Stories

Smokey’s undaunted? Well, not always

We might guess that Smokey Robinson is undaunted by life.
He’s been a singer, songwriter, producer and company vice-president. He helped build Motown Records, in the recording studio and beyond. He even made the drive (with Berry Gordy) between Detroit and Owosso, to get the label’s first records – getting stuck in the snow twice.
So is there anything that overwhelms him? “I’ve tried to learn to play the guitar about three or four times,” said Robinson (shown here), 81. “I cannot do it.”
This confession came in a video press conference about a TV movie. “Miracle in Motor City” – 8 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 28), Lifetime – has a mom (Tia Mowry) trying to land Robinson for a Christmas church concert in Detroit — leading to another confession: “Church used to terrify me,” Robinson said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 23, 2021

Stories

Anthrax story: a real-life thriller with a quirky twist

Twenty years ago, Americans – already stunned by the 9/11 attacks – had a new crisis.
Lethal doses of anthrax were being mailed. Five people died, 11 were seriously ill; and then it stopped.
What didn’t stop was the FBI investigation. Seven years later, after some missteps, it pointed to a suspect. Now that’s being retold in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax” (shown here), from 9-11 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday (Nov. 28-30) on National Geographic. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 23, 2021

Stories

They fought for the U.S. … which then wanted to deport them

John Valadez had become an expert on subjects of bias, law and Mexican-Americans.
Still, this was new to him: Two brothers (shown here), both U.S. war veterans, said they were fighting deportation.
“I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him,” Valadez recalled. “It seemed really weird.”
But it turned out to be true. The result – almost a decade later – is “American Exile,” at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 16), on PBS. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 11, 2021

Stories

From “Jaws” and “Star Wars” to classical, he’s the master

John Williams has been writing music for 80 years now, so this must be easy for him.
Or not. “There’s rarely a moment (when) I have said, ‘Eureka, this is exactly right,’” he said.
Consider the five “Close Encounters” notes, which seemed just right for communicating with aliens: “I wrote about 300 examples,” Williams (shown here) told the Television Critics Association.
His Zoom call was to promote a big-deal classical-music event: At 9 p.m. Friday (Nov. 12), PBS’ has Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Boston Symphony with, as “Great Performances” producer David Horn put it, “the debut of a violin concerto by legendary composer John Williams.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 9, 2021

Stories

“Lost Symbol” unlocks ancient secrets

Robert Langdon could be the patron saint of anyone who’s ever tackled a crossword, a sudoku or just a bewildering set of Ikea instructions.
He’s a puzzle-solver, one who ponders ancient riddles. He’s fictional, residing in Dan Brown novels … in three Tom Hanks movies … and in “The Lost Symbol” (shown here), a prequel series that shows how this began. Viewers can catch it:
– At the start. The first episode reruns at 10 p.m. Monday (Nov. 8) on NBC.
– At the end of the first season. The ninth and final episode streams Thursday on Peacock. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 4, 2021

Stories

Sunshine slaying? Not in this “Dexter” mini-series

Dexter Morgan has never been your standard serial killer. For one thing, he tries to only kill bad people; he considers himself a hero … albeit a pained one.
For another, he’s been doing that in the blue-sky beauty of Miami. All of that changes, however, with “Dexter: New Blood,” the 10 week mini-series that debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 7) on Showtime.
The new setting (Shelburne Falls, Mass., posing as upstate New York) is “undeniably beautiful,” said producer Clyde Phillips. It also has lots of trees and space … the standard serial-killer turf. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 1, 2021

Stories

New “Trek” brings old fans … and the others

A quarter-century ago Kate Mulgrew strode into TV history, shielded by semi-ignorance.
Yes, she knew that her character, Kathryn Janeway, would be the first female “Star Trek” captain. There was a fuss about that; the producers even lured Sally Ride (the first woman in space) to the premiere.
But what she didn’t know about was “Star Trek” itself. “I didn’t watch it …. My introduction was when I walked onto that bridge at about 7 o’clock in the morning.”
Hey, a lot of people don’t know “Trek” – including the young actors who star with Mulgrew in “Star Trek: Prodigy” (shown here), the computer-animated series that debuts Thursday (Oct. 28) on Paramount+. The actors had a virtual press conference with the Television Critics Association. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 26, 2021

Stories

Veterans: triumph and “torture,” growth and agony

These two military veterans had opposite careers.
Angela Salinas’ tenure lasted 39 years. She started as an office worker, left as the first Latina to be a general in the Marine Corps.
J.R. Martinez had barely been in the Army for a half-year, when an explosion put him near death. He would spend almost three years in hospitals, undergo at least 33 surgeries … then go on to be an actor, a motivational speaker and a “Dancing With the Stars” champion.
They’re both part of the vast expanse of American military vets. It’s a sprawling subject, tackled by PBS’ “American Veteran,” at 9 p.m. on four Tuesdays, starting Oct. 26. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 25, 2021

Stories

Movie mega-mogul went from gangsters to “Sound of Music”

Sometime, try to name the old-time movie moguls.
You might come up with the guys who put their names on studios – Disney, Warner, Goldwyn, Mayer. You probably wouldn’t say Darryl Zanuck, who may have topped them all in quantity and quality.
“He wasn’t a one-trick pony,” author/historian Scott Eyman said by phone. “The others found a groove and couldn’t get out of it.”
Eyman’s previous 15 books have ranged from John Wayne to Cecil B. DeMille. Now comes “20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio” (Running Press). It traces Zanuck from gritty gangster films to the CinemaScope sprawl of “The Robe,” “The Sound of Music” (shown here) and beyond. “He sensed what the public was going to like before the public got there.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 23, 2021

Stories

Real-life police hero: no guns or quips or lollipops

By now, we’ve seen lots of TV cops.
We’ve met cops with attitudes, cops with quips, cops with guns or lollipops. Now meet Colin Sutton – the real-life Englishman at the core of two “Manhunt” stories (shown here with Martin Clunes as Sutton), the second arriving on www.acorn.tv.
Calm and quiet, Sutton is like no TV cop, with one exception: “There’s a faint element of Columbo,” said Ed Whitmore, the series’ writer and producer. He “invites people to underestimate him.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / October 14, 2021