Month: January 2025

News and Quick Comments

Lifetime sets three more music movies

The Lifetime network is returning to one of its specialties – movies that are by or about music stars.
That starts at 8 p.m. Jan. 25, with a sequel produced by Mary J. Blige. The next two Saturdays will profile the lives of Lisa Valez and Gloria Gaynor (shown here).
Lifetime has scored with movies about female singers (Whitney Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Keyshia Cole) or groups (TLC, Salt N Pepa). It has also had films produced by Blige; now it does both, with: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 5: the Globes and three season-openers

1) “Golden Globes,” 8-11 p.m. ET, CBS. After two sub-par hosts, the show can bounce back with comedian Nikki Glaser in charge. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya each have two best-picture nominees: their “Dune: Part 2” (shown here) … her “Challengers” (she’s up for best actress in a comedy) and his “A Complete Unknown” (he’s up for best actor in a drama, for his amazing work as Bob Dylan). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2025
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 6: a flurry of debuts and returns

1) “Doc” debut, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. Surviving a car crash, a doctor (Molly Parker, shown here) has lost eight years of memory. Now she’ll re-learn modern medicine – and adjust to the tragedies and mistakes in her personal life. This sounds like a soap opera, but it’s one of the year’s best new broadcast-network shows, written smartly and acted with subtle perfection. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 2, 2025
News and Quick Comments

A perfect blend: Chalamet becomes Dylan

Two remarkable talents fuel the movie “A Complete Unknown.”
One is Bob Dylan, the eternal enigma. The other is Timothee Chalamet, who doesn’t seem enigmatic at all; he’s simply in the Hanks/Streep/Newman mode, combining steep talent and hard work.
Now that pays off at the Golden Globes (8-11 p.m. ET Sunday, Jan. 5, on CBS). Of the six nominees for best motion picture drama, two – “Dune: Part 2” and “A Complete Unknown” – star Chalamet.
In the latter, he’s also nominated for best actor. This is the film where he becomes Dylan and, at 29, shows his range as an actor. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 2, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 4: fun, football and Cruise

1) Football, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN2. The bowl barrage finally ends, with a game that’s early and sunny. The Bahamas Bowl has Buffalo – possibly delighted to be away from snowstorms – and Liberty. Afterward, ABC and ESPN have the regular-season pro finales for the Browns (3-13) and Ravens (11-5) at 4:30 and the Bengals (shown here, 8-8) and Steelers (10-6) at 8. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 2, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 3: It’s a semi-happy mix

1) “Happy’s Place,” 8 p.m., NBC. Let’s at least credit this show for being one of the first with a new episode after the holidays: Competing with Gabby to be a comedy emcee Bobbie (Reba McEntire) gets coaching from her half-sister. (They’re show here.) The story requires four characters to be wildly overwrought. The others, Takoda and Emmett, provide enough laughs to make it sort of fun. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 1, 2025