Month: February 2020

Best-bets for Feb. 21: Farewell to “Fresh,” country

1) “Fresh Off the Boat” series finale, 8 and 8:30 p.m., ABC. This began six years ago with the real life of Eddie Huang. In the 1980s, his family moved from Washington, D.C., to Orlando … where he and his brothers felt like the only Chinese kids. That’s reflected in tonight’s first episode: The boys return to Washington to dig up their time capsule. In the second, Eddie wants to become a chef (which he did do in real life); then his mother sees his high SAT scores and tries to change his mind. (Shown here are Hudson Yang and Randall Park, as Eddie and dad.) Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 20: Everything’s gonna be great

(Here are the five TV best-bets for Thursday, Feb. 20; feel free to use in any form, all or some, print and/or web)

1) “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay,” 8:30 p.m., Freeform. This may be one of the best half-hour episodes this season. It’s also a weird one, not for everyone. Nicholas has just hooked up his Skype; now his mother – in an Australia hospital – looms over his living room on a giant screen. He’s in the U.S., watching his teen-aged half-sisters … who arrive with friends (shown here in a previous episode), dogs and crises. It’s a big episode, centering on a long-shot dream of Matilda, who’s autistic. Stick aroound for the great closing minutes. Read more…

“Okay” finds random joy in teen life

Leaping across continents, Josh Thomas has ignored TV’s assumptions.
American networks try to be relatable and universal and such. Instead, he’s turned his offbeat Australian teen years into sometimes-great TV.
“Teenage girls are like so funny to me, right?” Thomas said. “And I just really wanted to write a teenage girl.”
He’s written a lot of them– led by Kaylan Cromer, shown here — for “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.” And in the next episode (Feb. 20), they converge in wonderfully odd ways. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 19: CBS is losing its “Minds”

1) “Criminal Minds” series finale (shown here), 9 and 10 p.m, CBS. For 15 seasons, the team has chased grisly killers. That apparently puts “Minds” No. 5 among all-time dramas, trailing only “Gunsmoke,” “Lassie” and two editions of “Law & Order.” This final mission involves Everett Lynch, known as “The Chameleon,” who preys on middle-aged women. He’s eluded the team three times, once almost killing Rossi. Now Lynch gives Dr. Reid hallucinations of ghosts from his past. Every finale needs that. Read more…

Busfield: From killer-cats to top-drawer drama

Hollywood has plenty of people who flash and fade, sizzle and fizzle.
And it has Tim Busfield, 62, who seems eternal. “I’ve done killer-cat movies and ‘Field of Dreams,’” he said. “Good shows and bad shows.
He’s directed, produced and, mostly, acted. His new “For Life” role is part of a far-ranging career that has gone from “Thirtysomething” (shown here) to silliness. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 18: Endless Amazon, headless Marie

1) “Frontline: Amazon Empire,” 9-11 p.m., PBS. Yes, Amazon (shown here) has had startling success. By 2013, it had 40 per cent of U.S, book sales – then gobbled other fields.; now it’s nearing a million employees worldwide. This balanced documentary also views the dark side. There’s “a strategy to monopolize the markets,” says anti-trust expert Stacy Mitchell. Dealing with Amazon “was like going out to dinner with the Godfather,” a publisher says. Other issues range from taxes to unions and working conditions. Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 17: New champion, old George

1) “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” finale, 8-10 p.m., NBC. This started by throwing together 40 acts that had done well in “Got Talent” shows – 22 in “America’s Got Talent.” Now the field is down to 10 – six from “AGT,” four from elsewhere. There are three singers (one — Hans, shown here — adding accordion and dance) and three dance groups (one adding acrobatics), plus acrobats, a trapeze act, a dog act and a violinist. Last Monday, viewers had their final vote; tonight, one act is named “world champion.” Read more…

Best-bets for Feb. 16: “Idol” leads new-show swarm

1) “American Idol” opener, 8-10 p.m., ABC. For almost a month, TV’s Sunday line-up has been in limbo. It was the Grammys … then the Super Bowl … then the Oscars. After waiting patiently, other shows now start their seasons. Leading the way is “Idol,” starting its 18th season overall and its third at ABC. Ryan Seacrest still hosts, with Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie and lots of eager people — including Nick Merico, shown here — auditioning. Tonight has auditions in Milwaukee, Savannah, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Sunriiver, Oregon. Read more…

Washington: Big, bold and (sometimes) truthful

Doris Kearns Goodwin had been working her way through the presidents.
Her books had traced the lives of Kennedy, Johnson, Lincoln, Taft and two Roosevelts. They had brought her fame, a Pulitzer Prize and a couple of drinking sessions with Daniel Day Lewis.
What was missing was the first and best-known president. Now she’s produced “Washington” (shown here), the documentary mini-series airing Sunday, Monday (yes, Presidents Day) and Tuesday on the History Channel Read more…