Day: September 6, 2021

Disney’s Dr. Doogie juggles worlds

The title character in Disney+’s new “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” (shown hee) keeps juggling worlds.
She’s a teen-ager, feeling her first romantic crush; she’s also a doctor. Her roots are Hawaiian/Asian on her father’s side, Irish or Scottish on her mom’s. She’s surfing one moment, saving lives the next.
There’s a crowd inhabiting her psyche … but that seems to fit Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who plays her. Read more…

Best-bets for Sept. 8: youthful fun from Josie and Doogie

1) “Riverdale,” 8 p.m., CW. Great music and a so-so story combine, for what could be a pilot for a new series – and a good one. Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) did the first few “Riverdale” seasons – mostly singing, alone or with the Pussycats. She left for the “Katy Keene” series, then disappeared … until now. The story is rather monotone, repeating similar emotions from each character and scene. But the music – six numbers, ranging from “Little Shop of Horrors”(shown here) to a Nina Simone ballad– is sensational. Read more…

The Brits (and their colonies) give us good mysteries

For more than a century, the British have mastered the art of murder mysteries.
Lately, some of their younger colonies – Canada, Australia , New Zealand – have joined in. And Americans … well, we get to watch them, at a time when they’re really needed.
Bertie Carvel, starring in a new batch of Adam Dalgliesh tales (arriving in November), points to Dalgliesh’s creator: “I think P.D. James said she thought people like murder mysteries because they bring order out of chaos …. That’s something we need right now.”
Lucy Lawless – producing and starring in the current “My Life is Murder” series (which is shown here, with Lawless and Ebony Vagulans – agreed. “It’s giving people a sense of justice. The world’s been so unjust for the last six years and people are hungry for it.” Read more…