Year: 2023

News and Quick Comments

His family tree is filled with epic drama

Joe Manganiello’s fictional world has been filled with epic adventures. He’s played superheroes and spent years (in “True Blood”) as a werewolf, surrounded by vampires.
But his familiy’s real-life stories can almost match that. They include a heroic great-grandmother.
“If you’re Armenian, you’re descended from some form of survivor,” Manganiello (shown here) told the Television Critics Association. “So I just heard all these stories growing up.”
Then he linked with “Finding Your Roots,” to learn the specifics. The results – along with those of former football star Tony Gonzalez – will be shown at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 7) on PBS, before the State of the Union address in most places and after it on the West Coast. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 7: State of the Union … and lots of alternatives

1) State of the Union address and Republican response, 9-11 p.m. ET (6-8 p.m. PT), ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and news channels. The union is in a great state or a terrible one, we’ll learn. Things are fine — new jobs added at a near-record pace, unemployment the lowest in decades, a pandemic crash that vanished. Or they’re awful – inflation, gas prices, shortages. We’ll hear both versions. And yes, there are plenty of alternatives (including the movie gem “Licorice Pizza,” shown here) that we’ll mention here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Sorry, Fido: These wild dogs have more skills

Sure, Fido and friends can savor their comfy lives.
They fetch balls, wiggle tales and are rewarded handsomely.
But compared to their untamed brethren (shown here), those are minor accomplishments. That becomes clear in “Dogs ion the Wild,” a three-part “Nature” series that starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 8) on PBS.
“They’re incredibly intelligent,” producer Jo Shinner told the Television Critics Association. “They’re incredibly resilient, adaptable. They’re on all continents throughout the world, except for Antarctica. They manage to sustain in ridiculous conditions.”
Her series looks at all 37 canine species, finding adaptations to those conditions. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 6: mucky, murky moments of joy

1) “Independent Lens: Out of the Muck” (shown here), 10 p.m., PBS. By some standards, Pahokee, Fla., is troubled. It has hurricanes, alligators, 25-percent unemployment, property values that plunged by a third in seven years. But filmmaker Ira McKinley found much more, while visiting his roots. His film offers warm people who hug, laugh, fish, catch rabbits and dream of their seventh state football championship. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2023
Stories

“Not Dead”: a lively view of an obituary writer

As “Not Dead Yet” debuts on ABC, we’re reminded of a key literary fact:
Few art forms can match the combination –facts and flair, done on a deadline – of an obituary.
“This tight little coil of biography, with its literary flourishes, reminds us of a poem,” obit-writer Marilyn Johnson wrote in “The Dead Beat” (HarperCollins, 2006). “Certainly, it contains the most creative writing in journalism.”
And now – after piles of shows about cops and cowboys and such – there’s one about an obit writer. “Not Dead Yet” (shown here) debuts at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 8) on ABC, then settles into the 9:30 slot. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 5: Grammys have rap, rock & Harry Styles

1) Grammy awards, 8-11:30 p.m. ET (5-8:30 p.m. PT),, CBS. Trevor Noah hosts for the third time and Beyonce leads with nine nominations … tying her husband, Jay-Z, as all-time leaders with 88 apiece. Performers include Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Luke Combs, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Brandi Carlile and many more … including an all-star tribute (organized by Questlove, shown here) to the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop music, dance and art. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 3, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for week of Feb. 6: Super Bowl and super Wednesday

1) Super Bowl, 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Fox. After leading the regular season with 14-3 records, the Kansas City Chiefs (shown here) and Philadelphia Eagles survived the play-offs. Now they collide, with Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen in the broadcast booth – each working his first Super Bowl. Erin Andrews, doing her fourth Super bowl, will be on the sidelines, with Tom Rinaldi. And at halftime, Rihanna takes over, in a show produced by her mentor, Jay-Z. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2023
News and Quick Comments

Good news for some shows, limbo for others

As the Fox network nears its Super Bowl spotlight, there’s good and bad news about its future:
— The good: “The Cleaning Lady” (shown here with Elodie Yung) has been renewed for a third season. That could have gone either way; the show has had modest ratings and a serialized story that reached some conclusions as the second season ended.
— Also good: Fox has expanded its agreement to put all of its scripted and reality shows on Hulu, the day after they air.
— And the bad: The spot after the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 – a perfect place to launch a new drama or showcase a fairly new one – will instead go to “Next Level Chef.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Feb. 4: epic start for Black History month slate

1) “Malcolm X” (1992), 4:30 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. During Black History Month, TCM is stuffing Saturdays with key films. That starts with Denzel Washington(shown here) in Spike Lee’s richly crafted epic. It’s followed by the comedy “Cooley High” (1975) at 8 and the moving drama “Sounder” (1972) at 10. There’s more ahead, led by “A Soldier’s Story” on Feb. 11 and “In the Heat of the Night” and “To Sleep With Anger” on Feb. 18. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2023