Month: January 2020

News and Quick Comments

North America has its TV moment … eventually

PASADENA, Cal. – As North America gets ready for its close-up, it has bad and good news. Both involve the BBC unit that makes lush nature films:
– The bad news: The continent will no longer provide the opening of “Seven Worlds, One Planet” (shown here), which debuts Saturday (Jan. 18) on four cable channels. It series had planned to open with North America, but now switched to Australia, due to its current wildfire crisis
.– And the good: In 2024 – yes, four years from now – it will be part of an epic series. Paul Telegdy, chairman of NBC (which will share it with BBC) promised “an amazing piece of entertainment.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 13: It’s championship time

1) Football, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN2. By logic, Clemson should be comfy here. It’s in the national championship game for the fourth time in five years. It’s won twice in the past three years and is fresh from a come-from-behind win over powerhouse Ohio State. But this is in the New Orleans Superdome, almost home turf for top-ranked Louisiana State. Facing Oklahoma, Heisman-winner Joe Burrow (show here) tied a bowl record with seven touchdown passes – all in the first half; LSU won, 63-28. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2020
Stories

FX prepares its big Hulu push

PASADENA, Cal. – John Landgraf will quickly admit there are too many TV shows.
As head of the FX cable networks, he has his staff count them. “There were 532 scripted (series and mini-series) last year,” he told the Television Critics Association. “That’s a 7 percent gain vs. 2018. And given that the streaming wars are now at hand, we expect (it) will increase.”
So what FX is doing now is … well, adding several new shows and a new streaming service.
Or, actually, a new hub on an existing streamer. “FX on Hulu” debuts March 2; it will soon have two mini-series (“Mrs. America,” shown here, and “Devs”) that are only on Hulu, plus shows on both FX and Hulu. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 11, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 12: Classic dramas, crashing tackles

1) “Masterpiece: Sanditon” debut, 9 and 10 p.m., PBS. Jane Austen had barely started this novel, creating a place (a seaside town, trying to be a resort) and people. Ever since, people have tried to continue it; at least seven versions have been published. Now Andrew Davies has done it perfectly, creating a show with warmth, depth and surprises. Rose Williams is lovable as a smart-and-innocent country kid who meets three brothers – an optimist, a bumbler and a handsome enigma (Theo James, shown here with Williams).. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 10, 2020
News and Quick Comments

Impeachment mini-series? Not right away

One pre-election controversy has faded quietly
.There probably won’t be a Clinton-impeachment mini-series on FX this fall, network chief John Landgraf told the Television Critics Association today. He said it just won’t be ready on time.
Last summer, Landgraf said the mini-series was set for September of 2020, focusing on the effort to impeach Bill Clinton. That brought instant complaints about the timing, just before the election.
That’s now a moot point, Landgraf said. Murphy (shown here) – “probably the busiest person in show business” – is directing “The Prom.” Based on the Broadway musical about commotion when an Indiana girl wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom, it stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden and more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2020
Stories

“Jeopardy” giants: smart and silly

PASADENA, Cal. – These are the “Jeopardy” giants, the guys bringing new life to an old game.
They are the three all-time top winners, locked in a primetime competition, plus host Alex Trebek. They bring smarts, strategy … and silliness. “I love silliness,” Trebek insists.
Brad Rutter (shown at right) – battling Ken Jennings (center) and James Holzhauer (left) in the ABC tournament – recalls the time he and two other contestants whimsically decided to stand behind the podium without their pants.
“We all had a good laugh,” Rutter said. “And then (announcer) Johnny Gilbert said, ‘And now the host of “Jeopardy,” Alex Trebek.’ And Alex came out with no pants on.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2020
Stories

ABC turns “Thirtysomething” again

(This is an expanded version of a story I posted earlier today)
PASADENA, Cal. – “Thirtysomething” is heading back to ABC, at the age of … well, thirtysomething.
The show started 32 years ago and ended four years later, with a pile of awards and a niche in society. It was “so embedded in popular culture that its title was entered into the dictionary,” said Karey Burke, who is president of ABC Entertainment.
So now she may be bringing it back. The deal finances a pilot film and setting up a writers’ room for a possible Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2020
News and Quick Comments

“Ackley” bridges gaps and stirs emotion

For two seasons, this has been an intriguing duo – two teens who have everything in common and somehow, nothing in common.
They are friends on “Ackley Bridge,” a series that – as its third season starts streaming Monday (Jan. 13) – is about to change profoundly.
Missy Booth and Nasreen Paracha (shown here) were born on the same day, in the same hospital. They’ve grown up together, in a town where jobs are scarce and expectations are low. We often see them on an abandoned couch, surveying a world they (and others) don’t really understand. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2020
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 10: Meet the new crime-solvers

1) “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt For the Bone Collector” debut, 8 p.m. NBC. This started with Jeffrey Deaver’s novel: A paralyzed police detective hires a cop to do his on-scene work. That became a 1999 movie with two Oscar-winners – Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Now it’s a series with Russell Hornsby (shown here in an early scene, before Rhyme’s injury) and Arielle Kebbel. The opening and closing scenes are way too nasty; in between, however, this is a good start, with understated dialog and a solid story. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2020