Year: 2023

Stories

Talk shows return Sept. 18 — but not latenight ones

In the wounded world of broadcast TV, Monday (Sept. 18) is now important. The talk shows return.
Not the big ones, however. All of those – Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, Oliver and “The Daily Show” – remain in eternal reruns, due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Still, several other shows will start their seasons Monday. The Drew Barrymore (shown here), Sherri Shepherd and Jennifer Hudson shows are all syndicated on a station-by-station basis; “The Talk” is on CBS.
They join several shows that had already returned – “The View” on ABC, “Live with Kelly & Mark” and the Tamron Hall show in syndication. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2023
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Best bets for Sept. 15: a rock-star governor; a friend in deed

1) “American Masters,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Jerry Brown kept defying traditions. He was California’s youngest governor (36) and its oldest (80 when his term ended). He was a Catholic seminarian, a student of Buddhism, a rock-type star who dated Linda Ronstadt (they’re shown here). He had three failed runs for president and one for Senate – then rebounded. But he was consistent in some areas, especially climate. It’s a fascinating story that (after a bumbling start) is well-told. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2023
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Best-bets for Sept. 14: game time, new and old

1) “Buddy Games” debut, 9 p.m., CBS. There will be way too many reality shows this fall, but the first arrival is fun. Josh Duhamel (shown here), a TV and movie star, returns home to Montana each summer, to play odd games with his friends. Now he’s producing and hosting a TV version. The teams are varied – cops, beauty queens, Roller Derby women, LGBTQ, etc. The games are big and broad; at times, people are muddy, messy, naked, tired and quite cheerful. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2023
Stories

“Weird” kid became nature’s storyteller

For a few folks, childhood obsessions and adulthood careers merge neatly.
Most of us don’t get to be superheroes or rock stars. Bertie Gregory (shown here), however, still obsesses on nature the same way he did when, he says, “everyone thought I was a bit weird.”
And sometimes, the old dreams and new ones blend.
As a kid, he marveled at how Charles Darwin used the Galapagos Islands to figure evolution. Now one of his six episodes of “Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory” – which arrives Wednesday (Sept. 13) on Disney+ — brought his first trip to the islands. “You can see everything in action,” he said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2023
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Best-bets for Sept. 13: a great day for streamers

1) “The Morning Show” season-opener, Apple TV+. Two years after its second season began, the third is finally here. It has vivid characters, plus dialog so sharp you’d think Aaron Sorkin is involved. Desperate to sell his network to a tech billionaire (Jon Hamm), the CEO agrees to put his star (Jennifer Anisto, shown here) on the guy’s space journey. On Earth, his other star (Reese Witherspoon) eyes a big story. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2023
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Love guns? Hate guns? Worlds meet

A strange thing happens sometimes on PBS.
People from opposite worlds meet. They talk; often, they even like each other.
At least, that’s how it turns out in “America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston,” at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The Sept. 13 hour links:
— Kayle Browning (shown here), 31, a silver-medal Olympic sharp-shooter who grew up in small-town Arkansas. “My experience with firearms has only ever been positive,” she said, especially “the community that comes along with it, the career you can have with it.”
— Thurston, 46, who grew up in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, hating guns. “It was a war zone …. My father was essentially a casualty of that war. (He was) shot and killed.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2023
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Best-bets for Sept. 12: global thriller, global talent show

1) “The Swarm” debut, 9 p.m., CW. Something seems wrong in the oceans. Whales are late … or dead … or violent. That’s the start of an eight-week, international mini-series that starts slowly, but will find mankind at risk. Even in its quietest moments, this opener gives us two young researchers to root for — one (played by Joshua Odjick, an Indigenous Canadian) on Vancouver Island, the other (Leonie Benesch, shown here, a German movie star) on Shetland Island. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2023
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Best-bets for Sept. 11: Re-visit two somber eras

1) Sept. 11 documentaries. For the 20th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks (shown here), filmmakers did a brilliant job of combining old footage and fresh comments. Now, two years later, some of those films rerun. The National Geographic Channel’s compelling “9/11: One Day in America” runs from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.; the History Channel’s “9/11: I Was There” is 8-10:03 p.m. Other 9/11 films start at 7 a.m. on History and 6 p.m. on National Geographic. Read more…

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

Season preview: streamers create a have/have-not world

As the Hollywood strikes continue, TV viewers are split into haves and have-nots.
Many will feel the impact this fall. They’ll wonder how many reality shows the human soul can absorb.
For others, it will be milder. Loaded with streaming networks, they’ll keep finding new shows.
It can’t last, of course. Even the streamers – which work far in advance – will sputter if the writers’ and actors’ strikes continue. But for now, life seems semi-normal.
One vivid example is Wednesday, Sept. 13. That’s when Apple TV+ launches the third season of “The Morning Show,” rippling with sharp dialog and vivid characters played Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon (shown here) and Jon Hamm. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 8, 2023
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Best-bets for Sept. 10: new dramas, new masks

1) “The Masked Singer” season-opener, after football (about 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT), Fox. In a burst of optimism, we could call this the start of the TV season. Pro football fills the afternoon on CBS and Fox and the evening (Cowboys-Giants) on NBC. And Fox uses its football double-header as a springboard to the “Masked Singer” (shown here in a previous year) season. Afterward, “Singer” will go back on the shelf, waiting for the rest of its season to start on Sept. 27. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 8, 2023