Year: 2024

Stories

In a comedy, it was her cross to bear

This a question few of us are ever asked:
What’s it like, really, to carry an enormous cross?
“Heavier than I thought it would be,” Kaliko Kauahi said.
That duty falls to her in the third episode (shown here) of “St. Denis Medical,” which airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19. A patient insists surgery can’t begin until her cross arrives; it was up to Val (Kauahi’s character), the administrative nurse, to hoist it out of the truck and through the hospital corridors. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 19: Yes, TV still has comedies

1) “Night Court” season-opener, 8:30 p.m., NBC. The opening scene is quick and brash – when was the last time you saw anyone smash Faberge eggs? — and goofy, but in a good way. The rest continues to have offbeat fun, giving Dan (John Larroquette) big questions: Why is his nemesis (Wendie Malick, shown here with Dan and a defendant) here? And could he be the father of Abby’s boyfriend? Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2024
Stories

Celebrating Cline, 61 years after her death

The music world has plenty of people who flash and fade, who soar and then sag.
But occasionally, it has someone whose work seems eternal. That includes Patsy Cline, the subject of a PBS concert at 9 p.m. Friday (Nov. 25), under the “Great Performances” banner. (Shown here is one of the performers, Grace Potter, at a previous evet.)
“The fact that we’re here, 61 years after her passing, is a testament” to her impact, Julie Fudge — who is Cline’s daughter and a producer of the special — told the Television Critics Association.
Yes, 61 years. On March 5, 1963, Cline died in a plane crash. She was 30, with a husband, a daughter and son (ages 4 and 2) and a rising career. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 18: surfers, vampires and da Vinci

1) “Leonardo da Vinci,” 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 10; concludes Tuesday. His mind in perpetual motion, da Vinci painted, sculpted, invented and more. He abandoned many projects, but the ones he finished – Mona Lisa, The Last Supper (shown here), etc. – are renowned. Like previous Ken Burns films, this is beautifully filmed; unlike them, it’s fairly impersonal. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 16, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 17: As “Yellowstone” nears the end, new show arrives

1) “Landman,” 9:09 p.m., Paramount Network. Talented writer-producer Taylor Sheridan launches a series about Texas oilmen, starring Billy Bob Thornton (shown here with Ali Larter) and Jon Hamm. That follows Sheridan’s-”Yellowstone”: Last week’s episode reruns at 6:45 p.m., with the murder of Gov. Dutton disguised as a suicide; on a new one at 8, the investigation begins. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 15, 2024
Stories

Tortured genius? No, Leo was the life of the party

The world keeps showing us geniuses with tortured souls. We get a grumpy Beethoven, a dreary Poe, a troubled Michelangelo.
But then there was Leonardo da Vinci, resisting stereotypes.
“The sense we get … is that he was more-or-less a happy person,” said Sarah Burns, whose epic profile of him starts Monday (Nov. 18) on PBS. “That he was the life of the party, even, in some ways.”
He was a gifted painter (an example is shown here), in a vibrant time for eager thinkers.
“They’re in these bodegas, where they are learning math,” said David McMahon, Burns’ husband and filmmaking partner. “They’re reciting poetry. They’re playing music. It feels a little bit like Warhol’s Factory, without the (drugs).” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 15, 2024
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 18: from Da Vinci to Lisa Simpson

1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson (shown here) host and sing;, Peyton Manning merely hosts. Also, George Strait gets a lifetime award. Post Malone links with Chris Stapleton for “California Sober,” Thomas Rhett with Teddy Swims for a mash-up. Others are Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBride, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church,, Brooks & Dunn and more Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 14, 2024
News and Quick Comments

CBS shuffle: “Sydney,” “Squares,” “Watson,” more

During a long winter break, CBS will mess with success.
The network tends to dominate the Nielsen ratings. Still, it will shuffle some of its best nights, temporarily (Thursdays, Wednesdays) or longer (Sundays, Fridays).
In the process, it will return one drama (“NCIS: Sydney,” shown here) and debut another (“Watson,” with Morris Chestnut as Dr. Watson, setting up a medical clinic in Pittsburgh after Sherlock Holmes’ death). It will also add lots of game shows
The key changes are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 13, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 15: Reruns are worth re-seeing

1) “Great Performances,” 9-11 p.m.,, PBS. Here’s a rerun of last year’s terrific special, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein. There are great moments from theater stars in London (where it was taped), especially and Marisha Wallace (shown here at a different event) and Michael Ball, and from Broadway stars, including Audra McDonald, Aaron Tveit and Patrick Wilson. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 13, 2024