Month: March 2025

Stories

She likes jobs … so she juggled three of them

After 35 years on the job, some people might get a gold watch, a dinner or maybe a fishing pole. Heather Tom got extra work.
That’s fine with her, she said. “I don’t like not working.”
Brad Bell, the producer of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” was aware of that. “This is a celebration of my 35 years of work,” Tom said. “So Brad said, ‘Let’s give you three jobs.’”
She wrote, directed (shown here) and acted in an episode — possibly the first woman to do that in one daytime episode. It airs at 1:30 p.m. Thursday (March 27) on most CBS stations. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2025
News and Quick Comments

PBS’ Broadway series: from Dylan to Cole Porter

Two Midwestern songwriters who seem worlds apart – Bob Dylan and Cole Porter – will be featured this May, in PBS’ annual Broadway series.
Porter grew up on an Indiana farm; his “Kiss Me Kate” concludes the series May 30. A week earlier is the “Girl From the North Country,” with 20 songs from Dylan, who grew up in small-town Minnesota.
In their original versions, both shows drew Tony nominations for best musical; so did “Next to Normal” (shown here in its Broadway production), which opens the series. (“Kiss Me Kate” won, back in 1949; the others didn’t.)
They’re joined by the lone play in this group, “Yellow Face.” The shows, each at 9 p.m. on “Great Performances,” are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2025
News and Quick Comments

Finale time nears … including a few forever finales

Barely into spring, it’s time to think about TV’s season-finales.
CBS has announced 19 of them, including three shows that won’t be back – “SWAT” (shown here), “FBI: International” and “FBI: Most Wanted.”
It also plans to turn some of the season-finales into events. Several will be two-parters; “Elsbeth” will bring back some of its favorite villains. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 23, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 25: silly Schmo, serious protest

1) “The Joe Schmo Show” finale, 9 p.m., TBS. This has been a grand spoof – a fake reality show, with lots of actors and a real guy who isn’t in on the joke. And it’s been better than expected, because the guy (Ben from Baltimore, shown here) is open and likable. Now he’s competing with his best friend on the show, for $100,000. The result combines humor and warmth. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2025
News and Quick Comments

It’s a gloomy road to a happy ending

It kind of felt like I was in the wrong theater.
I was there for “Snow White.” (Don’t judge.) But this felt more like I’d stumbled into “Les Miserables.”
I was hoping for happy little guys who whistled while they worked. Instead, I saw miserable souls under a vain ruler who knew nothing about the common man. If I’d wanted that, I could have watched CNN.
Eventually, it all works out and there’s a happy ending. (Sorry, I should have put up a spoiler alert.) But it was a rough road to get there. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 24: “Bachelor” ends, “Origins” returns

1) “The Bachelor” finale, 8-11 p.m., ABC. It’s time for Grant Ellis, 30, to make his decision. Ellis, a day trader, has gone from 25 women to two – Litia Garr (shown here with Ellis), 31, a venture capitalist; and Juliana Pasquarosa, 28, who’s in client services. Now they’re in the Dominican Republic, where he briefly played pro basketball; his parents visit and he makes his choice. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2025
Stories

At last: A fourth network livened the TV world

(This is the latest chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, in chronological order, scroll under “News and Quick Comments.”)

The TV landscape had become littered with fallen fourth networks.
There were failures by big media companies – Paramount (often), Mutual, Metromedia, more — and by a TV manufacturer and a warehouse mogul. Then, surprisingly, Fox made it work. It would eventually give us “The Simpsons” (shown here), “American Idol,” “The X-Files,” “24” and more.
It made mistakes; people usually do, especially in television. But it also had three key things – persistence, originality and an open checkbook.
Especially that checkbook. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 21, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 23: a king, a queen, a frog

1) “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” opener, 9 p.m., PBS. “Wolf Hall” was the potent story of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis, shown here) and Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), an ex-blacksmith who was his fixer. A decade latter, this excellent sequel wraps Cromwell’s story. After executing Anne Boleyn, Henry covets a marriage to Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 21, 2025
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 24: “Bachelor,” basketball & Ben from Baltimore

1) “The Joe Schmo Show” finale, 9 p.m. Tuesday, TBS. This clever show has an ending that’s even better than we’d imagined. From the beginning, it made one real guy (shown here) think he’s in a reality show. The others – friends, foes, weirdos – are actors. Now comes an ethical dilemma and then the shell-shock news. The result has a little humor and a lot of warmth. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 20, 2025