Year: 2025

News and Quick Comments

Cheers for low-concept, high-quality comedies

(This is the “Raymond”/”Cheers” over view that was written previously. Now CBS has set a rerun of the “Everybody Loves Raymond” reunion for 9 p.m. Nov. 28.)
When Les Moonves took over CBS, he was in a hurry.
The network’s only top-15 show was “60 Minutes.” He needed something that would make a quick impact.
“I was told he wanted high-profile shows with big stars,” Phil Rosenthal recalled in his memoir. “What chance did we have?”
He had a semi-known star (Ray Romano), in a show that was mostly family members talking. But Moonves liked it and audiences gradually agreed. From 8-9:30 p.m. Monday (Nov. 24), CBS will celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Everybody Loves Raymond” (shwon here).
That same night, “TV We Love” (9-10 p.m. on CW) will celebrate “Cheers,” a show in a similar mode: It started with no stars (Sid Caesar and William Devane auditioned unsuccessfully) and an unflashy format; it scored big. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 19, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 21: Rebels win; Grinch doesn’t

1) “The American Revolution” finale, 8 p.m., PBS, rerunning at 10:11. Both sides had thought a British victory was inevitable. Now life flips: Washington makes false documents, saying he’ll attack New York; then he lets them be stolen. Instead, he marches South, joining the French navy to trap the enemy and (depicted here) triumph. Soon, an epic war — and a brilliant Ken Burns documentary — conclude. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 19, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 20: woe in Nashville and Valley Forge

1) “9-1-1: Nashville,” 8-11 p.m., ABC. The Thursday dramas are resting; they’ll be back, with new episodes, on Jan. 8. For tonight, we can catch up on this show’s first three episodes. The opener has a tornado threatening a country-music festival. The second sees the storm batter a water tower; the third has a child in a trailer, hanging off a bridge. LeAnn Rimes (shown here) co-stars as a struggling country-music singer. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 18, 2025
Stories

CBS adds marshals, CIA agents and chefs

After a long pause — and a lot of “Survivor” events — CBS will get busy in late February.
It will debut two dramas (one a “Yellowstone” spin-off, shown here) plus a cooking competition. It will also move “Watson” back to Sundays, so it can double up on Dick Wolf dramas on Mondays. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 18, 2025
News and Quick Comments

Double diva: Ariana and Cher

Two divas — generations apart — will be on the Christmas-week “Saturday Night Live.”
Ariana Grande (shown here), 32, will host for the third time. Cher, 79, will be the music guest for only the second time; the first was in 1987 … six years before Grande was born.
That’s part of the latest batch of new shows “SNL” announced today. After a two-week rerun break (Nov. 22 and Nov. 29), it has: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 17, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 18: a grimly gorgeous hour

1) “Murder in a Small Town,” 8 p.m., Fox. Beautifully directed by Amanda Tapping (the “Stargate” star), this is as gorgeous visually as it is nasty emotionally. Short on sleep, Sid crashed his police car into a woods; Karl (left, the police chief), fresh from an argument with Cassandra, is in Seattle to confront the artist/serial killer (center) he arrested. The rest is grimly compelling. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 16, 2025
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for Nov. 16: A masterful epic begins

(Here are the five TV best-bets for Sunday, Nov. 16; feel free to use in any form — all or some, print and/or web)

1) “The American Revolution” opener, 8 p.m. PBS; repeats at 10. Ken Burns’ masterful film opens with 13 colonies having little in common — until they’re linked by a hatred of British taxes. This first (of six) chapters takes us through Lexington, Concord and the siege of Boston. Some Englishmen expected a quick, easy war; it would take eight brutal years. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / November 14, 2025