News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Yes, books — real, physical ones — are still an artform

Yes, this is an era of Twitter and Tik Tok and tiny treatises. Thoughts are expressed in 280 characters.
But there’s a flip side to that. “The physical book is alive and well, thank you very much,” Mark Dimunation says in “The Book Makers” (shownhere), which airs Tuesday (Oct. 27) on PBS World and then is at pbs.org.
He should know; he works at the Library of Congress (as head of the rare books division), a place that has 38 million books. There are plenty more coming, as the film finds at the CODEX Book Fair. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 25, 2020
News and Quick Comments

CBS sets start dates for more shows

By the end of next month, CBS will have most of its fall line-up in place.
The network has just announced five more season-openers – “The Unicorn” on Nov. 12, “Bull” on Nov. 16, “FBI” and “FBI: Most Wanted” on Nov. 17 and “SEAL Team” (shown here) on Nov. 25.
Previously, it announced 10 November starts, ranging from three comedies Nov. 5 to “NCIS” on Nov. 17.
That leaves only five shows in limbo – all three Friday ones (“MacGyver,” “Magnum” and “Blue Bloods”), plus “Evil” and CBS’ only new drama this fall, Queen Latifah in “The Equalizer.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 21, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Masterful films eye voting and gossip

Let’s say you decide to turn Tuesday (Oct. 20) into a documentary film festival.
You ignore the rest of TV – “Voice,” “Bachelorette,” even the World Series – and watch two PBS films back-to-back. It’s “American Masters” at 9 p.m. and “Frontline” at 10:30 (check local listings).
Chances are, you’ll emerge impressed. These films are richly crafted … yet thoroughly different.
The “Masters” film – “Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip” – is set mostly in the 1930s to ‘50s; the “Frontline” one – “Whose Vote Counts?” – is about the current chaos of long lines (shown here) and tangled rules for votin Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 19, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Baseball bumps Bart’s “Treehouse” tales

One national pastime (baseball) has blotted out another (“The Simpsons”).
That means this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode (shown here) – a good one – will be delayed by Fox. However, the previous ones will be rerun often on cable.
Fox had been promoting the 31st annual “Treehouse,” a “Simpsons” Halloween special that spins three bizarre tales. What it sometimes didn’t mention was that the show would be bumped if a seventh and final game emerged in the National League playoffs.
And then? The Atlanta Braves led three games to one, but the Los Angeles Dodgers won the next two, forcing the game at 8 p.m. ET Sunday (Oct. 18). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 18, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Fun-loving Pepe a symbol of hate? Not on purpose

Pepe the Frog (shown here) is a friendly sort – big-eyed and green (as are many frogs) and casual.
He’s also been co-opted by alt-right and white supremacist groups. The Anti-Defamation League included him in its hate-symbol database.
That combination confounds Pepe’s creator. “It is hard to control anything on the internet,” Matt Furie recently told the Television Critics Association in a virtual session.
Now his story is told in a fascinating documentary. “Feels Good Man,” a Sundance Film Festival award-winner, will be 10 p.m. Monday (Oct. 19) on most PBS stations (check local listings), under the “Independent Lens” banner Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 16, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Last Man Standing” still stands … but only for one more year

After standing for a decade, “Last Man Standing” (shown here) is near the end.
Fox announced that the upcoming season – a full, 22-episode one, starting in January – will be its last.
The show will have run nine seasons, spread over 10 years and two networks. That makes Tim Allen one of TV’s most eternal stars; adding “Home Improvement,” he’ll have 17 seasons and 398 episodes Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 15, 2020
News and Quick Comments

CBS finally sets its season-openers

A major chunk of the new TV season has finally been scheduled.
CBS announced November starts for 10 of its series. That includes all three “NCIS” shows and five of its six comedies — including one new show, “B Positive” (shown here) — plus “SWAT” and “All Rise.”
That still leaves 10 others waiting to be scheduled. Most are hourlong dramas, including the two “FBI” shows and the three Friday ones.
The move matches others made by big-three networks. NBC will launch several of its shows around the Nov. 10 season-opener of “This Is Us”; two days later, ABC starts its big moves with a crossover of “Station 19” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 13, 2020
News and Quick Comments

For Blacks, the car brings freedom and fear

For four centuries, mobility has been crucial to Blacks in America.
At first, a PBS documentary points out, it was banned. Many slaves never traveled more than a mile.
Much later, travel was joyous (shown here) … or perilous. The film takes us through the “Green Book” era of discrimination … and on to the fears that go with a modern traffic stop.
That leads to its title: “Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America” airs from 9-11 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 13) on PBS. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 12, 2020
News and Quick Comments

TV gets bonus football games and more

The sports world has been giving some big breaks to TV networks … and to viewers.
Breaks are needed, at a time when COVID has slowed the fall TV line-ups. During that time, any sports event brings a spurt of interest; lately, the breaks have gone to:
– CBS. For the second straight week, it gets a primetime, pro-football game. Both games were postponed because of COVID, then re-scheduled as a weekday bonus. This one could be a dilly: At 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (Oct. 13), two undefeated teams collide, with Josh Allen (shown here) and Buffalo (4-0) at Tennessee (3-0). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 11, 2020