Month: April 2023

News and Quick Comments

Summer isn’t cruel to scripted-drama fans

This summer, the Freeform network will deliver a relatively rare commodity – new, scripted episodes.
It will bring back two series – the final season of “Grown-ish” and the overdue second season of “Cruel Summer” (shown here). It will also debut an animated show, “Praise Petey.”
Summers have fallen into a habit — plenty of scripted shows on premium cable (HBO, Showtime, etc.) and streamers, with the others sticking mostly to reruns and reality shows.
Now Freeform, a basic-cable channel, will make a small dent in that. It has: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 18, 2023
News and Quick Comments

“Snowfall” ends; Idris soars

In the fierce, six-year run of “Snowfall,” Damson Idris has mostly been ignored by awards voters.
That’s understandable. Idris’ job, which he did perfectly, was to play Franklin Saint (shown here in an earlier episode), a cool-eyed drug kingpin. Hollywood doesn’t give awards for stoic and stony.
But now all of that changes with the series finale, at 10 p.m. Wednesday (April 19) on FX, rerunning at 11:39 p.m. and 1:06 and 2:39 a.m., then going to Hulu. The steely exterior is gone; Idris gives a performance that’s … well, Pacino-esque. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 18, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 20: a “Good” rerun, a fond farewell

1) “The Good Doctor,” 10 p.m., ABC. This slot has been vacant since “Alaska Daily” ended ts season three weeks ago, but ABC keeps filling it well. In this rerun, Shaun faces a malpractice suit. His lawyer (Felicity Huffman) advises a settlement, but her researcher (beautifully played by Kennedy McMahon, shown here, the “Nancy Drew” star) disagrees. She’s autistic, as is Shaun, and this strong and moving hour is a pilot for a “Good Lawyer” series. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 18, 2023
Stories

Elephants, friendly and feisty, get an epic profile

By now, we might figure we know elephants – big guys, big noses, pleasantly ponderous lives.
But that’s just the start. “Secrets of the Elephants” — 9-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday (April 21-22) on the National Geographic Channel, then on Disney+ – shows that they, like us, vary by location.
“Forest elephants are particularly interesting,” Paula Kahumbu told the Television Critics Association, “because they’ve only recently been discovered as a different species.”
She searches for them in the third hour (9 p.m. Saturday), which falls on Earth Day, part of a cascade of nature shows during the weekend. But finding them isn’t easy. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 19: gorgeous waterfall, gloomy “Snowfall”

1) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. Every second, we’re told, 3,000 tons of water – enough to fill an Olympic pool — pour down Niagara Falls. The falls themselves (shown here) are fascinating, but this terrific film also has glimpses along the way. We see people nurture a tree that’s been there for 13 centuries and help a snapping turtle whose ancestors go back 90 million years. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023
Stories

Busy Earth Day(s): Here’s a round-up

On rare occasions, the calendar co-operates with our needs.
That’s true this year: Earth Day, always on April 22, falls neatly on a Saturday. That’s a good day for people to get out and enjoy (and even help) nature … and to watch nature shows on TV, from “Big Beasts” (shown here) to kids’ cartoons.
There will be a lot available, because this has is a key subject for many filmmakers. “We need to fall back in love with nature, the way we (did) as kids,” director-producer James Cameron (“Titanic,” “Avatar”) said to the Television Critics Association.
By now, there’s more urgency involved. Climate change “is perhaps the biggest and most awesome challenge human civilization has ever faced,” said Julia Cort, of PBS’ “Nova.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 18: emotional moments, past and present

1) “How Saba Kept Singing,” 10 p.m., PBS. David Wisnia (shown here) was sent to Auschwitz at 16. He survived because he entertained guards with his gorgeous singing … and because Helen Spitzer, a fellow prisoner, loved him and kept doctoring records. This deeply moving film follows the final years before his death last summer at 94. He reunites with Spitzer, returns to Auschwitz and sings with his talented grandson Avi, telling him: “You’re the proof that Hitler did not win.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 16, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 17: It’s a musical Monday

1) “The Voice” (8 p.m.) and “That’s My Jam” (10 p.m.), NBC. It will be musical Mondays now. First, “Voice” moves into its next phase (the “knock-out round”), with Reba McEnitre as the mentor for all four teams. Then Jimmy Fallon’s music-oriented “That’s My Jam” is at 10. It had a rerun last week, but now comes a new hour, with the Bailey sisters (shown here) competing against each other. Halle is with actor Simu Liu; Chloe is with Adam Lambert, the former “Idol” runner-up. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 16: a great-drama overload

1) “Lucky Hank,” 9 p.m., AMC. Yes, there are way too many good shows (“Succession,” “Sanditon,” “Yellowjackets”) at 9 p.m. Sundays. But this one – rerunnning at 10:06 p.m. and 1:40 a.m. — is way too good to miss. Hank (Bob Odenkirk, shown here) clings to his faculty job at an obscure college, but his wife has interviewed for a job at a top school in New York. At a faculty dinner party, it all boils over in ways that are simultaneously funny and disturbing. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 14, 2023
Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for April 17: Two shows end; Earth Day blooms

1) “Sanditon” series-finale, 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS. This began as a fragment of a story by Jane Austen. Two centuries after her death, filming began – then was delayed for two years via Covid and more. Still, it all works out. The finale has greats visuals, likable characters and a knack for resolving soap-type problems intelligently. There are plenty of those woes as this begins. Charlotte (shown here with her secret love Colbourne), Georgiana and others head toward doomed romances. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 13, 2023