Month: January 2023

Stories

A surgeon’s life takes a witchly turn

Rowan Mayfair has a mixed life – empty at home, busy at work.
She’s a gifted neurosurgeon, navigating a hospital filled with male egos. She doesn’t need any complications, but now there’s one more: She’s a witch who can inadvertently kill with her mind.
All of that happened in the opener of “Mayfair Witches” (shown here with Alexandra Daddario), available on AMC+. The second episode (10 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, on AMC and AMC+) takes it from there.
Lots of TV characters seem to find they are witches or werewolves or such. Most are young, their lives in flux anyway; author Anne Rice changed that when she created Rowan. “She’s been a good girl for her whole life,” said Esta Spalding, co-creator of the eight-week series. But then she finds “that other side of her, which is powerful and potentially destructive.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2023
Stories

From “Trek” to “Grease,” Paramount+ mines its past

If you want to start a big-time streaming service, here’s a tip: It helps to have a movie studio.
That’s what Disney+ and HBO Max do. They have treasure hunts through the Disney and Warner vaults, finding films to re-make, revise or re-imagine. And lately, Paramount+ has done the same.
Once a modest streamer called CBS All Access, it has been renamed and re-vitalized, jumping from four million subscribers (four years ago) to closer to 50 million. At Television Critics Association sessions, it offered ambitious plans, many of them linked to past Paramount hits.
“Star Trek” has been a key. Paramount+ has launched two large series (“Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds” ), an intimate one (“Picard”), an animated one (“Lower Decks”) and “Short Treks.” Now the “Next Generation” cast is re-uniting on Feb. 16, for what will be the final “Picard” season – maybe. “There is still enormous potential for narrative, in what we’ve been doing,” said star Patrick Stewart, 82, (shown here with Levar Burton). “And there are doors left open.
Meanwhile, other shows are also being mined. There’s: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 10, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Back, at last, to sunny (?) California

PASADENA — It was three years ago that we headed home from the Television Critics Association sessions, already looking forward to the next ones.
These trips, twice a year, run for two-plus weeks in California, bringing blue skies, sunshine, optimism and TV stars. Then the world stopped.
Today (Jan. 9), the TCA finally started its first in-person sessions since January of 2020. Onstage this morning was Kiefer Sutherland … just as he’d been so often in the past. He was followed by the young cast of a “Grease” prequel (shown here). Everything was back to normal … except, of course, it wasn’t: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023
News and Quick Comments

It’s overcrowded, over budget and kinda fun

It was Yogi Berra, the famed philosopher, who best summed up the Disney World experience.
“No wonder no one ever comes here,” he once said. “It’s too crowded.”
Berra (also known for baseball) was talking about a New York restaurant, but his comment perfectly suits the mega-theme-park (show here) in Orlando. By all logic, the crowded conditions would keep people away … except, quite obviously, they don’t.
I went during what books describe as one of the quieter times, waiting until Jan. 2 to enter the parks. Walking past one ride, I mentioned that the stated wait-time was two hours. “It’s insane,” a stranger said, while pushing a baby stroller. Still, a 13-year-old whom I know to be exceptionally sane waited two-and-a-half hours for the “Avatar” ride. Afterward, he pronounced it as worth it. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 11: RuPaul leads a fun-and-games night

1) “Lingo” debut, 9 p.m., CBS. When this game show debuted in 1987, its host seemed to fit the times. Michael Reagan was a white guy in a suit and tie; most hosts were. Also, his dad was president. That version only lasted a year, but now there’s a host that fits the current times. RuPaul Charles (shown here) is bright and unique; as the leader of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” he’s won four Emmys for best competition show and seven in a row for best host. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 10 movies — great, good, golden

1) Golden Globe awards, 8-11 p.m., NBC. After a one-year pause (addressing diversity and ethics issues), the telecast is back, with Jerrod Carmichael hosting and some box-office hits nominated. The drama-movie category has “Top Gun” and “Avatar” sequels (the latter shown here) plus “Elvis,” “Tar” and Steven Spielberg’s “Fabelmans.” Comedy movies are “Glass Onion,” “Babylon,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 8: warm wedding, cold crimes

1) “All Creatures Great and Small” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. For two seasons, we’ve rooted for two sweet-natured people (shown here, center0: James is a veterinarian, working with the stern Siegfried and his cheery brother Tristan; Helen is a diligent farmer, working with her widowed dad. She almost married a rich guy, then backed out; now she and James are ready to marry … if they overcome late obstacles. The result has humor, warmth and flowing green landscapes. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 6, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 7: Reba leads busy movie night

1) “The Hammer,” 8-10 p.m., Lifetime. Here’s a surprise – a Lifetime movie that deftly juggles humor, mystery and a great character. She’s a circuit judge, quick with her gavel and her voice; she’s also a fictionalized version of a real judge who covers sprawling stretches of Nevada. Reba McEntire (shown here) plays her zestfully, with strong support from Melissa Peterman as her sister and Kay Shioma Metchie as her bailiff. Let’s hope for more “Hammer” movies or a series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2023