
— At a street fair in Lansing,, doing one of his silly dances; the crowd cheered. “That’s as close as I’ve ever been to being mobbed,” he said later, by phone.
— And back home in Los Angeles, in a crowded studio apartment. No, he doesn’t have elegant dinner parties there. In fact, he never has guests … and he sometimes eats soup straight from the can. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Good news: quietly clever “Bob” has been renewed

One of TV’s best shows has just been renewed for next season.
And no, it’s not one that grabs awards or lands on 10-best lists. It’s “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” the quiet gem that airs at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on CBS.
The network had already renewed its other comedies, two good ones (“Young Sheldon” and “Ghosts”) and “The Neighborhood.” Now it adds “Bob,” a quiet success. In its fourth season, it’s been averaging six million viewers, sometimes sliping into the top 10. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2023