News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

It will be the final season for “Sanditon” romance

“Sanditon” – the show that took two centuries to launch – will end this spring.
PBS has announced that the third sepason, starting March 19, will be the last. In that season, several newcomers will arrive to complicate the fractured love life of Charlotte (Rose Williams, shown here).
Jane Austen had barely started her “Sanditon” novel when she died in 1817, at 41. Afterward, some authors tried to complete the story, with little success. Then came the PBS/British co-production. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 13, 2022
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Little “Reservation Dogs” adds big-time honors

“Reservation Dogs” – a quiet show in a noisy TV world – has received one of the top honors … again.
For the second straight time, it’s on the American Film Insiitute’s list of 10 TV “programs of the year.” Also repeating were “White Lotus” (which ends its season at 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11) and “Hacks.”
Those two are on HBO and HBO Max, which are known for big stars, big budgets and top honors. “Reservation Dogs” (shown here) is something else. A modest show with relatively unknown American Indian actors playing teens in small-town Oklahoma, it slides between comedy and drama, with occasional trips to the surreal. That’s produced by FX for Hulu; also on the list are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 10, 2022
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Harry & Meghan: Amiable souls emerge (eventually)

For the first few minutes of “Harry & Meghan,” it’s kind of hard to like these people.
And then, surprisingly, we do. The documentary overcomes its start and offers two amiable souls.
The second half of the six-hour mini-series will arrive next Thursday (Dec. 15) on Netflix and may reverse things agaiu. For now, however, it’s an interesting ride.
The series makes the mistake of starting with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (shown here) grumbling about the forces that caused them to retreat from royal life. They’re sort of right, but what viewers see are enviable lives – beautiful places where beautiful people have lots of free time. We know they’ve been wronged, but they don’t feel like tragic figures. Then “Harry & Meghan” begins the actual chronology, which is where it should have started. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 9, 2022
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Menzel has had her ups (big ones) and downs

A strange, sad Thanksgiving seemed to prepare Idina Menzel for any bumps ahead.
She was 15 and doted-upon. Ever since she was 3, she would burst into song for her parents, her younger sister and anyone else nearby.
Then, suddenly, her parents called the guests to cancel Thanksgiving dinner. Thye told the girls there would be a divorce (an amicable one) … and then took them to a grim dinner in a restaurant.
That was an eye-opening experience, Menzel (shown here) says in her new film on Disney+. She learned that “in life, nothing is what you expect.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 7, 2022
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Surprise: This monarchy wraps up neatly

“Monarch” ends its first (and, maybe, only) season with a surprise – a semi-sensible conclusion.
That’s the one thing we never expected. Until now, the show has kept piling up odd, soap-style twists. But then comes the season-finale, at 9:02 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 6) on Fox. If the show isn’t renewed, fans will have had a fairly satisfying farewell.
And no, we weren’t expecting that. Until now, “Monarch” (shown here with Trace Adkins) was like that crazy uncle who sometimes visits – weird, senseless, but fun in his own, goofy way. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 5, 2022
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“George & Tammy”: love, pain and intermittent triumph

It’s one of the great country-music stories, filled with love, pain, sex, addiction and triumph.
But it also seems to spiral downward. “That’s not the way it’s gotta be,” George Jones says near the end of the “George & Tammy” mini-series (shown here). “There’s a happy ending.”
Well … not really, but this six-part film does find pieces of one.
“George & Tammy” opens at 9 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 4) on Showtime and the Paramount Network (right after “Yellowstone”). Its other five episodes arrive Sundays on Showtime and Paramount+. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 1, 2022
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Here’s an all-inclusive (almost) list of Christmas TV

When the Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here) begins, one thing will be clear: TV’s Christmas season has begun.
Yes, some cable channels have slipped in some new movies early. They’re like that.
But the rush begins on Nov. 24-27. During those four days, the Christmas line-up includes at least 20 new cable or streaming movies … three new music specials … one new cartoon special, plus eight classics (including “Grinch” and “Frosty”) … and a few classic big-screen movies, including “Wizard of Oz” (twice), “Polar Express” (twice) and all-day marathons of “Elf” and “Christmas Vacation.”
And all of that is before the Freeform channel starts its annual “25 Days of Christmas” rush. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 24, 2022
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Quick change: Award show will be Saturday (Nov. 26)

There’s a new awards show coming – quickly. And some Christmas cartoons will be delayed to make room.
In an unusually speedy move, CBS announced that it will air “Byron Allen Presents TheGrio Awards,” from 8-10 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 26) on the network and on Paramount+. The shows that had been scheduled then — “Robie the Reindeer” and “The Story of Santa Claus” – will move back a week, to Dec. 3.
Allen, 61, is a former comedian and actor who has become one of the major Black owners in the TV world. His company owns The Weather Channel plus regional sports channels, digital channels, TV stations and shows.
Now he’s created awards that will go to Black icons (including Dave Chappelle, shown here) and to Norman Lear, the 100-year-old producer known for “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons: and more. “Grio” is based on a word for an African storyteller. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 21, 2022
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New Christmas movies: Here are the best (and worst)

Sure, all those cable Christmas movies look the same.
They have the same sunny faces, same glittery settings, same songs (public-domain, no problem getting rights) in the background.
But once you get past that, they vary widely. There are some good ones (really); that includes “Must Love Christmas,” shown here. There are also some awful ones (obviously) and a lot in-between.
We sampled a dozen of them, many from around Thanksgiving weekend, when key ones arrive. The dates listed here are when they first air, but don’t worry: Christmas movies, like old Christmas sweaters, never really go away: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 21, 2022
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Christmas commotion? It depends on where you live

If you think Christmas is a big deal in your neighborhood … well, compare that to Puerto Rico.
“Food is abundant,” Rita Moreno said. So is commotion.
“You go from house to house and make a lot of noise,” she said in a video press conference. “Everyone has homemade instruments. And if it’s 1 o’clock in the morning, it doesn’t matter. You open the door.”
Now Moreno – who moved to New York when she was 5 — co-stars in a film filled with the tamer traditions of the mainland. “Santa Bootcamp” (shown here), at 8 p.m. Saturday and 10:03 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19-20, on Lifetime. It has her running a school for Santas and such Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2022