Stories

Stories

Indigenous actors — from different continents — find stardom

It was one of the quieter moments in a busy Academy Award ceremony.
There was Taika Waititi, accepting the Oscar for the screenplay of “Jojo Rabbit,” which he directed and co-starred in. “I dedicate this to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art,” he said.
Before the ceremony, much of the focus had been on other underutilized groups – blacks and women. By the end of the night, however, we were reminded just how big the world is … even on shows like “FBI: Most Wanted,” shown here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 10, 2020
Stories

“Agatha” brightens quaint, quiet village

English villages, we’ve learned on TV, are pleasant places designed for murder mysteries
.They have quaint buildings and quiet people, stone walls and stoic constables. So imagine the fictional village of Carsley, when the very-fictional Agatha Raisin swooped in.
“It was quite a sleepy village before she came in,” said Matt McCooey, who plays local cop Bill Wong in the “Agatha Raisin” tales. “And then this whirl of color and energy and beauty.”
That’s Agatha, played by Ashley Jensen (shown here with McCooey). “The color palette is just so glorious and such fun to pick out when we go to costume fittings,” Jensen said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 7, 2020
Stories

Carrie (and Claire) plunge into turmoil, one more time

As the final “Homeland” season begins, one scene seems to define the fictional Carrie Mathison and the very real Claire Danes (shown here), who plays her.
Carrie, a CIA agent, is back from months of isolation and torture. With her mind and memory shattered, she’s in slow recovery; then there’s a question: Does she want to go back in the field right now?Her answer is an instant yes.
That’s also Danes’ answer to returning to a draining role.
“It’s taxing,” she told the Television Critics Association last month. “It’s kind of pummeling.” But she came back for an eighth season, even after her original commitment had finished. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 7, 2020
Stories

After the shootings: pain, panic, heroics and survival

The Baca sisters (shown here) seemed to be having sunny lives. They were cheerleaders, twin teens in Las Vegas. Fans of country music in general and Jason Aldean in particular, they went to a high-energy, outdoor concert on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
Then came the rifle fire. “My boyfriend … picked me up and we ran for safety,” Gianna said.
Her sister Natalia gradually realized she’d been shot in the back. She headed to a medical tent, where an off-duty firefighter stepped in. “Dean (McAuley) said, ‘Don’t let your eyes come off me.’” He wanted to make sure she didn’t drift off, as they looked for a ride to the hospital.
The sisters recalled that day in an interview (alongside survivor-helpers Lonnie and Sandy Phillips) and at a Television Critics Association session. They’re featured in “In Memoriam,” a powerful documentary that debuts at 9 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 8) on Investigation Discovery. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 5, 2020
Stories

“Katy” is keen on new lives in New York

Winding through the “Katy Keene” TV series (shown here) – beneath its zest and glitz and giddy optimism – is a story that keeps being repeated in real life:
Young people keep trying for a new life in the big city. They often fail and occasionally succeed.
Lucy Hale remembers that feeling. She was 15, a Memphis kid who’d been taking singing and dancing lessons forever; after she finished fifth on “American Juniors,” she moved with her mom.
“We packed up her Prius,” Hale recalled. “We moved to LA, only planning to stay the pilot season. (It was) a complete culture shock.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 4, 2020
Stories

Fred Silverman: From Archie to Angels and beyond

Fred Silverman molded a generation of television.
It was the last three-network generation, the final one totally dominated by CBS, ABC and NBC. And Silverman – who died of cancer Thursday at 82 — ran all three.
Ranging from chimps and “Charlie’s Angels” (shown here) to Archie Bunker and “Hill Street Blues,” he was the master of big-tent TV. “Fred was one of the few people I’ve ever known who laughed where the laugh track laughed and got misty watching a daytime soap opera,” former NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff wrote in “The Last Great Ride” (1982). “He truly loved television.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / February 2, 2020
Stories

No more limits: She became a wartime hero

PASADENA, Cal. – Growing up in Syria, Amani Ballour(shown here) knew a world of rules and limits.
“There are too many differences between boys and girls …. I couldn’t play with boys. I couldn’t climb the tree, I couldn’t ride the bike,” she recalled. “This (was) prevented for girls in my community.”
There were professions open to her – but, again, with limits. A woman could “be a doctor, but a doctor for children or for women in your clinic, but not a manager.”
Then war changed everything. As the Oscar-nominated “The Cave” shows, Dr. Ballour administered an underground hospital in the bomb-battered city of Ghouta, near Damascus. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 23, 2020
Stories

Super-sized vets savor mini-sized town

PASADENA, Cal. – This was an ideal match, vertically and vocationally
.“As soon as I saw Erin, I said, ‘That’s who I’m going to marry,’” Ben Schroeder said.
So, of course, he did. Two weeks later, they were engaged … six months later, they were married … and a couple decades after that, they have their own reality show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 22, 2020
Stories

A small show, a tiny network … and big success

PASADENA, Cal. – For Dan Levy, it was a big (and uncharacteristic) step: He asked his dad for help.
The result is “Schitt’s Creek” (shown here), which has just started its final season, amid praise and nominations.And yes, his dad was surprised.
“He never came to me for anything,” Eugene Levy told the Television Critics Association. “I would say, ‘Do you need me to help you read lines?’ ‘No, no, I’ve got it.’” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 20, 2020