Stories

At last: We spy our pets’ secret lives

Many of us may wonder what our pets do when we’re gone.
Do they scheme and plot? … Or grumble and grouse? … Or just hit the hyper-relaxation mode?
Now a new series, “Housebroken” (shown here) has the answer: Pets conduct their own group-therapy sessions.
Yes, the show (9 p.m. Mondays on Fox, starting May 31) is a cartoon. “There’s just so much freedom in animation,” said actress-turned-producer Clea DuVall. Cats can talk, turtles can dash; she can envision big stunts that “would be half of your budget (without) animation.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 26, 2021

Stories

“Crime Scene” starts summer surge of games

These days, viewers’ TV tastes are clear.
We like cooking and crime-solving and – in the summer – game shows. So why not combine them?
Welcome to “Crime Scene Kitchen” (shown here), arriving Wednesday (May 26), to whisk us from one season to the next. At 8 p.m., “The Masked Singer” – Fox’s top-rated regular-season show – has its finale; at 9, “Kitchen” arrives, as part of a summer stuffed with games and food. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 23, 2021

Stories

ABC doubles up on reality this fall

Repeating a trick it learned during the pandemic, ABC will have two reality shows on consecutive nights this fall.
It will be “Dancing With the Stars” on Mondays and an extra “Bachelorette” – right after the summer one – on Tuesdays.
The latter will provide a lead-in for a promising drama-with-music: “Queens” (shown here) at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, has Eve and Brandy in a story of a former hip-hop band, re-uniting. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 18, 2021

Stories

Fox’s fall line-up: second (and third and more) chances

Are most of us desperate to rebound, to recover, to have a second chance at life?
The Fox network seems to think so. Introducing his fall line-up to reporters, programming chief Charlie Collier talked of a time for “second chances and re-invention.”
His new shows keep reflecting that: Three women rethink their lives after a friend’s death (“Pivoting”) … A Cambodian doctor rebuilds her life after becoming a cleaning woman for U.S. mobsters (“The Cleaning Lady”) … People desperate for a second chance try a dance show (“The Big Leap,” shown here).
Even a reality show (tucked neatly after “The Masked Singer”) has a re-invention theme: Performers don’t compete as themselves, but as their avatars. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 17, 2021

Stories

After filling our TV for decades, Tim Allen steps back

Tim Allen has been living inside our TV sets for three decades.
He started “Home Improvement” in 1991 and will end “Last Man Standing” (shown here in an early promo photo) at 9 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday (May 20) on Fox)In a 30-year stretch, he spent 17 years with those two shows; also, TV kept rerunning his movies – especially “Galaxy Quest” and all the “Toy Story” and “Santa Clause” tales.
Now Allen’s overload stretch is ending; this will require some adjustment. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 15, 2021

Stories

It’s an anthem of life for Memorial Day star

The song “American Anthem” ripples through decades of Denyce Graves’ memories.
She met it 23 years ago, when her friend, composer Gene Scheer, sent it by cassette. Her reaction, she recalls, was instant: “It’s beautiful …. It’s a reflective piece that makes you think about your life.”
So she sang it often – from the a Hillary Clinton event to George W. Bush’s second inauguration. (“I’m a bi-partisan, equal-opportunity singer.”) After the latter, Sen. Joe Biden “came up to me and said, ‘What was that song!?’” Sixteen years later, he would quote it in in own inaugural speech.
Now comes another lofty occasion. From a rooftop overlooking the Capitol, Graves (shown here) sings “American Anthem” for the “National Memorial Day Concert,” at 8 p.m. May 30 on PBS, rerunning at 9:30. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 11, 2021

Stories

CW, Freeform set scripted summer shows

The CW network is expanding its lone (almost) mission to have new, scripted shows this summer.
The latest step is to add a third season of “The Outpost” (shown here), a modestly budgeted fantasy adventure. That will arrive July 15; also, two Canadian dramas will adjust their debuts slightly: “Burden of Truth” starts its fourth and final season July 30, “Coroner” starts its third on Aug.19.
That’s part of a scripted summer that makes CW unusual in the broadcast (non-cable) world.
Cable networks will have summer scripted shows, as usual. Freeform, for instance, has just announced the starting dates for “Motherland: Fort Salem” (June 22), “Grown-ish” (July 8) and the second half of the “Good Trouble” season (July 14). Its “The Bold Type” will also have a brief, final season, from May 26 to June 30. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 10, 2021

Stories

A splendid comedy says farewell

One of the best TV comedies is saying farewell on Thursday (May 13).
But don’t expect a big send-off in the “MASH”/”Seinfeld”/”Big Bang” mode. “Mom” (shown here, 9 p.m., CBS) has spent its eight seasons in a middle ground – usually funny, sometimes poignant, rarely honored.
Its honors have been strictly for Allison Janney, the show’s amazing star – five Emmy nominations and two wins. (There have also been four nominations for editing and one for cinematography.) Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 8, 2021

Stories

“Sanditon” returns to life … again

“Sanditon” (shown here) will rise from the dead … again.
It’s a tale that vanished with Jane Austen’s death in 1817. It returned – more than two centuries later – with a lush PBS mini-series … then was abruptly canceled after its first season. Now, more than a year later, comes the surprising news that second and third seasons will eventually be produced. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 6, 2021

Stories

A layman as “SNL” host? Occasionally

When “Saturday Night Live” announced its final hosts of the season, it included one surprise.
Two of them – Keegan-Michael Key on May 15, Anya Taylor-Joy on May 22 – fit the usual mold. He’s an actor/comedian; she’s an actress.
But first, on May 8 (with Miley Cyrus as music guest) is Elon Musk, of Tesla and SpaceX fame. And that breaks a long trend of using only singers, actors or comedians.
The last layman (as we’ll call him) hosting was football’s J.J. Watt; that was 15 months ago. Before that, the last ones were basketball’s Charles Barkley in 2018 … and, alas, Donald Trump in 2015. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 5, 2021