Day: August 11, 2020

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Aug. 13: A few laughs linger

1) Cake” (FXX) or “Tacoma FD” (truTV), both 10 p.m.. Thursday is supposed to be TV’s funniest night, but not this summer. NBC and Fox shelved their Thursday situation comedies; now CBS has cut its Thursday sitcoms in half (from four to two), to make room for “Big Brother.” At 10 p.m., however, there’s quirky fun: “Cake” has short bits, mostly animated and moslty funny. “Tacoma” is a standard sitcom, with occasional laughs. This week is the OK start of a two-parter, as two long-time friends (shown here) have a dispute that peaks at the Fireman’s Ball. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 11, 2020
Stories

Peacock struts its comedies

As streaming networks battle for viewers, Peacock’s special weapon is comedy.
It has lots of it – new and old, good and bad, silly and satirical. And it has just added more.
In Television Critics Association sessions Monday (Aug. 10), the network announced two topical shows (with Larry Wilmore and Amber Ruffin, who’s shown here during a regular gig with Seth Meyer), an action-comedy (with Will Forte) and a musical-comedy-drama (Tina Fey producing and Sara Bareilles starring). It also discussed three previously announced shows.
And it broke a tradition of sorts: Networks often base series on movies that were box-office hits; Peacock is going the opposite way, ordering eight episodes of Forte’s “MacGruber.” In 2010, it made only $9.3 million in the U.S. … putting it $400 million behind “Avatar” or “Toy Story 3.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / August 11, 2020