Stories

Sweet Marie meets a master swindler

We’re about to meet (or re-meet) two vibrant women – one famous, the other oddly obscure.
The first is the title character in “Marie Antoinette,” which starts its second season at 10 p.m. Sunday (March 23) on PBS. Marie (shown here) has a surplus of sweetness and a shortage of frugality.
And the other? Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy is another story entirely.
“I had never heard of her” before being cast to play her, Freya Mavor said. Then “I was obsessed. I read everything about her. She was just wild – a wild, wild woman.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 15, 2025

Stories

Fox wraps up some good (mostly) seasons

For the Fox network, this is changeover time.
Ending their seasons are three scripted shows – one good, one not and one surprisingly excellent. Their spring replacements are coming, but two of them will be back next season.
If you ignore animated ones (please don’t), Fox only has four scripted shows. Now come season-finales for “Animal Control” (shown here) and “Going Dutch” (9 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13) and “Doc” (9 p.m. Tuesday, March 18).
Here’s a glimpse at the three finales, plus a note on what’s next. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 12, 2025

Stories

A fourth network? At first, that floundered

(This is the ninth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)

We’ve always assumed that three is the logical number for anything.
It’s the number of strikes, outs, Stooges, little pigs, blind mice and little kittens that lost their mittens. But is it the ideal number of over-the-air, commercial TV networks?
It seemed that way. Early efforts at a fourth network sputtered, despite such stars as Jackie Gleason (shown here), Ernie Kovacs, boxers and a bishop. Other tries failed. For 30 years, it was ABC, CBS and NBC. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 10, 2025

Stories

TV re-discovers its country-music friends

Media people keep straining to reach the “early adapters” – the people who are always ready to try something new.
But now TV networks are leaning tbe other way. They need the late adapters … and country music is getting fresh attention. Consider:
— The Grand Ole Opry – snubbed by TV and cable for decades – is getting three hours of prime time on NBC and Peacock. On March 19, Blake Shelton (shown here) will host a 100-year celebration that includes approximately everyone.
— That’s shortly after two other events: On March 9 (8-10 p.m., ABC) country star Carrie Underwood takes over as an “American Idol” judge . The next day (8-10 p.m., CBS), Ringo Starr is at the Ryman Auditorium (the Opry’s former home), surrounded by country singers.
— And this fall, CBS has Shelton and Keith Urban in “The Road,” focusing on emerging country stars. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 7, 2025

Stories

The long, short road to a “Righteous” final season

As “Righteous Gemstones” (shown here) starts its final season (10:01 p.m. Sunday, March 9, on HBO), it might seem sort of fleeting.
This is the fourth nine-episode season. Next to, say, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (26th season, 565 episodes) that’s a mere blink of an eye.
Still, it feels like it goes way back. “When we finished the pilot in 2018, it was a different world,” said Tim Baltz, who co-stars.
The first season went smoothly enough; the second didn’t. “We were shooting for two days and then we shut down for Covid,” said Danny McBride, the show’s creator and star. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 5, 2025

Stories

Tinker/Tartikoff spurred an NBC renaissance

(This is the eighth chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, scroll down under “stories.”)

For TV people, some lessons are learned, unlearned and learned anew.
Flash back to Pat Weaver, who ran NBC from 1953-55.
“Once you’ve chosen the creative people and put them to work, you leave them alone,” he wrote later. “You wouldn’t tell Milton Berle what jokes to use. You wouldn’t tell a producer like Fred Coe how to climax a dramatic story for ‘Television Playhouse.’ At least I never did.”
That’s the same notion Grant Tinker had during his two turns at NBC – first (1961-67) as West Coast programming chief, later (1981-86) as network president, propelling an era of “Cheers” (shown here), “L.A. Law” and more. “The mission,” Tinker wrote later, “was to get good producers and let them produce.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 4, 2025

Stories

Cable has “Dark Winds” and dark prospects

As AMC moves out of the witches’ den and back to the reservation (shown here), it’s time for a nagging question:
What’s ahead for scripted shows on basic-cable? Will they all go away?
Cable “is in a state of steady decline,” Variety (the show-business trade paper) wrote recently. “Some would call it a state of decay.”
Others wouldn’t. The collapse “is irreversible,” one expert (Naveen Sarma) told Variety, “but there is no immediate cliff. We expect the decline will be a steady one that will take years.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 4, 2025

Stories

She made news and politics a joyful world

Here’s a handy tip for fans of documentaries:
Whenever possible, watch profiles of Texas women. Those films – like their subjects – offer rare blends of strength and joy.
There have been terrific ones about Ann Richards (the former governor) and Mollie Ivins (the former newspaper writer and “60 Minutes” commentator). And now we have, “Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter.”
That’s available on PBS’ World Channel (9 p.m. ET March 7, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 8), on PBS apps and on some stations during the current pledge drive. It’s worth finding. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2025

Stories

Two forces, MTM and Lear, crafted golden comedies

(This is the seventh chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For the previous chapters, scroll down in “Stories.”)
In a logical world, “I Love Lucy” would have launched a revolution in clever comedies.
TV, of course, lacks logic. It would be a couple decades before Mary Tyler Moore (shown here), Archie Bunker and others propelled the first golden age of comedy.
During the “Lucy” years, networks mostly had minor comedies, often bearing characters’ names. There was “Stanley” and “Sally,” “Willy” and “Meet Millie.” There was “Hey Jeannie” and “It’s Always Jan,” “Dear Phoebe” and “Honestly Celeste,” “Leave It to Larry” and “Meet Mr. McNutley.” And that’s not to mention “Colonel Humphrey Flack” and “Adventures of Hiram Hoke.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 28, 2025

Stories

Oscars are here; so are lots of alternatives

There was a time when networks froze in the shadow of the Oscars.
Academy Award night on ABC drew swarms. Some 39 million viewers watched “Annie Hall” win best-picture in 1978 … 48 million watched “Forrest Gump” win in ‘95 … 55 million watched “Titanic” win in ‘98.
Other networks ducked away, sometimes offering reruns or bad movies or such … but not any more. Flip the dial Sunday (March 2) and you’ll find strong choices everywhere. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 25, 2025