Television can get silly at times -- as you'll notice via recent blogs on Golden Globes and Nina Turtles. Still, it can also be dead-serious. Please catch my recent blog on "Half the Sky," which runs Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 1-2) on PBS. Also, here's the story I sent to papers, about a cable series with movies about the disabled:

By MIKE HUGHES

Fate stepped in early, choosing
Larwence Carter-Long's career.

The whole notion of a summer "dog days" has disappeared from TV. Almost every network -- even CW -- is introducing something in August; TNT and USA are busy and HBO has television's best show ("The Newsroom").

Then there are the annual events -- "Shark Week" starts Monday (Aug. 13) on Discovery, "Summer Under the Stars" continues all month on Turner Classic Movies. Here's a story I sent to papers about TCM's month in general and Elvis night (Thursday, Aug. 16) in particular:

By MIKE HUGHES

Summers are stuffed with TV choices -- including the year's best show, HBO's "The Newsroom." Still, it's good to see Turner Classic Movies offering an alternative -- movies (billed as "Essentials Jr.") that might be watched as a family. Here's the story I sent to papers, interviewing Bill Hader ("Saturday Night Live"), who hosts:

By MIKE HUGHES

It's easy to focus on the character quirks of Elizabeth Taylor, who died today of heart failure at 79. She was, apparently, a good and decent person (one of the first in Hollywood to champion AIDS victims) and a bizarre person.

Still, let's focus on something else: She became a good actress who was in some truly great movies. Proof of that will come April 10, when Turner Classic Movies has an all-day Liz-athon.