Mike Hughes on TV

Stories

For TV, it’s Earth Month-plus

In the TV world, Earth Day has become Earth Month.
Or, actually, Earth Month-plus-a-day-or-two.
That will be clear when James Cameron’s “Secrets of” series (shown here in a previous year) — usually the centerpiece of Earth Day — debuts Tuesday (March 31) on National Geographic. This time, it’s a fascinating look at bees … and it coincides with the conclusion of Ken Burns’ compelling portrait of Henry David Thoreau.
The next day, “Earth Month” begins. Highlights from the month-plus are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 27, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 29: Basketball sparks a busy day

1) CBS blitz. This should be a powerhouse day for CBS. First, it has basketball, filling the final spots in the college tournament’s final four. That’s at 2 and 4:30 p.m. ET, leaping (in Eastern and Central zones) into a strong night — “60 Minutes,” “Marshals” — Kayce (shown here, right) goes rogue to rescue a kidnapped girl) and “Tracker” (a boy vanishes during a field trip). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 27, 2026

Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 30: Thoreau, Easter and bees

1) “Henry David Thoreau” 9-11 p.m., today, 9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. We might think of Thoreau as a hermit in a cabin, but Ken Burns’ splendid film finds someone much more interesting: Thoreau was a social man who loved to talk, write and think. He was a teacher, philosopher and pencil-maker; in his two years in the cabin (shown here), he wrote memorably about man and nature. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 26, 2026

News and Quick Comments

“SNL” plans a Black-and-White night

“Saturday Night Live” will soon have black-and-white Jacks.
Jack Black (shown here in a previous episode) will host the April 4 episode, with Jack White as the music guest.
That comes as the show returns from two weeks of reruns, during the busiest time of the college basketball tournament. Newly announced are: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 26, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 28: Ilia’s back, in huge sports day

1) Skating, 1 p.m. ET, USA Network; 8 p.m., NBC. Ilia Malinin (shown here) had a long string of victories and one miss — in, alas, the Olympics. Now seeks his third title in the World Figure Skating Championships. You can catch the finals live on USA or wait for NBC. It will have highlights of the entire weekend; the women’s finals (including Amber Glenn) were Friday Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 26, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 27: greats of dance & basketball

1) “Martha Graham Dance Company: We Are Our Time,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. The opener, a three-minute gem, sets up a terrific film that sprawls across two Fridays. Tonight, we see Graham dance in her 30s (including a 1929 film) and coach in her 90s. We hear her words (via Meryl Streep) and see her current company (a performance is shown here), in its 100th season, with immensely gifted dancers. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 25, 2026

News and Quick Comments

“Bridgerton” has more barriers to break

The lush “Bridgerton” series still has barriers to break. Its next season will apparently be the first with an LGBT romance at its core.
As filming began in London, the Netflix show said it will focus on Francesca’s relationship with Michaela (they’re shown here), her late husband’s cousin.
Through its first four seasons, “Bridgerton” has brought many inter-racial romances and marriages (including Francesca and her husband, John Stirling) to high society in the early 1800s. The fourth season broke class barriers, when Benedict Bridgerton fell in love with a servant. Gay romance has also been touched upon briefly; now it moves to the center Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 26: sports surge, plus music

1) “iHeartRadio Music Awards,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. Amid a sports surge, we also get pop music. Performers are Ludacris, who hosts, and John Mellencamp (shown here), who gets a special award, plus Alex Warren, Kehlani, Raye, Lainey Wilson and, for the first time, a linking of three classic girl groups — TLC. En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa. Also getting a special award is Miley Cyrus. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2026

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 25: End is here for “Fear,” near for “Singer”

1) “The Masked Singer,” 8 p.m., Fox. We’re a week from the finale, with five people left, (One, viewers know, is Kylie Cantrall, shown here in Disney’s “Rise of Red” movie, as “Cat Witch.”) This edition has dumped some singers — Billy Ray Cyrus, Jack Wagner, Tone Loc — and others. Last week it unmasked actor-singer Evan Ross (Diana Ross’ son) and Greg Mathis, of “Judge Mathis” fame. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2026

Stories

A gentle pace: three seasons in 21 years

In TV’s olden days, situation comedies kept cranking out episodes — 39 a year, year after year.
And a modern-day contrast? Consider Lisa Kudrow’s “The Comeback” (shown here), which has just returned to HBO.
It had 13 episodes in 2005 … rested nine years, before doing eight episodes in 2014 … then rested a dozen years, before this eight-episode final season.
It needed a compelling reason to return, co-creator Michael Patrick King said at a press conference. That came with the rise of artificial intelligence. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 22, 2026