Month: September 2022

Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 16: fiery preview, lustful Lucy

1) “CBS Fall Preview,” 9 p.m., CBS. Each September, networks say their new shows are big, bold and entertaining. CBS this year? It’s definitely not big (only three new scripted shows) or bold … but it has some fun moments. “Fire Country” (shown here) – which takes this timeslot in two weeks – mixes strong drama and wildfire fury … “So Help Me Todd” (Sept. 29) is an amiable blend of comedy and crime-solving … “East New York” (Oct. 2) is an adequate cop show.. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 14, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 15: laughs, ghosts, killers, demon

1) “Atlanta” (shown here in a previous seasoh) season-openers, 10 and 10:40 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11:26 and 12:06. This starts with Darius trying to return an item to a store that’s being looted. The result is both funny and bizarre – a sign of what’s ahead. Partly Serling and Seinfeld, partly Fellini and Freud, it’s a strange way to start the final season. The second episode views Ern in therapy … and views a stranger in deetail. The elements seem unrelated … until they merge in an unsettling way. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Emmycast was listless (that’s good), often hostless (that’s not)

Near the end of the Emmy awards, Pete Davidson suggested a round of applause for Kenan Thompson.
My instinctive response was, “Who???”
Oh yes, he was sort of the host. He told a couple jokes, joined an ill-advised dance number and later told some more jokes, including some good ones. Then he mostly vanished.
There’s a reason we need stand-up-comedy types to host awardcasts. They can punctuate a show with quick quips at odd moments. Thompson’s a terrific comedy actor, but this isn’t in his skill set; you need someone like Steve Martin (shown here with “Only Murders in the Building” colleagues Martin Short and Selena Gomez). Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 13, 2022
Stories

Burns’ film eyes a hesitant world during Holocaust

One of Ken Burns’ first films celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.
Immigrants described their joy at seeing the statue and feeling the impact of its words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free,”
Now, 37 years later, the statue sometimes appears in Burns latest film – the richly emotional, six-hour-plus “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” at 8 p.m. Sept. 18-20 on PBS. We’re soon reminded that most of those masses were blocked from the U.S. and other countries; for many, that was a death sentence.
“We’ve always had the idea of welcoming immigrants,” Burns told the Television Critics Association. “But we’ve also always had the idea that we didn’t want to let anyone else in.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2022
Stories

The new season: Here’s a preview

(As the new season nears, I wanted to put my three season-preview stories in one easy-to-find spot. Here they are; I’ve updated them slightly and will continue to. First, an overview of the broadcast networks, which used to dominate each fall.)
A new TV season is ready to go..
It has a starting date (Sept. 19), a few shows and a lot of promos. What it lacks is the old blend of Hollywood hope, hype and a sense of something big.
There have been big things lately, but not on the broadcast nrtworks, the ones that send out shows for free (with commercials) over the air.
A “Game of Thrones” prequel on HBO collided with a “Lord of the Rings” prequel on Amazon Prime, both spending mega-money – reportedly $200 million for 10 HBO episodes, $465 million for eight Amazon ones. What’s a mere broadcast network to do? Not much; consider: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 14: Three shows name their winners

1) Finale fever, 9-11 p.m., CBS and NBC. Two summer reality shows simultaneously pick their winners. CBS’ “The Challenge: USA” names its first champion, who will then go on to an international contest; at the same time, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” has its 17th winner. On Tuesday, viewers saw 11 finalists — four music acts, two magicians and more, including the Mayya dance troupe, shown here. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2022
Stories

Bard’s Black lover? It’s a dance-song-poetry blend

This show sounds like an implosion of borders and genres.
Here is Will Shakespeare in Olde England and a lover (maybe) with African roots. The show links ballet, poetry and two musicians, one Italian, the other African-American; it was created in Nashville.
That’s “Black Lucy and the Bard” (shown here), at 9 p.m. Friday on PBS, under the “Great Performances” banner. It makes sense when you meet Caroline Randall Williams, a true genre-buster.
“I really get to merge these things fully and try to tell the story of my Black American body, but also engage with the Anglophilic part of my brain,” she told the Television Critics Association. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 12, 2022
News and Quick Comments

Final “Atlanta” season: sorta weird, sorta “grounded”

When the “Atlanta” series was being created, the tone was clear.
On the first day, writer-producer Stefani Robinson said, Donald Glover (the creator and star, shown here) “said. ‘We are going to get canceled because of what we’re going to try to do …. So let’s have fun.’”
That’s how Stephen Glover – a writer-producer and Donald’s brother – recalls it.. The idea, he said, was: “If we’re here only four episodes, they’re going to be the best four episodes ever.”
And then? It became four seasons, not four episodes. The show became popular and honored … and then not so much. It starts its final season (10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, on FX), relishing its quirks. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 13: country stars and reality finales

1) Academy of Country Music Honors, 8-10 p.m., Fox. The network is busy corralling country fans. It has already aired the “Monarch” opener twice and will run it again at 9:02 p.m. Wednesday; also, that show’s star, Trace Adkins, performs tonight. The show honors Miranda Lambert (shown here), Chris Stapleton, Shania Twain, Morgan Wallen and the “Yellowstone” series. Other performers include Carly Pearce (who hosts), Dierks Bentley, Wynonna Judd, many more. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2022
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Sept. 12: daytime shake-up, then the Emmys

1) Emmy awards, 8-11 p.m., NBC. Kenan Thompson (shown here in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch) hosts, with plans for a big opening number. He’s not much of a monologue guy, but other “Saturday Night Live” people (past and present) will be there. They include Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon and Vanessa Bayer. Others range from Will Arnett to Natalie Zea, plus two people from “Squid Game,” a first-year show that’s up for best drama, in a field led by “Succession.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 10, 2022