Year: 2023

Stories

An “Indian auntie” caterer solves crimes

Rippling through “Mrs. Sidhu Investigates” (shown here), the new streaming series, is the notion of “Indian aunties.”
These aren’t the family-tree aunts; you usually only get a few of those. They’re the it-takes-a-village type; Suk Pannu, the “Sidhu” creator, figures he had dozens.
“They gave us lots of love and lots of food,” he said. “They knew what we were up to, before we did.”
And, he figured, they could probably be great crimesolvers. So he created Mrs. Sidhu, a skilled caterer. That brings her in contact with the higher-ups, who seem to be murder-prone. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 4, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 6: masterful drummer; streaming surge

1) “American Masters.” 9 p.m., PBS. Back in the late ‘80s, one man was filming jazz great Max Roach; another made audio recordings of his memories. Much later, they merged, adding old clips and new interviews. Now we see a vivid life, spanning genres; Roach (shown here) ranged from the bebop masters (Monk, Miles, Dizzy) to a rapper. Alongside great music, we gret glimpses of friendship (Clifford Brown), romance (Abby Lincoln) and agony. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 4, 2023
Stories

Late shows return … with a lot to talk about

The late-night TV world boomed back Monday and everyone seemed excited to be there.
How excited? “More excited than the guy who went to see ‘Beetlejuice’ with Lauren Boebert,” Jimmy Fallon said. “More excited than the Jets fans for the first three plays of the season.”
Yes, they had a lot to talk about.
Boebert (a congresswoman from Colorado) and her guy were ejected from a theater, after being accused of vaping, groping and yelling. Jets fans were giddy until their new quarterback was injured on the third play. There was much more.
At 6:17 a.m. Monday, Jimmy Kimmel (shown here) said, one of his writers received this text from his mother: “Please don’t make tonight’s monologue all about Trump.” Kimmel shared that text with the audience and then … well, had a long chunk of the monolog that was all about Trump. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 3, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 5: cooks, cats and lust

1) “Hell’s Kitchen,” 8 p.m., Fox. Last week’s opener left Gordon Ramsay seeming oddly pleasant. The women edged the men via a tiebreaker and no one was sent home. Now each side has to work on a dinner service and Ramsay returns to his screaming mode. Then “Lego Masters” (shown here) has an unusual challenge: Turn plastic bricks into playful home for real kittens. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 3, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 4: four new drama hours

1) “Quantum Leap” season-opener, 8 p.m., NBC. Fresh from a strong first season, this leaped into its second one before the strikes betan. It also shifted tone. Now there’s no holographic know-it-all to tell Ben what happened in the time he’s visiting. And this hour adds humor, when he crash-lands with a chaotic crew. It’s a sharp start with excellent guest stars, including the stars of “Manifest” (Melissa Roxburgh,shown here) and “Midnight, Texas” (Francois Arnaud). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 2, 2023
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TV’s favorite twist: Start with a life crumbling

There’s a plot twist that ripples through many scripts:
Sure, it’s fun for someone to plunge into a new life. But first, why not show her old life crumbling?
That happens in “Sullivan’s Crossing” (shown here), which debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 4) on CW; Dr. Maggie Sullivan soon retreats home. And it happens in “The Spencer Sisters,” which debuts at 9 p.m. that night; Darby Spencer soon retreats home.
Both shows have redheads who flee to cozier Canadian settings. Darby goes to a small college town, where her showy mom lives; Maggie goes to a Nova Scotia campground, where her grumpy dad lives. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 3: A great season ends, a bad one begins

1) “Only Murders in the Building” finale, Hulu. A great season concludes with Oliver (Martin Short, tighty) frantically trying to stop Loretta (Meryl Streep) from confessing. She’s just trying to protect the son she gave up at birth, but Oliver is convinced that neither is the killer. Also, he loves her AND needs her to co-star in his musical, alongside Charles (Steve Martin, center, alongside Selena Gomez) and others. Now we should learn who the real killer is … and, maybe, how the musical does. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Disney saves its best for Sundays

For four months, TV’s biggest night had a giant question-mark.
Sundays are when ratings peak. But in its makeshift, strike-time schedule, ABC simply listed “Wonderful World of Disney” movies at 8 p.m., without saying which ones.
Disney movies, after all, can be as magical as “Mary Poppins,” as blah as this year’s “Haunted Mansion,” as forgettable as several I’ve forgotten. So which ones would be shown?
Now we finally know. This starts with “Jungle Cruise,” Oct. 1; “Cruella,” Oct. 8; and “Encanto” (shown here), Oct. 15. That covers a broad range — ordinary adventure, salvaged by likable stars … extraordinary adventure with awesome visuals … and an animated musical with some “Poppins-style” splendor. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 1, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 2: new game, old game and latenighters’ return

1) “Loteria Loca” debut, 9 p.m., CBS. As Jaime Camil tells it, every home in Mexico has a loteria set. It’s sort of like bingo, but with bright pictures. The game has been in Mexico for 250 years and now reaches TV, with Camil (the “Jane the Virgin” co-star) hosting and producing. This version (shown here) starts with the cards, then moves on to interactive challenges. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 30, 2023
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Best-bets for Oct. 1: The eternal Homer leads cartoon surge

1) “The Simpsons” season-opener, 8 p.m., Fox. At a time when most scripted shows were detoured by strikes, this is an exception: Animated shows are done far in advance; starting tonight, Fox has four new ones on Sundays. It’s the 35th season for “The Simpsons,” which seems as sharp as ever. Homer gets a wisp of crossing-guard glory (shown here); then, of course, he takes it to excess. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 29, 2023