Month: August 2023

News and Quick Comments

Good news: The CW/Canada link is sometimes fun

OK, my faith and optimism have been semi-restored.
That’s my faith in the shaky upcoming TV season. And in the wobbly CW network. And in Canada.
In short, the opening episode of “The Spencer Sisters” is surprisingly good.
The show arrives Oct. 4 on CW, which is one of the few networks to realize that Canada: 1) Is quite close to us, geographically; 2) Speaks a language very similar to our own; and 3) Makes TV shows like the ones we do … or, at least, like we did in decades past. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 13, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 15: taut crime or light reality

1) “Justified: City Primeval,” 10 p.m., FX. A dangerous book, with notes about bribes, is in the hands of menacing Mansell (shown here, right) and sweet-spirited Sweetie (left). Mansell has already used it to steal a painting; now things get intense. Raylan – a U.S. marshal, transported to Detroit – is sleeping with Mansell’s lawyer; he’s also pursuing her client and a tangled case. This episode, the sixth of eight, is sometimes talky, sometimes lethal, always interesting. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 13, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 14: Reality rules, including food finale

1) “Crime Scene Kitchen” finale, 9 p.m., Fox. For two summers, Fadi Odeh and T Lawrence-Simon (shown here) have brightened cooking showa. Last year, they were opponents in “The Great Chocolate Showdown”; T tied for runner-up, with Fadi finishing sixth. Now they’re together, in a season that started with 12 duos, half of them classically trained. Fadi and T are the only self-taught cooks in the final three. In fact, T also performs and teaches circus aerial acts. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 12, 2023
Stories

Slow time for TV? Not if you like mysteries

Sure, the TV world is sputtering now. Summer line-ups are winding down; the fall ones are patchwork.
But let’s note an upside: This is a great time to watch mysteries.
A funny one (“Only Murders in the Building,” shown here) just started its season; a serious one (“Dark Winds”) began a week earlier. Another (“Justified: City Primeval”) is funny AND serious and violent..
Then there’s “The Lincoln Lawyer,” which just finished its split season. And “The Chelsea Detective,” which starts a new season on Aug. 28. Six days later, three shows – “Unforgiven,” “Professor T” and “Van der Valk” – all start their seasons on PBS. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 11, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 13: “Billions” starts, “1883” ends

1) “Billions” season-opener, 8 p.m., Showtime. When Damian Lewis (shown here) left, “Billions” scrambled for an entire season. His character — Bobby “Axe” Axelrod – had fled overseas to escape prosecution. Mike Prince – just as ruthless, but way less charming – took over. Now Prince plans to run for president and others are desperate to get Axe back; so are we. Stick with this hour, through some strong dialog and then a big finish. Read more…

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

Emmys get a new date — on Martin Luther King Day

The Emmy Awards now have a new date – Jan. 15, four months later than the original plan.
That will be 8-11 p.m. ET (5-8 p.m. PT) on Fox, with Jesse Collins Entertaiment — producer of recent Super Bowl halftimes (shown here) and more — in charge. The announcement today (Aug. 10):
— Shows confidence that the actors’ and writers’ strikes will eventually be settled. Actors have been instructed to avoid functions until then.
— Comes just eight days after the Golden Globes telecast. The Emmys honor TV; the Globes do movies and TV.
— And is being planned partly as a Martin Luther King Day celebration. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 10, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 12: We can marvel at a new hero

1) “Ms. Marvel” conclusion, 8-11 p.m., ABC. Fresh from its Television Critics Association award for best family show, this mini-series – originally on Disney+ — wraps its two-week rerun. Last week, we met Kamala Khan, a teen who played videogames and wrote fan fiction, especially about Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel). Then a bangle from her grandmother unlocked her own powers. Now (shown here) she’s traveling the world to learn family secrets. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 10, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Aug.14: Three finales and all-star special

1) “Stand Up to Cancer,” 8 p.m. Saturday, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and more. Every two years, forces combine for comedy sketches and talks, raising millions for cancer research. This show, the eighth, comes during the writers’ and actors’ strikes, so it will rerun sketches with Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Melissa McCarthy Bill Hader and more. It also reruns music by The Who, Brittany Howard and (shown here) the widow of Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer at 43. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 10, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 11: Happy birthday, hip hop

1) Hip hop birthday, Showtime. Hip hop – with its surge of DJs, rappers, break-dancers and more – began on Aug. 11, 1973, historians say, with a West Bronx party. Now Showtime celebrates with a marathon. That includes highlights of “Video Music Box” at 10 a.m., followed by a film about Cypress Hill (11:30), mini-series about Supreme Team at 1 p.m. and Wu-Tang Clan (shown here) at 4 p.m. and then a film about rapper Biz Markie at 8. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 9, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 10: Tough reality shows arrive

1) “The Challenge: USA” opener, 10 p.m., CBS. This is the final piece in CBS’ August surge. Spun off of a long-running MTV show, it takes 24 reality-show alumni to Croatia (shown here). Nine started on “Big Brother” and seven on “Survivor, including winners Michele Fitzgerald and Chris Underwood.” The show follows “Big Brother” on Thursdays and (for the next three weeks) on Sundays. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 8, 2023