Mike Hughes on TV

Lots of George Jones memories will reach cable-TV this weekend, marking the life of the man who epitomized country music.

Jones died today (Friday) at 81, after being hospitalized midway in his year-long farewell tour.

My own memories of him include a couple interviews -- one with the Television Critics Association, another before he received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2008. He talked amiably about his hard-scrabble childhood -- hiding his guitar in the woods on the way to and from school, sitting in the back of a bus and singing for tips -- and his eccentric adult years, driving to the bar on a lawn tractor when his wife hid the car keys.

But now we can get more memories and music from GAC (Great American Country). Here's the schedule; also, please catch my two previous blogs, about cable shows Monday and Tuesday:

TODAY (Friday)

-- 7 p.m., "Country Stars at Home," with Jones and his wife, in 2007.

SATURDAY

-- 5 p.m., "Masters Series." In 2006, Bill Cody profiled Jones'life and his album re-uniting with Merle Haggard.

-- 9 p.m., "Opry Life." In 2011, Alan Jackkson and others had a concert in tribute to Jones' 80th birthday.

-- 10 p.m., "Country Stars at Home" repeats.

SUNDAY

-- 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., "Opry Live" repeats.

-- 11 a.m., "Masters Series" repeats.

This is a fun week for cable. Monday (April 29) has a dandy return of "Warehouse 13" (see previous blog); Tuesday has the sharply funny "Inside Amy Schumer." Here's the story I sent to papers:

By MIKE HUGHES

The two Schumers have had a lots of
cable-TV time lately.

One is Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chairman
of the Senate's immigration sub-committee. The other is Amy Schumer,
promoting her new comedy show. “I just want to out-famous him,”
she joked.

Yes, there's a connection; he's her
dad's cousin. “We might as well not be related,” she said. “I've
only met him a few times.”

Still, this sort of represents her two
sides. She:

– Has all the credentials of a
lawyer-politico type. She was born in Manhattan … grew up on Long
Island … graduated from well-regarded Towson University … makes
clever references.

– But is best known for jokes about
sex. “It's what interests me,” she said.

Both sides are apparent in her show's
first sketch. Playing an auditioning actress, she offers such hopeful
phrases as “art film,” “commentary,” “meta,” and “MOMA”
(Museum of Modern Art). No, the director says, none of that fits this
film; it's just naked girls putting excrement and vomit on each
other.

In a way, that could summarize the
sweet-faced Schumer – MOMA meets girls-gone-wild.

Her high school yearbook called her
both “class clown” and “teachers' worst nightmare,” but she
said the latter might have been a stretch. “Some of my teachers
were really surprised by that …. I can be interested and
respectful; I would just question a lot of things.”

Schumer got a theater degree in
college, then faced the usual struggles of a New York actress. She
sorted mail, was a bartender (albeit with a bad attitude, she said)
and went to acting auditions.

Comedy became a handy detour; her first
gig happened to be on her 23^rd birthday.

Less than three years later, Schumer
landed a spot in the 2007 “Last Comic Standing.” Some comics
resented her as a relative newcomer, she said, which was
understandable. “It is a painful process (to master stand-up). I
struggled, too. And I got into the top-five.”

Four years later, she was still short
of fame. Introducing her at the Charlie Sheen roast on Comedy
Central, Seth MacFarlane said: “What can I say about Amy Schumer? I
actually mean that sincerely. I've never heard of this woman.”

Schumer's comments that night were
variously considered hilarious and/or tasteless. She also did a
Roseanne Barr roast and a special which, she said, “got the
second-highest ratings in the last five years” of Comedy Central
stand-up shows.

That special, appropriately, was called
“Mostly Sex Stuff.” A series deal followed.

The 10 half-hours bounce between brief
bits of stand-up, sketch comedy and man-on-the-street interviews,
sometimes surprising people. “I've been underestimated my whole
life,” she said.

Now that moves to a higher level, as
she tries to become cable's most famous Schumer.

– “Inside Amy Schumer” debuts
10:30 p.m. Tuesday (April 30), Comedy Central

– First episode reruns often,
including 8:58 p.m. May 3 and 8 p.m. May 7

– Her Comedy Central stand-up
specials rerun at 9 p.m. April 28 and 11 a.m. and 11:25 a.m. April 30

For fans of "Warehouse 13," this has been a tough time. One of the good guys (Artie) killed another (Leena) and released a toxin that could kill billions more. Life wobbled ... and then the show took a seven-month break.

It's finally back Monday (April 29), with a terrific episode. Here' the story I sent to papers:

By MIKE HUGHES

Even in science-fiction, it seems,
there are limits. Occasionally, dead people must stay dead.

