Daily Best Bets
Best-bets for Nov. 19: surfers, vampires and da Vinci Best-bets for Nov. 19: surfers, vampires and da Vinci Best-bets for Nov. 17: As “Yellowstone” nears the end, new show arrives Best-bets for Nov. 17: As “Yellowstone” nears the end, new show arrives Best-bets for Nov. 16: great “Grinch,” awesome “Oz” Best-bets for Nov. 16: great “Grinch,” awesome “Oz”
Stories

Cline: an eternal star, 61 years after her death

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2024
Stories

Tortured genius? No, Leo was the life of the party

By Mike Hughes / November 15, 2024
Stories

A massacre’s impact resonates through history

By Mike Hughes / November 10, 2024
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Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for May 22: Farewell to Blake, Midge, more

1) “The Voice” finale, 9-10 p.m. today and 8-11 p.m.. Tuesday, NBC. In his last season, Blake Shelton has two finalists (shown here) – Grace West, 19, and NOIVAS, 30. They perform tonight, along with Gina Miles, 18; D.Smooth, 25; and the sister trio, Sorelle, plus guest performers Lewis Capaldi and Alex Newell. Tuesday has a recap (8-9 p.m.), then more guests (CeeLo Green, Maroon 5, Toosii and Diplo & Lily Rose), tributes to Shelton … and a winner. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 18, 2023
Stories

Once a Xeroxed comic, it’s now a mini-series and more

Gene Luen Yang never expected his graphic novel to be read by the multitudes … or by anybody.
“I actually did ‘American Born Chinese’ as a Xeroxed comic,” he told the Television Critics Association. “I would finish a chapter; I’d take it to my local Kinko’s. Remember Kinko’s.
“I would staple it by hand and I’d sell like 16 copies. It would be like 15 of my friends and my mom.”
He’s way past that now. On Wednesday (May 24), Disney+ debuts the entire eight-part “American Born Chinese” mini-series (shown here). In the 17 years since it was formally published, it’s caught on big. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 18, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 19: fiery finales for dramas

1) “SWAT” season-finale, 8 p.m., CBS. It’s been a hectic time for this show. At first, CBS canceled it; ratings were strong … but not strong enough to match the growing expense of a show nearing its seventh year. Then came quick negotiations; “SWAT” was given a final, 13 episode season. Tonight, it wraps a two-parter: A federal agent (Timothy Hutton) has a personal war on a drug cartel, sending Hondo (shown here) and others into battle. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 17, 2023
News and Quick Comments

ABC’s extreme step: a line-up without scripted shows

ABC has taken a drastic step that other networks avoided:
It is acknowledging that the writers’ strike will scuttle the start of a normal season, this fall. Instead, it has planned something very abnormal – a complete, 22-hour schedule with no new, scripted episodes.
That would cut off viewers from “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19,” “The Rookie,” “The Good Doctor,” “Will Trent” and more, including “9-1-1,” which is moving to ABC from Fox. To fill all those holes in the schedule, the network will:
— Give double-duty to its “Bachelor” franchise: “The Golden Bachelor” – an older-person version of the show – will be at 10 p.m. Mondays (past the bedtime for some seniors). For people who prefer friskier singles in swimwear, “Bachelor in Paradise” (shown here from last season) will be 9-11 p.m. Tuesdays Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 16, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 18: Sheldon and Meredith lead finale flurry

1) “Grey’s Anatomy” season-finale (shown here), 9 and 10 p.m., ABC. One of the longest-running dramas in TV history wraps its 19th season. (Next year, it ties “Gunsmoke,” trailing “NCIS” and a pair of “Law & Order” shows.) The finale revolves around the wedding of Doctors Simone Griffith and Trey Delgado, in her grandmother’s backyard. That forces Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) to meet her ex-boyfriend Nick; it’s Pompeo’s first return since dropping out as a regular. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 16, 2023
News and Quick Comments

It’s a new look for a still-menacing king

For 429 years, actors have been striding onstage to proclaim: “Now is the winter of our discontent.”
Laurence Olivier and Ian McKellen did it in movies of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Al Pacino, Mark Rylance, Jose Ferrer and others did it on Broadway. There have been at least 21 productions on Broadway, maybe 21 zillion in England.
Most of the stars have (like the real King Richard III) been male and white. “Four-and-a-half centuries of white dudes – I mean, let’s shake it up a little,” Danai Gurira said to the Television Critics Association.
That’s what she did in a New York Central Park show, which will air at 9 p.m. Friday (May 19) on PBS’ “Great Performances.” Gurira(shown here) – best known as Odeye, the African warrior leader in “Black Panther” movies – is Richard. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 15, 2023
Stories

Fox fills fall with reality, cartoons, more

Facing the prospect of a long writers’ strike, Fox seems ready to go either way:
— If the strike gets settled soon? The network plans two new dramas: One, based on a European hit, is about a doctor who has lost eight years of her memory; the other – not ready until mid-season – is a Hawaiian surf-rescue show. They join four returning dramas, plus one comedy.
— And if it lingers? Fox has “an embarrassment of riches” in animation (including Jon Hamm’s “Grimsburg,” shown here), said Michael Thorn, president of scripted shows, with six shows that were written well in advance. It also has a pile of games and reality shows.
“We knew there was a high probability of a strike,” said Allison Wallach, the president of unscripted shows. So the network has eight games or reality shows ready for the fall and beyond, not counting the six that will air this summer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 15, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 17: Farewell to “Lies,” “Masked” season, more

1) “True Lies” finale, 9 and 10 p.m., CBS. It’s one last fling (two, actually) for an entertaining show that CBS won’t be bringing back next season. Ginger Gonzaga (shown here) and Steve Hovey play married spies, trying to keep their work away from home life. In the first hour, the teen hacker who helped them is now dating their daughter. In the second, a spy is missing; the search seems to strain their relationship and reality itself. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 15, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for May 16: FBI, EMT’s and an odd-videos master

1) “American Masters,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Nam June Paik reached the U.S. in 1964, a classical pianist with no money, but many ideas, some controversial. His 1967 concert was broken up by police, who arrested a topless cellist. Paik then focused on artwork, including a Buddha statue watching itself on TV (one example is shown here); fame followed. He coined the phrase “electronic super highway” and made the sort of images that soon fueled a generation of music videos. Here’s a fascinating profile. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / May 14, 2023
Stories

Cline: an eternal star, 61 years after her death

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 19: surfers, vampires and da Vinci

By Mike Hughes / November 16, 2024
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 17: As “Yellowstone” nears the end, new show arrives

By Mike Hughes / November 15, 2024
Stories

Tortured genius? No, Leo was the life of the party

By Mike Hughes / November 15, 2024
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 18: from Da Vinci to Lisa Simpson

By Mike Hughes / November 14, 2024