Month: March 2022

News and Quick Comments

Oscar documentaries are on TV now

In the aftermath of the Academy Awards, we can still see some of the nominated documentaries.
Short docs? The winner (“The Queen of Basketball”) airs at 6:30 p.m. Monday (March 28) on the NBA channel; another nominee, “When We Were Bullies,” is 9 p.m. Wednesday on HBO.
Feature-length docs? “Writing with Fire” (shown here) has its TV debut at 10 p.m. March 28 on most PBS stations, under the “Independent Lens” umbrella. With that in mind, I’ll rerun a recent story I wrote about “Fire” and “Lens”: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 28, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 29: Fox has Malcolm, music

1) “The Resident,” 8 p.m., Fox. After a so-so start, “Resident” made wise detours. It changed Dr. Bell from scoundrel to hero … and it added Dr. AJ Austin. Both are key tonight. Bell is a crusading member of the medical board; Austin rages over a botched case. He’s played superbly by Malcolm Jamal-Warner (shown here), the former Cosby kid. After decades elsewhere — including four years on a forgotten UPN comedy – he’s a potent part of what has evolved into a good show. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 27, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 28: a piercing finale

1) “Snowpiercer” season-finale, 9 p.m., TNT; rerunning at 10:03. For three seasons, this mega-train has spanned a frozen world, holding the only survivors. But now comes the confrontation: On one side is Wilford (Sean Bean), the train’s creator and despot; on the other are Layton (Daveed Diggs, shown here) and the rebels. Layton feels a New Eden micro-climate is livable; Melanie, a master engineer, disagrees. A final face-off looms, in an hour that is beautifully written and executed. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 26, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 27: Oscars dominate

1) Academy Awards, 8 p.m. ET, ABC. The bad years – with no host, no music and little fun – are apparently behind us now. This will have three hosts — comedians Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes and actress Regina Hall. The best-song nominees, exiled to the pre-show last year, will be performed by Beyonce (shown here), Billie Eilish, Reba McEntire and Sebastian Yatra. And eight of the 23 categories will be handled before the telecast, leaving more time for entertainment. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 25, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Overlooked “Bruno” crashes the Oscars

Did the best song get overlooked for the Oscars?
Some people seem to think so. “Don’t Talk About Bruno” (shown here), from “Elcanto,” wasn’t even nominated — but now it will be performed at the Academy Award ceremony, at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC.
“’Bruno’ is everywhere,” Will Packer, co-producer of the telecast, said at press conference Thursday.
It reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart … the first Disney-animation song to get there since “A Whole New World” in 1993, Ariana Brockington wrote in a Yahoo News story. Even “Let It Go,” which seemed to be omnipresent, only reached No. 5. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 25, 2022
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for March 28: Grammys lead a music surge

1) Grammy awards, 8 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. After a Covid surge, the Grammys were delayed by nine weeks and moved to Las Vegas. Now they’re here, with Trevor Noah as host. Performers include Billie Eilish (a week after her Oscars performance), Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, Brothers Osborne (shown here), Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow and more. Jon Batiste leads with 11 nominations, with eight for Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R.; Eilish and Rodrigo have seven. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 25, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 26: It’s a busy Oscar eve

1) “Dune” (2021), 8 p.m., HBO. On the eve of the Academy Awards, we can catch some of the best-picture nominees. “Dune” (shown here) repeats at 6:15 p.m. Sunday (overlapping the Oscars, at 8 p.m. ET) and is on HBO Max, which also has “Drive My Car” and shares two others – “Nightmare Alley” (with Hulu) and “West Side Story” (with Disney+). Netflix has “Don’t Look Up” and “The Power of the Dog,” Apple TV+ has “Coda” and the others are video-on-demand. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 24, 2022
Stories

“Halo” makes its “massive” leap to TV

For streaming networks, the impulse is clear: Go big and go fantasy.
It’s “Star Wars” on Disney+, “Star Trek” on Paramount+, the DC crowd on HBO Max and more, There’s Marvel on Disney+, “Game of Thrones” on HBO Max … and now “Halo” (shown here) on Paramount+.
Yes, the “Halo” videogame is a weekly series, starting Thursday (March 24). “It’s a daunting task,” producer Kiki Wolfkill said in a Television Critics Association virtual press conference.
And one that took forever. “You have such massive scale and scope,” said producer Justin Falvey. “It takes some time to get it right.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 23, 2022
Stories

Oscar Sunday: Here’s a quick overview

It took a while, but the details of this year’s Academy Award telecast are finally in place.
ne key detail – performances of the Oscar-nominated songs – wasn’t announced until Tuesday night. What emerges is a ceremony that will work hard to entertain us … unlike recent years. Details include:
WHEN: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) Sunday, March 27, on ABC.
HOSTS: Comedians Amy Schumer (see separate piece, under “Stories”) and Wanda Sykes, actress Regina Hall. Expect to be amused. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 23, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for March 25: Music and basketball abound

1) “Great Performances: Conductor,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. “I’ve never been good with a lot of rules,” Marin Alsop (shown here) says. She quit a stern music school and created String Fever – 14 women doing swing music on orchestral instruments. She resisted the idea that conductors must be men; at one point, she led orchestras in three cities (Baltimore, Vienna, Sao Paolo), on three continents, in three languages. It’s a great story, told with surges of soaring music. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / March 23, 2022