Month: July 2023

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 15: stars of basketball and baking

1) WNBA all-star game, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC. The top women’s basketball players collide in prime time, with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart as captains. They were the top vote-getters, with Brittney Griner (shown here) finishing third. It’s the ninth all-star selection for Griner, who is 32 and 6-foot-9. Bouncing back quickly from nine months in Russian prison, she’s been almost matching her 2021 season, when she averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 13, 2023
Stories

Raylan has an insta-grown daughter … and a fun story

Kids grow up fast these days, we’re told. So Willa Givens shouldn’t surprise us.
She was a baby (literally), the daughter of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens and a former court stenographer, when “Justified” began its final season. And now, eight years later?
In “Justified: City Primeval” (shown here) – debuting with episodes at 10 and 11:15 p.m. Tuesday (July 18) on FX – she’s 15, an attractive teen with long hair, goofy smile and adventurous spirit. How did this happen?
“We fudged the timeline,” writer-producer Dave Andron admitted to the Television Critics Association. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 13, 2023
News and Quick Comments

HBO dramas dominate the Emmy nominations

In a changing TV world, one thing remains solid: HBO dominates the Emmy awards, especially when it’s linked to a streaming network.
The nominations, announced today (July 12) were led by “Succession” (shown here), “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus.” They totaled 27, 24 and 23 nominations; only Apple’s “Ted Lasso,” with 21, came close.
Those first three are all on what used to be HBO Max and is now simply Max. All three are up for best drama series, with the final season of “Succession” as the frontrunner.
(The comedy category includes the final seasons of “Ted Lasso,” Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Barry.”) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 12, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Fox sets a strike-resistant schedule for fall

Depending on how you look at it, the Fox network is way behind its competition … or a tad ahead:
BEHIND: It has finally announced a schedule for this fall. The others set theirs two months ago.
AHEAD: That schedule is in full strike mode. It has four nights of reality shows (including “The Masked Singer,” shown here), two nights of sports and one of animated shows … none of them touched (for now) by the writers’ strike.
Until now, only one network had a schedule that completely reflects the ongoing strike. That was ABC, planning a full non-fiction slate, except for an hour of “Abbott Elementary” reruns. Now comes Fox, planning: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 12, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 14: Canadian chaos, American reality

1) “Moonshine,” 9 p.m., CW. In last week’s opener, life imploded for Lidia (Jennifer Finnigan). A busy Manhattan architect, she returned home to Nova Scotia with her two teens, for her aunt’s memorial service. She promptly learned that she’d inherited 43 percent of her family’s crumbling resort … and that her husband is cheating, Now she’s decided to stay in this chaotic place (shown here), as secrets and suspicions persist. She tries to make changes, starting with the “Goat Roast.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 12, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 13: bye, “Blacklist”; hi, vampires

1) “The Blacklist” series finale, 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. For a decade, this has given us richly tangled stories centered on an enigmatic character. Using the assumed name “Red” Redington, he’s a master criminal who tips an FBI task force; James Spader (shown here) has had two Golden Globe best-actor nominations, playing someone a half-step ahead of life. Now we may learn his identity and the secrets he’s holding. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 11, 2023
News and Quick Comments

As strike lingers, cartoons and games get ready

TV networks are bracing for their scriptless season. New reminders come with:
— CBS hinting that “The Buddy Games” will debut this fall, joining a reality-show deluge.
— Fox setting its plans for Sunday animation. “Krapopolis” (shown here) – with ancient Greeks clumsily trying to create civilization – debuts with two episodes Sept. 24. The other shows – “The Simpsons,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Family Guy” – start their season a week later. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 11, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for July 12: sports champs and food stars

1) ESPY awards, 8-11 p.m., ABC. It’s time to honor the best in sports. For top male athlete, baseball’s Aaron Judge faces football’s Patrick Mahomes, basketball’s Nikola Jokic and soccer’s Lionel Messi. For women, skiier Mikaela Shiffrin (shown here) has her third nomination, facing A’ja Wilson (basketball), Sophia Smith (soccer) and Iga Swiatek (tennis). There’s much more … but, reportedly, no host or script, due to the writers’ strike. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 10, 2023
Stories

South savors storytelling skill

A tradition has sprawled across generations in the South. “We are a region of storytellers,” Harper Lee once said.
She told one classic story, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Her Alabama neighbor (and childhood friend) Truman Capote told many. They joined a trend ranging from authors (Faulkner, Welty, Hurston, Grisham) to the poems of Maya Angelou and the songs of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson and emerging stars like Adia Victoria (shown here).
The South has offered a rich tapestry. And now a PBS series visits some of the modern-day people. “Southern Storytellers” airs at 9 p.m. on three Tuesdays, starting July 18
“Southerners tend to wear their souls and their hearts on their sleeves,” said Courtney Pledger, CEO of the Arkansas PBS stations producing the series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 9, 2023