To explain “mikehughes.tv,” I need to split it into two categories:
1) What is “.tv”?
That’s the domain owned by the nine-island nation of Tuvalu, and is quite important. According to Wikipedia, selling domain rights is the government’s third biggest source of revenue, behind fisheries licensing and a Tuvalu Trust Fund established by bigger islands (Britain, Australia and New Zealand).
This is not a big nation. With 11,000 people, it’s the 226th largest of 233 countries in the United Nations. That still gives it one vote, the same as China … which has 100,000 people for every Tuvaluan.
In a recent year, Tuvalu drew 360 tourists. Its Olympic team consisted of Etimoni Timunani, who ran 100-meters in 11.81 seconds. That’s two seconds slower than Usain Bolt, but a minute or so faster than me.
One other thing: Only 15 feet above sea level, Tuvalu is in danger of eventually being submerged. We can help it by fighting climage change … or, I suppose, by using the “.tv” domain.
2) What is “mikehughes”?
That’s me, actually. (Or, to be grammatically correct, that is I.)
I’ve been watching television almost from its beginning. I remember seeing one show (a local broadcast from a station in Green Bay, Wis.) that simply had a man playing records. We would see him put on the record and say what it was. Then we would see the record playing or the man watching the record play. It was no “Game of Thrones.”
And I’ve been covering TV since (almost) before the cable era. In 1982, I went to my first Television Critics Association sessions, where I was impressed by newcomers “Cheers” and “Family Ties.” A few years later, I became the TV columnist for Gannett News Service. I did that for 22 years and have continued as TV America for 10 more. Along the way, I’ve done one-on-one interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Michael Eisner, Carrie Underwood, Bill Russell, Jennifer Aniston, Rosa Parks, Placido Domingo, Matt Groening, Amy Schumer, David E. Kelley, Elmore Leonard, Larry McMurtry and lots of less-famous people whom I considered interesting.
At its peak, GNS stories went to 100 papers, with a four-million circulation. Since then, of course, readership has dropped. I started this website 10 years ago, as just a place to put stories and columns in case people happened to miss them in the paper. Lately, however, it’s been clear that this often needs to be a first-stop place for stories about TV.
Pam Weil and her associates created this reboot, adding lots of whiz-bang touches. I hope you like it.