News and Quick Comments

News and Quick Comments

Emmys like “SNL” and Pitt (or Fauci)

Donald Trump has another reason to fume: Dr. Fauci – or, actually, Brad Pitt playing Dr. Fauci – has an Emmy nomination.
Pitt (shown here) played him in a brief opening sketch on “Saturday Night Live.” Now he’s part of the show’s big haul for acting nominations.
That includes three regulars (Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon) and three hosts (Eddie Murphy, Adam Driver and Phoebe Waller-Bridge), plus guest actress Maya Rudolph and Pitt. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 28, 2020
News and Quick Comments

TV this fall? PBS plans music, drama, zombies

As TV networks’ fall plans sputter, there’s a counterpoint:
PBS still has big plans for the season. That includes concerts (including Lea Salonga, shown here), dramas, politics, nature and whimsy.
Well, not a lot of whimsy. (This is PBS, after all.) But it will air “History of Zombies” on the eve of Halloween and visit “Santa’s Wild Home” before Christmas; it will also have a jazz tribute to “Sesame Street,” visit tropical islands and board the queen’s plane. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 26, 2020
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Documentaries view race, politics and COVID

The current hot-button issues – COVID, race and politics – will be faced in four new documentaries.
Freshly added is an ABC special Tuesday, looking at the evolution of the U.S. virus crisis and interviewing Drs. Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield and others. That joins one documentary (Sunday) on race and two (Friday and Tuesday) viewing conspiracy theories of Alex Jones as they affect politics. Details, chronologically, are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 23, 2020
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Sunday specials remember John Lewis

John Lewis, one of the towering figures in American history, will be remembered in two Sunday-morning reruns on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Lewis died Friday at 80, after a six-month struggle with cancer. The son of Alabama sharecroppers, he played a key role in the civil-rights movements, from Selma (he’s shown here revisiting the site) to the March on Washington, where he was a keynote speaker at 23. He was a congressman from Georgia for more than 30 years.
The specials will be at 11 a.m. on the next two Sundays (July 19 and 26); they are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 19, 2020
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Films view Latino toll from COVID

From classrooms to farm fields, the pandemic is having a disproportionate effect on Latinos.
Now two documentaries – one streaming, the other on PBS – look at that. They are:
– “Pandemia: Latinos in Crisis,” at 9 p.m. ET Sunday (July 19) on CBSN, the digital news service run by CBS. It’s also available any time at www.cbsnews.com/pandemia.
– “Frontline: COVID’S Hidden Toll” (shown here) at 10 p.m. Tuesday (July 21) on PBS. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 17, 2020
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Here’s the “Sharkfest” schedule

Let’s say you want a compromise plan for this summer’s “Sharkfest.”
You’re not planning on watching the full, five-week marathon. (What, you have something better to do?) You’ll skip all the reruns – tons of them – and stick to the new shows.
Here (subject to change) are the premieres. “Sharkfest” (see separate story) starts July 19 on the National Geographic Channel, then jumps to Nat Geo Wild on Aug. 9 – the same day Discovery launches its Shark Week. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / July 12, 2020