Year: 2023

Stories

A tattered season coming? Not on PBS

The face on the screen was familiar and re-assuring.
Yes, this may be the TV season people dread, with two strikes and an overload of reality shows. But there was Ken Burns, via Zoom, reminding us that PBS is as strong as ever.
Burns has been making prize-winning documentaries for four decades.. All of them, he said, came with “no marketing decisions, no focus panels, … just whatever lands in our hearts or our guts.”
Coming next (Oct. 16-17) is a portrait of the Amrican buffalo (shown here). The first half, he admits, is “incredibly difficult to watch.” Still, both halves are richly crafted and deeply moving.
That provides a neat consolation: As awful as this TV season may be, PBS seems to be in fine shape. Here’s an updated look at what’s coming, with details through October and a few glimpses ahead: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 18, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 19: “Frida” starts, “Talent” nears finish

1) “America’s Got Talent,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. It’s time to fill the last spots in next week’s finals. Tonight’s contestants come from Russian Japan, Brazil, South Korea and Tanzania. They range from a 7-year-old dancer to a 61-year-old magician. There’s another magician, a dance group, an acrobat duo and a hula hoop aerialist, plus three solo singers, a duo (Trailer Flowers, shown here) and a chorus. Viewers will vote; on Wednesday, at least two acts will learn they’re in the finals. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 17, 2023
News and Quick Comments

“Theater Camp”: indie filmmaking at its best

I’ve never been to theater camp and never really done theater.
(That’s assuming you don’t count two nights in a small-town Wisconsin high school. You shouldn’t.)
Still, I love “Theater Camp” (shown here), the movie that just reached Hulu. It reminds us just how good an independent film can be.
Indie movies are often made with a shortage of money and an excess of wit and skill. They’re where Greta Gerwig started (with “Lady Bird” and such) before “Little Women” and “Barbie”; where Jennifer Lawrence showed her talent (with the wonderful “Winter’s Bone”) before becoming a superstar; where Wes Anderson remains, through “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Asteroid City” and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 17, 2023
Stories

Want scripted shows? Acorn has a bundle of them

Surrounded by reality shows, some viewers might start scrambling to find scripted TV.
That makes this a good time for the Acorn streaming service. On Monday (Sept. 18), one British mystery (“The Chelsea Detective”) ends its season and another (“Mrs. Sidhu Investigates,” shown here) begins. Three weeks later, a third one (“Harry Wild”) arrives.
All of those then go to the Acorn library, which is substantial. As the writers’ and actors’ strikes continue, this could be a good place to retreat.
This mini-streamer (at www.acorn.tv) lacks the bulk of Netflix or Disney+. For a modest price (one week free, then $7 a month) it has a modest selection of new shows from other countries, plus that library. A few shows have been awful – “Cannes Confidential” seemed to be performed by runway models, unfamiliar with the English language – but most have been solid and entertaining. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 16, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 18: Country stars honored; daytime shows return

1) “Academy of Country Music Honors,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. This is a night to honor generations of country stars. There are the veterans – Clint Black, Tim McGraw, Mary Chapin Carpenter and the late Charlie Daniels – and newer arrivals, Kane Brown, Chris Stapleton (shown here) and Breland. Carly Pearce hosts; the line-up has Keith Urban, Lady A, Lee Brice, Trisha Yearwood, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sara Evans, Priscilla Block, Chris Janson, Anne Wilson, and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 16, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Now THAT was quite a football road trip

Life can seem tough for college football players these days. They’re playing almost every Saturday, sometimes after long plane rides.
But now imagine the guys at the University of the South, better known as Sewanee. (Shown here is a painting of the backfield.) Their story is told in “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” on PBS World (7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16) and then on pbs.org.
In 1899, the team’s manager, a student, booked a game with Texas. Still, that wouldn’t make enough money to pay for the 1,000-mile train ride from the Cumberland Plateau, near Nashville, to Austin.
His solution? On the way back, they would play four more games against top schools. That’s five games in six days, plus 2,500 miles on the train.Sewanee won each game, with a combined score of 91-0. The full season was 12-0, with a combined 322-10. In 2010, the College Football Hall of Fame voted it the best team ever. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 15, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 17: CBS has old favorites — “60 Minutes” and Costner

1) “Yellowstone opener,” 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., CBS. On a shaky channel — the Paramount Network, formerly the Nashville Network, National Network and Spike – this became a ratings triumph. Written and produced by Taylor Sheridan and starring Kevin Costner (shown here), it’s a modern western, with taut dialog, strong characters and sprawling settings. Now it moves to CBS (also owned by Paramount) to rerun the entire series, starting with the two-hour opener. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 15, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 18: country, pop and a few laughs

1) “Academy of Country Music Honors,” 8-10 p.m. today, Fox. A Black-and-Brown night honors veterans – Clint Black (shown here), Charlie Daniels, Tim McGraw, Mary Chapin Carpenter – and newer arrivals, Kane Brown, Chris Stapleton and Breland. Carly Pearce hosts; the packed line-up has Keith Urban, Lady A, Lee Brice, Trisha Yearwood, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sara Evans, Priscilla Block, Chris Janson, Anne Wilson, Jordan Davis and The War and Treaty. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 14, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 16: murder stories, fiction and not

1) “48 Hours” season-opener, 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. It’s the 36th season for the show, with most of that time spent on true-crime tales. Erin Moriarty, for instance, has been covering the Gilgo Beach murders since 2010. This is the show’s sixth report on the case, now adding an interview with a co-worker of Rex Heuermann, the arrested suspect who’s shown here. The second hour probes the murders of four Idaho State students. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 14, 2023
News and Quick Comments

ABC fills schedule gaps; “Dancing” to Tuesdays

ABC has finally filled some of the holes in its fall schedule – while leaving one open.
It announced today (Sept. 13) that:
— The return of “Dancing With the Stars” (shown here in a previous season) will be on Tuesdays. The season starts Sept. 26, with athletes, reality-show stars (including Charity Lawson from “The Bachelorette”) and teen-age “Doctor Strange” co-star Xochitl Gomez.
— That leaves Mondays open, allowing ABC to sometimes share “Monday Night Football” with ESPN. It plans to do that at least five more times. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2023