Month: January 2022

Stories

“Naomi” transforms young lives

Imagine a teen girl whose world suddenly flips upside-down.
That’s what happens in “Naomi,” the new teen-superhero series (9 p.m. Tuesdays) on the CW network. It’s also what happened to Kaci Walfall (shown here), who stars. At 16, she was suddenly flying from New York to Los Angeles and Atlanta for a new life ,,, and new eats.
That was courtesy of Mary-Charles Jones, who plays her best friend and lives in Atlanta, where “Naomi” is filmed. “She sent me a great list of food when we first came here,” Walfall said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 10, 2022
Stories

She found stardom in both Manhattans

Like many show-business stars, Bridget Everett (shown here) is from Manhattan.
But this is the other Manhattan, the one in Kansas. “They actually call it the Little Apple,” she said.
Now that’s the setting for “Somebody Somewhere,” which debuts at 10:35 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 16) on HBO, rerunning at 12:40 a.m. It’s a comedy-drama that faces a key fact:
Growing up in America’s mid-section, kids might see life divided into two phases: There are the school years, when they can do it all – arts, academics, sports, more. Then there’s … well, the rest of life. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 9, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan.10: hot football or frozen Texas

1) Football, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN2. Five weeks ago, two powerhouse teams collided; Alabama beat Georgia, 41-24, for the SEC championship. Now they do it again, for the national title, with no clear-cut favoite. Outside of that game, Georgia is 13-0, with an average score of 48-7; Alabama (shown here) is 12-1, with a 41-18 average. Tonight, one will become champion. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2022
News and Quick Comments

TCM sets tributes to Poitier and to MLK Day

A 24-hour Sidney Poitier tribute is coming to Turner Classic Movies next month.
And we won’t have to wait for all of it: “The Defiant Ones” (1958) airs at 11 a.m. ET Monday (Jan. 17), in a Martin Luther King Day marathon … and again at 10 p.m. ET Feb. 19, in the Poitier tribute, which includes the Oscar-winning “In the Heat of the Night” (shown here with Poitier and Rod Steiger).
“Defiant Ones” brought raves for Poitier, who became the first Black nominee for the best-actor Academy Award. Five years later, with “Lilies in the Field,” he became the first Black winner.
He was never nominated again, but did win a lifetime Oscar in 2002. He also received lifetime awards from the Golden Globes, the Kennedy Center, the American Film Institute and the Screen Actors Guild. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 8, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 9: lots of openers, great and small

1) “All Creatures Great and Small” season-opener, 9 p.m., PBS. This gentle, seven-episode season gets off to a great start. James is back home in Scotland, helping a local veterinarian; returning to England, he faces instant drama. There’s his unspoken love for Helen (they’re shown here),  who called of her wedding with Hugh, a rich land-owner; plus a fresh crisis involving her little sister. At the vet office, there’s humor (involving a dead bird) and trouble: Siegfried is hiding the fact that Tristan hasn’t yet graduated from vet school. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 7, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Week’s top-10 for Jan. 10: Superheroes & football heroes

1) Football. The college season ends today … but the pros are just starting their month-long trek to the Super Bowl. First is the college championship game (8 p.m.ET today on ESPN and ESPN2), which is simply a rematch of the SEC championship game. Alabama beat Georgia 41-24 in that one; in the rest of the season, Georgia is 13-0, with an average score of 48-7; Alabama (shown here) is 12-1, with a 41-18 average. Then the NFL takes over. It has two games Saturday, three more on Sunday and one next Monday. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 6, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 8: fierce battles in Arabia and on the football field

1) “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Here’s a sweeping adventure, with deep characters and the true story of an Englishman who led Arab revolutionaries. The film won seven Oscars, including best picture and director (David Lean).It also drew nominations for Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif (they’re shown here) and for the script, written by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson — who was then anonymous, because of blacklisting. The American Film Institute puts it at No. 7 on its all-time list. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 6, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Jan. 6 anniversary: Anderson Cooper at his best

As the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 crisis (shown here) nears, two things have been added and one has been dropped.
Removed is Donald Trump’s plan for a news conference at his Florida resort. Trump said he’ll wait until a Jan. 15 rally in Arizona; and he said it in a Trump-style statement:
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the J6 Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the Jan 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally.”
And added are a morning event with speeches by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, plus coverage throughout the day by the C-SPAN cable network. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Jan. 7: stars on ice and stage

1) Figure skating,” 8-11 p.m., NBC. The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are in Nashville this week, with Olympic spots at stake. Here’s the women’s free-skate, with no clear-cut favorite. Current champion Bradie Tennell has had injuries; others include two-time champ Alysa Lieu (shown here) and 2018 Olympian Karen Chen. NBC also has coverage at 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, with Olympic choices announced. There’s more on the USA Network and on Peacock. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / January 5, 2022