That sort of explains the shock that
“Warehouse 13” delivered to its fans, just before taking a long
break. One beloved character (Artie) killed another (Leena).

This one is permanent, producer Jack
Kenny said, unlike past ones: “We brought back Artie (from the
dead), we brought back Steve. We needed someone to stay dead, or
death has no sting.”

For the show's first post-break
episode, Leena does exist in Artie's troubled mind. She's leaving,
however, and there are other aftershocks:

– Artie, who was then consumed by an
evil spirit, released a deadly flower that could kill half the people
on the planet. Pete and Claudia try to un-do that.

– Myka and Steve face a tougher
challenge – finding the real Artie, inside his sub-conscious.

The latter lets actress Joanne Kelly
show skills she learned as a kid in Newfoundland and Labrador. “My
dad was a gun collector,” she said. She shot, rode, was s Girl
Guide, more. “I did a lot of sports.” And now she gets repeat
that as Myka, a former FBI agent.

Archery, after all, has become cool
again, thanks to “Hunger Games,” “Archer,” “Spartacus,”
“Walking Dead” and more. Still, Kelly may be the only actress to
use a crossbow to slay a flying gargoyle.

“Warehouse” is like that sometimes.
“Basically, the show is an action-adventure comedy,” Kenny said.

Artie (Saul Rubinek) runs the South
Dakota warehouse filled with artifacts from history and mythology –
from da Vinci's inventions to Pandora's box. Artifacts are protected
and retrieved by Myka, Pete (Eddie McClintock), Steve (Aaron Ashmore)
and techno-whiz Claudia (Allison Scagliotti).

The stories can be big and boisterous.
“'Subdued' is not in my wheelhouse,” McClintock said.

And they can involve guest stars
already big in the sci-fi universe. That first returning episode has
James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Polly Walker
(“Caprica”), Kate Mulgrew (“Star Trek: Voyager”) and Lindsay
Wagner (“The Bionic Woman”).

So wasn't Kelly – the picture of a
modern action hero – excited to meet Wagner and Mulgrew, who were
pioneers of women's roles in sci-fi? Well …

“We didn't have cable when I was
growing up,” she said. Kelly has little knowledge of old TV or new
devices; she avoids Twitter. Instead, she knows guns and bows and
such. She also, McClintock said, “looks stunning” in an upcoming
episode set inside a1940-style “film noir.”

Actually, Kenny said, it was probably
fine that Kelly hadn't seen Wagner's old show. “I think Lindsay was
relieved she didn't have to sign a lunch box.”

– “Warehouse 13,” 10 p.m.
Mondays, Syfy

– Mid-season return (after a seven
month break) is April 29, rerunning at midnight.

– That episode reruns often,
including 8 a.m. Wednesday, 6 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. Saturday, May
4

The cool thing about having your own TV show is that you can keep changing the rules. "Survivor" does that a lot; now "American Idol" does it, too.

On Thursday, "Idol" said Candice Glover and Amber Holcomb were in the bottom two ... then announced that neither is leaving. Since the judges never used the "save," there's an extra week to account for; everyone moves on.

That's sort of good news, but also not: This week's votes carry over to next week, putting Glover and Holcomb behind before the new round begis.

Cleary, Candice Glover is the best singer in a great season. Her one mistake is occasionally trying too much. Now she's in danger of following an "Idol" tradition -- strong talents (Chris Daughtry, Tamyra Gray, Latoya London, Allison Iraheta, Michael Lynche) finishing fourth.

Over the years, I've gone to various outdoor potlucks, the sort where a picnic table is covered by anythng from desserts to indefinable goulashes.

The weather has been usually good, occasionally not, but there's been one constant: I'm never seen people leave a cake out in the rain. If they did, they would simply bake another. Even before the Internet age, cake recipes never disappeared; they existed in little file-card cabinets and in recipes and in grandmas' minds.

In other words, Jimmy Iovine was exactly right Wednesday: "MacArthur Park" is a really cheesy song, a poor choice by Angie Holcomb.

Iovine's goal has been logical enough: Start with a song that's simple and melodic, one designed to show off the singer. Even when you add some riffs and runs, it will flow smoothly.

Holcomb did that at first with a Celine Dion song, but "MacArthur Park" was a no-win idea. Candice Glover and Kree Harrison sang beautifully, as usual, but the songs -- a bit bluesy, a bit jazzy -- weren't the sort that draw votes. Only Angie Miller went straight for the votes with both songs.

My prediction? I'll guess that Miller finishes first and Harrison finishes last. A great singer will go home ... unless "Idol" changes the rules yet again. It extended the time a "save" could be used to include last week ... which judges ignored anyway. Now Ryan Seacrest has hinted that another change is coming tonight (Thursday, April 25). We'll see.