Day: February 28, 2020

“Five-0” ends, Smothers Brothers (via reruns) return

It’s the circle of life (TV version). Some shows die … some return … some live forever:
1) “Hawaii Five-0” is ending (again). The original version ran for 12 seasons; the reboot is wrapping up after 10. Its two-hour finale will be April 3. There’s no explanation for why it’s leaving now, but CBS has an overload of successful dramas – including “Magnum,” with the same producer and same setting – and “Five-0” is an expensive show. All shows have to end sometime.2)
Or do they? “Murdoch Mysteries” has finished 13 seasons now, with no sign of slowing down. At 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) Saturday, March 7, it will air its 200th episode. Set in early-20th-century Toronto, the show finds a way to pack that era’s top people – from Einstein and Edsion to Tesla and Curie –into one busy hour.
3) And the best news is that even canceled shows return via reruns. Now one of the all-time best – “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (shown here) – will be on GetTV. Read more…

FX breeds comedy chaos

Television used to give us plenty of perfect parents.
Father knew best. Ozzie and Harriet had it all figured out; so did the Bradys, the Huxtables and more.
But now comes “Breeder” (shown here), which is sort of about the rest of us.
“When you become a parent,” said Simon Blackwell, one of the show’s creators, “you’re given this perfect human being …. And theoretically, you can do it perfectly. But you won’t and you will fail.” Read more…

Best-bets for March 1: “Dispatches” debuts, “Big Shots” returns

1) “Dispatches From Elsewhere” debut, 10 p.m., AMC. Peter leads an unchallenging (and unfulfilling) life, with no significant human contact. He visits a therapist weekly because it’s free and he should talk to someone; still, he has nothing to tell her. Then he’s lured into a bizarre adventure. This is an odd tale, compelling and confounding. Jason Segel (shown here), who skillfully directed and co-wrote the opener, stars alongside Oscar-winner Sally Field, rapper/actor Andre Benjamin and trans actress Eve Lindley. Read more…