Stories

A funny guy crafts a serious immigration tale

Humor keeps rippling through Lenny Henry’s life.
He’s been a stand-up comic, a comedy actor, co-founder of Comic Relief.
But now he’s created and co-stars in “Three Little Bird” (shown here). The six-part mini-series (which starts streaming Thursday, Feb. 1, on Britbox) includes a compelling look at the tough times faced by past generations of immigrants.
Both extremes fit together, Henry said in a virtual interview. “How do you overcome trials and tribulations without a sense of humor?” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 30, 2024

Stories

“Feud” re-visits an elegant society mismatch

At the core of New York society, an unusual bond formed.
There were the social divas – mostly tall, slender and well-bred. They were related by marriage to a president, a prime minister, movie stars and the head of CBS. They “were like the original influencers,” said producer Ryan Murphy.
And there was Truman Capote – 5-foot-3, eccentric, partly molded by his early years in a tiny town in Alabama.
They begame warm friends and then fierce enemies. That’s depicted in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” (shown here), an eight-parter with opening episodes at 10 and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 31) on FX and then on Hulu. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 26, 2024

Stories

She was the leader of the teen-trauma pack

One of my favorite bits of music commentary came from a 5-year-old.
Out of the blue one day, he said: “Isn’t it amazing that Justin Bieber is a real person?”
That comes to mind now, with word that Mary Weiss, lead singer of the Shangri-Las (shown here, with Weiss at right), died Friday (Jan. 19), at 75.
There was a neatly other-world feeling to her “Leader of the Pack.” In three minutes, it told a complete teen soap opera, from first meeting (in a candy store, no less) to a jolting motorcycle death, with the word “gone” repeated 26 times.
So it’s good to know that behind all that heightened drama was a real person – a 15-year-old who grew up poor, became briefly famous, then retreated into a life that included being an accountant, businesswoman, decorator and comeback singer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 20, 2024

Stories

Racist trees? That stirs an intriguing film

If you happen to love trees (many people do) and hate bigotry (most do), this was a tough one:
In Palm Springs, Cal. (shown here), there was a spirited debate about removing trees that formed a racial border. That’s the focus of “Racist Trees,” a compelling documentary that reaches most PBS stations at 10 p.m. Monday, under the “Independent Lens” banner.
Even that title has split people. Fox News mocked the notion: Can trees really be racist?
No, but they can be a racial barrier. Many things can. In Michigan, a river separates Benton Harbor (89 percent Black) from St. Joseph (88 percent White). In Florida, a highway separates the impoverished Liberty City area from the wealthier sections in other parts of Miami. Throughout the nation, studies have shown, highways shattered Black communities. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 18, 2024

Stories

Strikes pushed networks into wise and foolish moves

Necessity, we’re told, is the mother of invention … and of desperation and foolishness.
That was evident when networks pieced together makeshift schedules, because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Some steps were wise, others (including the British “Ghosts,” shown here) were not.
That phase is finally concluding now, as shows gradually start their post-strike seasons. But first, we should pause and look at that time and its interesting quirks.
We’ll stick to the five commercial broadcast networks, because the others were less affected by the strikes. Among other things we learned: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 15, 2024

Stories

TV tackles King’s turbo-paced life

Some subjects should be revisited often. That, of course, is why we have television.
One of those is Martin Luther King Jr., the focus of two shows:
— “I Am MLK Jr.,” which the CW network airs from 8-10 p.m. Monday (Jan. 15). That’s the federal holiday, which this year falls on his actual birthday; he would have been 95.
— “Genius: MLK/X,” which the National Geographic Channel airs in four two-hour chunks on Thursdays, Feb. 1-22, and will be on Disney+. It entwines the lives of men many considered opposites, King and Malcolm X. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 12, 2024

Stories

For deaf actor, “Only Murders” saved a dark time

James Caverly’s acting career was zipping along neatly.
He’d done shows everywhere – Boston and Baltimore and Berkeley, Ithaca, NY, and Washington, D.C. and more. Now it was time to live in the center of the theater world.
And then? “I moved to New York City, believe it or not, two weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic hit …. All of a sudden, the entire industry just collapsed.”
He was deaf and unemployed … and somehow, it worked out. A key episode of “Only Murders in the Building” (shown here) – rerunning at 9 p.m. Jan. 16 on ABC – brought new life. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 10, 2024

Stories

A “True” leap — from Mexico City to the Arctic

Crafting a new edition of HBO’s “True Detective,” Issa Lopez had opposite impulses.
One was to go with sorta-familiar characters.. “I’d heard that people just write themselves over and over again,” she said, in a press forum. “That might be true.”
And the other was to go with a wildly unfamiliar setting. She did that, too.
“True Detective: Night Country” (shown here) — starting at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, on HBO and Max — gives us Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as police detectives. Tough and relentless, they may have the qualities Lopez hopes to see in herself. “They are also the women that I fear I am,” she said. “They have flaws that I see in myself.”
But the location? This is set in the Alaskan Arctic and filmed in Iceland, a zillion or so miles from her turf. “I’m Mexican, so I was not prepared,” she said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 6, 2024

Stories

“Purple” and “Wonka” revive musical movies

At times, it seemed like Hollywood had made its last musical.
The genre felt wobbly and weary. And then …
Well, then we got bursts like this, with two big-deal musicals side-by-side in theaters. They are opposites: “Wonka” starts in a place of joy, “The Color Purple” (shown here) in a place of despair. Yet they both stir us, musically and emotionally. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 3, 2024

Stories

Goofy, angry, funny, fresh: Smothers did it all

Tom Smothers (shown here) was many things – a clever comedian, an adequate singer, a great finder of new talent and new ideas.
He was also a champion gymnast and, much later, a yo-yo master.
Still, Smothers – who died Tuesday (Dec. 26) at 86 – will be remembered mainly as the guy who nudged American TV into the modern world. And that was partly by accident. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / December 30, 2023